Tennessee businessman sues Tea Party Nation leader, claims he was shut out of Palin event

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Tenn. businessman sues Tea Party Nation leader

NASHVILLE, Tenn. — A Tennessee businessman who helped finance Sarah Palin’s appearance at the National Tea Party Convention last month has sued one of the event’s organizers, claiming he was libeled in an e-mail and shut out of the speech.

Bill Hemrick, who helped found the baseball trading card company Upper Deck, said in the lawsuit against Tea Party Nation leader Judson Phillips that he helped cover a deposit on Palin’s $100,000 speaking fee for the Nashville event, then was shut out when the former Alaska governor spoke Feb. 6.

“He was expressly instructed not to attend, and that, if he attempted to attend, he would be denied access,” said Hemrick’s attorney, Phillip Jones.

The lawsuit, filed last week, also claims Phillips reneged on an agreement to form a partnership with Hemrick.

Phillips said Tuesday the lawsuit was meritless and “hurts the movement.” He said Hemrick loaned $25,000 for the convention and charged a substantial interest rate, and the money has been repaid.

According to the lawsuit, Hemrick fronted the money solely to form a partnership with Phillips that included involvement in the Tea Party Nation and help promoting a political action committee.

The lawsuit seeks at least $500,000 in damages and comes as Phillips is planning another tea party convention set for July in Las Vegas.

The lawsuit claimed Hemrick he was libeled when in a mass e-mail before the convention “that reflects expressly (or by implication)” that Hemrick is neither “reputable” nor “trustworthy.” It doesn’t provide other details of what the e-mail said.

The for-profit status of the Tea Party Nation group has been controversial.

Republican Congresswomen Michele Bachmann and Marsha Blackburn backed out of the convention after they questioned how the profits of the event would be used. Several sponsors of the convention withdrew support because of the infighting and questions about the finances.