Congresswoman Anna Paulina Luna arrived in Congress on her first day in office, ready to fight — not only with Democrats but also with her own party, as she became one of 20 Republicans to vote against the election. Speaker Kevin McCarthy.
But back home in her conservative Florida county, Luna is waging a very different kind of war: a legal battle with political enemies who say she’s a literal witch.
A letter obtained by The Daily Beast reveals that the Florida Republican Party has hired high-powered law firm Holland & Knight to pursue a potential rival who has made a series of outlandish allegations against Luna on the Internet. radio show Bubba the Love Sponge in the fall .
Letter requesting Michael Tito, a friend of Rock Roger who considered challenging Luna in the preliminary, apologized on video for his accusations, which included claims that Luna was fired — and that she had sex with Representative Matt Gaetz.
Attorney David J. Lisko wrote in the October 7 letter: “While it is strange for any person to say these things, let alone a former Captain in the United States Marine Corps, it is not. should be the purpose of this communication.
“I am sending you this letter because of the defamatory statements you have made about Miss Luna on the Show,” Lisko wrote, adding that Tito knew him. comment are not true or are “recklessly stated knowing that the claims are hard to believe and unlikely to be true.”
“You say Miss Luna (a devout Christian) practices witchcraft,” added Lisko.
“You are required to publicly and immediately retract any defamatory statements you have made about Ms. Luna on the show,” continued Lisko. “Because of your inability to widely disseminate your retraction on social media, you are required to apologize and retract your statement on social media. Bubba show love sponge or by making a video retracting the apology and sending it to me that Miss Luna will distribute via her social media.”
On Capitol Hill on Tuesday, Luna was reluctant to settle the controversy beyond denying the allegations.
“Obviously not, I’m not making any comments,” she told The Daily Beast when asked about Tito’s comments about witchcraft and Gaetz. “Measurement is not true.” She later tweeted that the questions were tantamount to sexual harassment.
But Tito said he’s not backing down from any of his claims about the former MAGA influencer — who ever accused you about conspiring with another candidate to kill her during the campaign, which he denies.
Tito told The Daily Beast: “I didn’t wake up one morning on Bubba the Love Sponge and say I was going to get a bunch of stuff out of my ass and talk about it.
Tito said he has not yet responded to the legal letter but consulted an attorney after the request was served. He said that when he received the letter three weeks before the primaries, he wondered, “Why is she trying to intimidate and scare me?”
“She puts spells on everyone.“
— Michael Tito
Tito claims that he learned about Luna’s alleged background from other MAGA characters.
According to Tito, Trump’s Hispanic associate, Paloma Zuniga, said that “Luna practices witchcraft.”
“That’s where I heard it,” said Tito. “She cast a spell on her.”
Another California Republican hope failed, Omar Navarroassume that the baseless rumors must be correct because so many people have repeated them.
He told The Daily Beast: “That has to be true to a certain extent. “It’s fair to say it’s spread among Republicans.”
As for Gaetz, a spokesperson confirmed to The Daily Beast that the allegations of sex were part of “lies” spread by Luna “leading the fight with 20 members knowing that she knew that she was in the middle of a fight.” America deserves more than Kevin McCarthy.”
The spokesperson added: “These rumors have no basis in fact at all.
Lisko and Zuniga did not respond to The Daily Beast’s request for comment.
