Bob Harvie files defamation suit against GOP super PAC over ‘beyond the bounds’ claims of FBI investigation, inappropriate relationship
The lawsuit argues the pro-Fitzpatrick PAC falsely claimed Harvie was under an FBI investigation and had an inappropriate relationship with a county employee. Fitzpatrick is not named in the suit.
Attorneys for Bucks County Democrat Bob Harvie filed a lawsuit Wednesday against a political action committee and a consultant supporting his opponent, Republican U.S. Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick, in a high-stakes congressional contest.
The lawsuit comes after what Harvie’s campaign says are repeated and false claims about his involvement in an FBI investigation. Harvie’s legal team is also disputing a new attack from the PAC alleging that the county commissioner had an inappropriate relationship with a county employee.
The lawsuit, filed Wednesday in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, claims that Defending America PAC Inc. and its president, Chris Pack, have sustained a “campaign to defame Harvie by repeatedly and recklessly publishing false and defamatory statements imputing criminal conduct that go beyond the bounds even of a highly contested political campaign.”
Harvie’s testimony to a grand jury in an FBI probe in 2022 has sparked a firestorm in the race for the Bucks County-based 1st Congressional District, a seat that could help determine control of the U.S. House this fall. Harvie’s attorneys last month sent a cease-and-desist letter over such statements to Defending America PAC, which subsequently challenged Harvie to file a lawsuit.
Last month, Fitzpatrick and his campaign also received a cease-and-desist letter from Harvie’s lawyers, but neither the Bucks County Republican nor his campaign is named in Wednesday’s suit.
Website and social media posts and other materials from Defending America PAC and Pack this election cycle have stated Harvie is an “FBI corruption subject” or “under FBI investigation” related to his time as a Falls Township supervisor, according to the suit, but Harvie’s lawyers assert that the allegations are false and that he has never been under criminal investigation.
“Contrary to the meaning that out-of-state political operatives have endeavored to convey — to convince Harvie’s community that Harvie is somehow connected to a crime — Harvie is not now and never has been the target of any criminal investigation nor has he ever been charged with a crime,” wrote Harvie’s attorneys, Timothy J. Ford and Marion Barker Taylor of Dilworth Paxson, in the legal filing.
Harvie and his campaign are seeking an unspecified amount of damages greater than $150,000, as well as legal fees, for defamation and false light invasion of privacy.
In a statement to The Inquirer on Wednesday, Pack once again referred to Harvie as an “FBI Corruption Subject” and said the Democrat “has predictably chosen to engage in lawfare by filing a meritless lawsuit in an attempt to stifle our political speech” instead of releasing “complete” records “related to his corruption investigation.”
“Rest assured we will vigorously defend ourselves and seek every remedy available under Pennsylvania law, including Pennsylvania’s anti-SLAPP protections signed into law by Gov. Josh Shapiro,” Pack said, referring to a bill signed in 2024 by the Democratic governor that essentially offers extra layers of protections for defendants in defamation suits.
The organization appears to have been ready for this next step to happen. In an email blast and website post last week, the group said “we’re willing to pay for Harvie to sue us” so that the PAC could obtain any relevant records during the suit’s discovery phase.
In response, Harvie said in a statement Wednesday: “Put your money where your mouth is. Just tell us where to send the bills. See you in court.”
In that same post last week, the PAC made an additional claim — rebuked by Harvie’s lawyers Wednesday — that the Democrat had a “recent divorce” that “may have had something to do with Harvie getting a little too cozy with a county employee.” It links to a screenshot of a random Facebook account that alleges Harvie cheated on his wife with an employee from Bucks County’s children and youth services department and, in turn, helped her become a supervisor.
Harvie’s lawyers rejected the allegation, calling it “outrageous.”
“Harvie never cheated on his wife and never had sex with a Bucks County employee. Harvie never used his position to influence a decision to promote a Bucks County employee inappropriately,” they said.
Harvie and his wife divorced in 2023, public records show.
‘Not politics as usual,’ Harvie’s lawyers argue
The string of events that culminated in Wednesday’s suit dates back to 2022, when Harvie and other officials testified as witnesses before a grand jury in connection with an investigation into political donations and union contracts related to the Pennsbury School District. In 2020, the FBI interviewed several people connected to Falls Township and Pennsbury.
Harvie’s attorneys said in the filing Wednesday that he has not been asked to provide additional information or testimony and has not had any contact with the FBI since his 2022 testimony.
Similar allegations were made during Harvie’s 2023 reelection campaign for county commissioner and were also disputed by the Democrat at the time.
Three years later, they have again bubbled up to the surface as Harvie seeks federal office in one of four Pennsylvania seats being targeted by both parties.
Harvie’s attorneys said Wednesday that since the Democrat announced his candidacy for the U.S. House in April 2025, Defending America PAC has maintained a website entitled “Fire Bob Harvie,” where the group refers to him as “the subject of an FBI corruption investigation” or an “FBI corruption subject.” The lawyers estimate that the PAC has used similar language in at least 30 social media posts and that Pack has personally done so at least 27 times.
The commissioner’s lawyers contend that Defending America PAC’s and Pack’s actions have harmed Harvie’s reputation and qualify as “actual malice.” Since Harvie is a public official, lawyers would have to clear a high legal bar to prove that the organization and Pack either knew the information they are pushing is false or otherwise exhibited a “reckless disregard” for its accuracy.
“Defendants’ conduct is not politics as usual. As shown by doubling down on their escalating rhetoric, Defendants’ conduct is willful, wanton, malicious, and undertaken with actual malice and reckless indifference to Harvie’s rights, thereby entitling Harvie to recover punitive damages,” Harvie’s lawyers wrote.
What is Defending America PAC?
Defending America PAC, a super PAC that is designed to work independently from a candidate, launched as Fitzpatrick was seeking reelection in 2024 and has scaled up its operation this year as the candidate faces his most high-profile challenge yet, according to filings with the Federal Election Commission.
The goal, according to the PAC’s website, is to defend Fitzpatrick “from extremist challengers on the far left and far right.” In 2024, Fitzpatrick defeated a far-right challenger in the Republican primary.
Without the same donor limits as candidates, it raised $425,000 in 2024 and spent its money to oppose Fitzpatrick’s challenger in the Republican primary. In the current two-year cycle, it has raised more than twice that amount and started spending to oppose Harvie. The PAC currently has about $712,500 in its account.
About half the money it has pulled in this election cycle came from labor-affiliated groups that are backing Fitzpatrick, including $250,000 from LIUNA Building America, the political action committee for the Laborers’ International Union of North America. An additional $100,000 came from the PAC for the Transport Workers Union of America, and $50,000 came from the Air Line Pilots Association. In recent weeks, Fitzpatrick has continued to receive sweeping support from labor unions.
Defending America also appears to have received funds from some of the largest Republican donors in the country.
Billionaire Harlan Crow, a GOP mega-donor and real estate developer known for his association with Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, donated $25,000. Craig Duchossois, the former chair of a Chicago-based investment firm, donated $50,000.
A $100,000 donation from Keystone Next — a super PAC that launched in 2025 with funds from an organization aligned with U.S. Sen. Dave McCormick (R., Pa.) — arrived in April. The donation was marked just two days after Keystone Next received a $250,000 contribution from Jeffrey Yass, Pennsylvania’s richest man and largest Republican political benefactor.
It also coincided with two other $100,000 donations that Keystone Next made to super PACs aimed at boosting Pennsylvania Republicans, including the more conservative U.S. Rep. Scott Perry in a competitive Harrisburg-based district.
Staff writers Michelle Baruchman and Abraham Gutman contributed to this article.
