Spanberger Caught Up In Defamation Lawsuit

Spanberger Caught Up In Defamation Lawsuit Over January 6th Press Release

Spanberger Congressional Campaign accused of writing a false press release about January 6th.

Published September 16, 2025

On Friday, Abigail Spanberger was required to appear in court as a witness in a defamation case against the Democratic Party of Virginia.

The case emerged when speculation from a party operative spoke to the knowledge of Spanberger’s campaign, writing a press release for Democratic Party of Virginia, where she claimed that insurrectionists “bloodied and beat law enforcement officers” on January 6th, 2021.

The case was brought up by Thomas Speciale, who claims that he was defamed by the Democratic Party of Virginia for claiming he engaged in the violence. (RELATED: Virginia Democrats Face Backlash for Mocking Charlie Kirk Assassination)

Speciale had a list of 350 questions to ask Spanberger related to the press release he claims was created by her campaign and defamed him.

“The case is very specific to the Spanberger campaign drafting, editing and approving a press release which they sent to the Democratic Party of Virginia to publish,” Speciale told The Daily Signal in a statement Tuesday. “They did this in a deliberate effort to conceal that the press release was from the Spanberger campaign.”

🚨SPANBERGER'S LEGAL BATTLE

Did you know the Dem nominee for Virginia governor was called as a witness in a defamation lawsuit?

Did you know she nearly got sued for defamation, and physically ran away from the guy who claimed she defamed him?

This case is wild.

🧵1/20 pic.twitter.com/Oj7D7B9qUx
— Tyler O'Neil (@Tyler2ONeil) September 15, 2025

The Daily Signal discusses a summary of Speciale, saying he “attacked the U.S. Capitol on the deadly day.” Then continues to talk about Yesli Vega who ran for Spanberger’s House seat in 2022. “These new details of Vega’s ties to the insurrectionists who bloodied and beat law enforcement officers on that deadly day,” said the Daily Signal. (RELATED: Spanberger Words, Votes, Come Back to Haunt Her on Trans Issues)

“I wrote a draft of a press release that was then internally approved and sent along to the Democratic Party of Virginia as a draft,” said Justin Chermol in his deposition, who was the Press Secretary for the Spanberger 2022 House Campaign.

Speciale told The Daily Signal he issued “an immediate cease and desist” letter in November 2022, which was ignored and sparked the filing of his lawsuit in March of 2023. “It wasn’t until discovery when the [party] revealed the Spanberger campaign was the source of the press release.”