'An absolute political prosecution': Ammon Bundy plays victim card over lawsuit he failed to show up for

Far-right anti-government activist Ammon Bundy appeared in court Monday in connection with a lawsuit he lost after never showing up in court to defend himself.

Bundy was previously at the center of government standoffs in Nevada with his father in 2014 and other allies in Oregon in 2016. He lost a defamation lawsuit earlier this year against an Idaho hospital group he accused of being a child-sex trafficking hub because he refused to attend the trial and mount a defense, The Daily Beast reports.

A jury ordered Bundy and his co-defendants to pay $52 million.

Bundy claims to have just $50,000 but is being sued by the hospital group again for "hiding assets" to shield him from paying out his share of the $52 million judgment, the report said.

During Monday’s hearing, Bundy said that he was “the victim of "an absolute political prosecution" and that St. Luke’s Health Systems was suing him because "because I exposed them."

St. Luke’s employees, in the initial lawsuit, testified that Bundy, among others, including members of the far-right People’s Rights Network, had spread conspiracy theories that put doctors and the hospital at risk.

Bundy was arrested and pleaded guilty to trespassing in connection with a protest that led to the hospital's lockdown.

Kelly Weill writes for The Beast that: "Ironically, Bundy’s Monday court appearance—a first during his St. Luke’s feud—was not legally required. Hearings for temporary restraining orders often take place without the subject of the restraining order, a judge noted."

Bundy was jailed over the weekend until a local sheriff had threats against him.

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