Psychiatric hospital urged to sue MAGA smear artist ‘into bankruptcy’ by ex-DOJ official

A Justice Department veteran says a MAGA influencer's viral smear against a Senate candidate should cost him dearly in court.

Lisa Graves, a former Justice Department official, told "Legal AF" host Michael Popok during Monday's live show that Ohio's Lindner Center of HOPE should take right-wing influencer Nick Sortor to court after he claimed Texas state Rep. James Talarico had been treated at the psychiatric facility. "I personally hope the hospital sues him into bankruptcy because the damage to its business of making this claim is probably significant," Graves said.

Talarico, the Democrat running against Republican Attorney General Ken Paxton for U.S. Senate, was off the campaign trail for about a week with the flu. Sortor then released audio of what he presented as a phone call with a Lindner representative, suggesting Talarico had been a patient.

Popok said the claim fell apart almost immediately. "As soon as he released that video, the dates didn't match up," he said.

The story still spread quickly across right-wing social media, boosted by Elon Musk, before the hospital issued a statement saying Talarico had never received treatment there. Popok said that statement drew 8.8 million views on X. Talarico himself said he had never even been to Ohio.

Popok argued the hospital has its own grounds to sue. "No patient who wants to choose a psychiatric hospital wants to go to one that's going to give this kind of information out to the public," he said. "Lindner Center of HOPE could probably sue him for defamation or for interference in their business because they basically claimed that they gave him information about a patient."

Graves acknowledged that public figures face a high bar in defamation cases but said this case might clear it. "Even though it is difficult to pursue a defamation suit for a public figure, it's not impossible," she said. "There certainly appears to be reckless disregard for the truth given the statements of the hospital."

She called the episode "another one of these sort of October surprise garbage things" and tied it to Trump's broader attacks on Talarico, including his jabs at the candidate's past vegetarian diet.

Graves also questioned whether platform owners who amplify such claims should stay shielded. "Maybe at some point, if you're the head of it, like Elon Musk, and you're promoting it, maybe there is some liability," she said.

"There should absolutely be some liability," Popok replied, adding that the smear also stigmatized millions of Americans living with mental illness. "This is why so many people do not get help," he said.