Jack Ciattarelli says he will sue Mikie Sherrill for defamation after debate

Jack Ciattarelli, the Republican nominee for New Jersey Governor, said he plans to sue Rep. Mikie Sherrill, his Democratic opponent, for defamation after a comment she made during a debate on Wednesday night.

During the final debate between the two before the November election in the Garden State, Sherrill took aim at Ciattarelli’s business career, saying he “killed tens of thousands of people” for his work at a medical publishing company.

The exchange began when Sherrill said Ciattarelli “made his millions by working with some of the worst offenders and saying that opioids were safe.” The Sherrill campaign then circulated a NJ Advance Media story from 2021 that noted Ciattarelli’s company produced “continuing education materials” for universities, funded largely by pharmaceutical companies, which critics described as “advertising.” The report noted that some of the materials “appeared to downplay the dangers of opioids.”

“Shame on you,” Ciattarelli responded, to which Sherill said, “Shame on you, sir.”

Ciattarelli went on to blame the fentanyl crisis on President Joe BIden’s “open border” policies, adding that Sherrill’s comment about his company was “a lie.”

“I got to walk at my college graduation,” Ciattarelli quipped as Sherrill spoke, referencing reports that Sherrill was barred from walking at her graduation from the U.S. Naval Academy amid a widespread cheating scandal that year. Sherrill has said she could not walk because she refused to turn in fellow classmates, and she has sharply criticized the Ciattarelli campaign for circulating largely unredacted copies of her military records.

“I think you’re trying to divert from the fact that you killed tens of thousands of people by printing your misinformation, your propaganda, and then getting paid to develop an app so that people could more easily get the opioids once they were addicted,” Sherrill said. “Families across the state deserve to know more about that.”

Ciattarelli said the lawsuit was expected to be filed in court next week, and shared this statement:

“Last night, faced with continued questions about her refusal to release disciplinary records that would reveal her true role in the Naval Academy cheating scandal, and pressed about her unusually abbreviated tenure as a federal prosecutor, Mikie Sherrill cracked.  In doing so, she claimed – twice – that Jack Ciattarelli “killed tens of thousands of people, including children”, a clearly defamatory attack that shocked the moderators, press, and public alike,” said Ciattarelli strategist Chris Russell.  “In a time where political violence and violent rhetoric are becoming all too prevalent, Mikie Sherrill baselessly and recklessly accusing a political opponent of mass murder in a televised debate crosses the line.”

Sherrill’s campaign later responded to the lawsuit threat, saying:

“Jack’s reaction is to hide behind a lawsuit, not to take responsibility. What’s reckless and irresponsible is Jack Ciattarelli making millions of dollars profiting off the pain of New Jerseyans — publishing misinformation about the dangers of opioid addiction and developing an app to coach patients to ask doctors for more drugs. As he was making millions, the Big Pharma companies made billions, and tens of thousands of New Jerseyans died. He is clearly unfit to lead and protect this state, and owes the people of New Jersey answers.”

Democrat Rep. Mikie Sherrill and Republican Jack Ciattarelli went head-to-head in one final debate before one of them becomes the next governor of the Garden State. NBC10’s Lauren Mayk has the story.