Additional lawsuits filed by political activists following Lazzaro case

Tommy Wiita
Anton Joseph Lazzaro[Sherburne County Jail]

Two local political activists have filed lawsuits against each other this week, which comes after GOP donor Anton "Tony" Lazzarro’s indictment on child sex trafficking charges.

Both lawsuits involve DFL strategist Justin Perpich and Republican consultant William "Billy" Grant, according to the filings submitted in Hennepin County court. The initial lawsuit filed by Grant claims independent journalist Rebecca Brannon and Perpich defamed him with statements made on Twitter, linking him to Lazzaro.

Grant called the allegations "false" and "defamatory," and added prospective clients have said "they either no longer support or may no longer support him in the future," according to the filings.

Perpich responded to the lawsuit by filing a countersuit of his own. The suit was made official on Wednesday. In it, Perpich alleges Grant is attempting to silence him "with respect to his speech about this matter of public concern," according to the lawsuit.

Brannon is being sued due to her tweeting about Lazzaro’s ties to Republicans, after Lazzaro was arrested and charged for recruiting minors, grooming them and attempted to buy their silence with gifts and money. Former GOP chairwoman Jennifer Carnahan was one of the names Brannon mentioned, as she also co-hosted a podcast with Lazzaro. She eventually resigned from her position.

"Numerous former MNGOP employees confirm to me that NDAs are relentlessly forced on them by Carnahan and by her strong arm personal confidants like Lazzaro, Billy Grant, and Spencer Krier," the tweet reads, in part.

Brannon also tweeted that Grant once called a "young former employee, threatening, ‘I’ll break your legs’ if the young individual did not delete a Twitter page with anti Carnahan messages that he believed the individual was operating." She previously stated that "intimidation, harassment, and sexual assault are a hallmark of inner MNGOP operations."

Perpich piggybacked Brannon’s tweet, tagging Grant in a quote tweet and stating, "You have to wonder how many people knew about this and swept it under the rug." The DFL strategist also pointed out the relationship between Carnahan, Lazzaro and Grant in the countersuit, referencing their appearance together on Carnahan’s and Lazzaro’s podcast. Both Lazzaro and Carnahan have stated they have worked with Grant at some point.

According to the counter lawsuit, Carnahan said on the podcast, "now we’ve got one of our friends, friends with both of us, Billy Grant on the phone."

Perpich stated he believes evidence will show that Grant knew Lazzaro was producing pornography in his apartment under the label "Only Tiny Teens," which Brannon outlined in a tweet thread on Twitter. He also alleges in the countersuit that Carnahan "caused alleged victims of sexual harassment to sign nondisclosure agreements."

To see the full filing by Grant, click here. To see the full countersuit submitted by Perpich, click here.