State Sen. Megan Hunt and a group headed by former state Sen. Adam Morfeld have demanded a retraction from an organization that tweeted about the Omaha senator and her 12-year-old son, who is transgender.
The conservative political action committee Nebraska Freedom Coalition referred to Hunt as a "groomer" in a tweet Thursday and posted pictures of the senator’s son prior to his transition.
“@NebraskaMegan Senator Hunt did. All morning long she referred to this child as her son… 🧠#groomer,†the Freedom Coalition said in the tweet, which has since been removed.
The Lincoln-based legal group Nebraska Legal Action Fund called the tweet defamatory and issued a cease-and-desist letter on Friday demanding a retraction.
On Friday, the coalition's executive director, Patrick Peterson, told the  he hadn't seen the letter and he didn't recall if he'd made the tweet.
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But on Saturday, the Freedom Coalition issued a  on Twitter, seemingly mocking the letter and repeating its allegations against Hunt.
“We’ll see you in court. Thanks for acknowledging receipt of our letter,†Morfeld said in a .
Reached Sunday, the Freedom Coalition declined to comment on the cease-and-desist letter, or the specifics of the allegedly defamatory statements made on its Twitter page.
In a  Friday, Hunt said she had asked the Nebraska Legal Action Fund to help her stand against extremists.
“(They) cannot harass and defame Nebraskans with impunity," she said.
Morfeld, who heads the Nebraska Legal Action Fund, said attacks against Hunt and others by the Freedom Coalition have been ongoing for some time, and that the group was happy to provide her with assistance.
“This time they decided to defame a mother, accuse a mother of grooming their child for sexual assault and sexual penetration,†Morfeld said. “It has no basis in fact. That is not protected speech, and it is not permissible under Nebraska law.â€
According to the state’s legal definition of "grooming," which Morfeld tweeted on Saturday following the coalition’s response to the cease-and-desist, the act entails “building trust with a student and individuals close to the student … with the ultimate goal of engaging in sexual contact or sexual penetration with the student, regardless of when in the student’s life (the acts) would take place.â€
The letter from Morfeld’s team demands the Freedom Coalition issue a public statement retracting its claims against Hunt. According to state law, the Freedom Coalition has 20 days to issue such a statement upon acknowledgement of the request.
Morfeld said the Legal Action Fund was formed to combat what he sees as a recent pattern of defamatory statements and other political actors in Nebraska who have persisted “with no legal consequence.â€
Morfeld founded the  Legal Action Fund after his . In that race, an anonymous woman made a last-minute, unsubstantiated claim that Morfeld sexually assaulted her, a claim that arose days after GOP operatives raised the issue on social media.
He said he fears these types of political attacks could cause major disruptions to the state’s democratic institutions.
“It discourages regular Nebraskans from being a part of the political process and exercising their First Amendment rights,†Morfeld said.
The alleged attack against Hunt comes as she and fellow Omaha Sen. Machaela Cavanaugh have forestalled the passage of LB574, a bill introduced by Omaha Sen. Kathleen Kauth that would forbid minors from receiving gender-altering health care. Their weekslong filibuster has garnered national and prevented the passage of any bills 55 days into the 90-day legislative session.