Tony Bobulinski, a former associate of Hunter Biden, filed a $30 million defamation lawsuit against Fox News host Jessica Tarlov over comments about his legal fees, which she corrected a day later.
The suit, filed Thursday in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, alleged Tarlov “lied” last week when she initially claimed Bobulinski’s legal fees were paid by a Trump super PAC. Her comments were made during a discussion on Fox News’s “The Five” after Bobulinski testified before the House Oversight and Accountability Committee for its impeachment inquiry into President Biden.
After receiving a letter from Bobulinski’s attorney requesting a retraction and apology a day later, Tarlov clarified her previous remarks on air, stating: “What was actually said during the hearing was that the law firm representing Mr. Bobulinski was paid by a Trump PAC. I have seen no indication those payments were made in connection with Mr. Bobulinski’s legal fees, and he denies that they were.”
A spokesperson for Fox News maintained Thursday that Tarlov’s clarification was accurate and made known the host was not aware of anything linking payments from a Trump PAC to Bobulinski’s legal fees.
“Jessica Tarlov’s March 21st statements were accurate and made clear that she was not aware of anything to indicate that payments from a Trump PAC to Elections, LLC were made in connection with Tony Bobulinski’s legal fees,” a Fox News spokesperson said in a statement to The Hill. “We stand by our decision to not issue any further corrections and will vigorously defend against these inaccurate claims.”
Lawyers for Bobulinski and Stefan Passantino — his attorney — alleged Tarlov’s initial comment, in which she said, “OK, Tony Bobulinski’s lawyers’ fees have been paid by a Trump super PAC. That’s as recent as January,” was made to “achieve media headlines and ratings.”
The comment “deliberately besmirched” the character of Bobulinski and Passantino and was “an attempt to discredit” the businessman’s earlier testimony before the Oversight Committee, Bobulinski’s lawyers wrote in the suit.
The lawyers argued Tarlov did not make a “complete retraction and apology” during her on-air clarification, calling it “half-hearted, incomplete and unacceptable” in a second letter to the host.
Bobulinski briefly worked with Hunter Biden, though the deal they worked on together never was completed. He has been a key GOP witness after he connected the president to his son’s business, claiming the president was the “big guy” referred to in emails between himself and Hunter Biden regarding the distribution of money from a deal with a Chinese company.
Bobulinski later became aligned with allies of former President Trump; Passantino is a former White House lawyer who represented numerous Trump White House aides before the House Jan. 6 committee. In 2022, law firms connected to Passantino received more than $1 million from Trump-connected PACs.
“It is a matter of fact that Mr. Passantino was paid solely by Mr. Bobulinski for his several years of previous representation, no differently than for his representation on March 20, 2024,” his lawyers noted in the suit. “Notably, no third parties have ever paid for any portion of Mr. Passantino’s representation of Mr. Bobulinski.”
Bobulinski’s legal team is asking for $30 million in damages, arguing Tarlov sought to “defame and undermine” his character.
The Hill reached out to Bobulinski’s legal team for further comment.