NEW YORK – A veteran New York City politician filed a defamation lawsuit on Monday against a woman who accused him of sexual misconduct, claiming the decades-old allegation was false and derailed her mayoral campaign.
Former State Assemblyman and New York City comptroller Scott Stringer says in his lawsuit filed in Manhattan state court that Jean Kim “tarnished Mr. Stringer’s integrity and reputation” in April 2021 when he she accused of groping her without consent some 20 years earlier.
At the time Kim made her accusation, Stringer was among the leaders in the crowded field seeking the Democratic nomination to succeed then-Mayor Bill de Blasio.
But Stringer plummeted in the polls following the indictment of Kim, who volunteered in Stringer’s failed 2001 campaign for New York City public defender during the time of the alleged misconduct. Eric Adams won the Democratic mayoral nomination last year and won the general election in November.
Stringer, 62, claims in his lawsuit that he and Kim had an on-off consensual relationship in 2001 and that the assault and unwanted groping allegations against him are false and defamatory.
New York’s one-year statute of limitations for defamation presents a challenge for Stringer, who is suing over allegations Kim made a year and a half ago. In an effort to get around the time limit, the lawsuit alleges that Kim’s defamatory claims resurfaced in August 2022, when Rep. Carolyn Maloney “weaponized Kim’s allegations” during Maloney’s failed Democratic primary campaign against Rep. Jerry Nadler, Stringer’s mentor. .
The lawsuit alleges that Kim was seen at a Maloney campaign event on August 3 and that “it was reasonably foreseeable that after Kim met and spoke with Maloney at his campaign event, his false and defamatory statements would be repeated”.
Maloney then accused Nadler of campaigning “with a man accused of sexual assault,” a clear reference to Stringer, according to a New York Post article cited in the lawsuit.
An email request for comment was sent to Kim’s attorney, Patricia Pastor.
If the lawsuit is successful, it could pave the way for a political comeback for Stringer, who up until this year has held continuously elected office since first winning a state Assembly seat in 1992.
