Kentucky governor candidate, former Trump aide Lewandowski sue each other over contract

A former associate of Donald Trump and a Republican candidate for governor in Kentucky have sued each other over an alleged breach of contract for campaign consulting services.

Corey Lewandowski — who served as campaign manager for Trump in 2016 and later ran his super PAC — was hired in March as a campaign adviser by gubernatorial candidate Eric Deters, receiving more than $34,000 in payments through the end of April, according to campaign finance filings.

However, the relationship between the two began to sour at some point in May and June, with Lewandowski suing Deters for breach of contract in federal court on Monday, and Deters filing a breach of contract countersuit against Lewandowski in Kenton Circuit Court early Tuesday.

Lewandowski's lawsuit — filed in the Eastern District of Kentucky in Covington by attorney Christopher Wiest — alleges Deters is in breach of their contract by not paying him more than $36,000 owed for his services after Lewandowski notified him June 1 he was terminating the agreement at the beginning of July.

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Lewandowski is also suing Deters over claims of defamation, portraying him in a false light and tortious interference with business relations over a 6-minute video he posted Monday on YouTube ripping Lewandowski over various matters, including allegations that he did not fulfill his contractual obligations and provided poor services.

The lawsuit against Deters — a former northern Kentucky attorney who had his license to practice law suspended last year — alleges he misrepresented his wealth and status as a respected attorney to Lewandowski when they met each other at an expensive fundraiser in February at Mar-a-Lago, the Florida estate of former President Donald Trump.

Lewandowski's lawsuit goes on to allege he terminated the contract when he became troubled by his "increasingly erratic behavior," which, he said, included Deters screaming at him when Trump endorsed Kentucky Attorney General Daniel Cameron for governor instead of him in June.

By Tuesday morning, Deters had filed his countering lawsuit against Lewandowski, alleging the former Trump associate had breached the contract and seeking compensatory and punitive damages.

Also on Monday, Deters filed a defamation lawsuit against Wiest in Kenton Circuit Court — the second defamation lawsuit he has filed against the attorney this summer — alleging Wiest "wrote a letter he published to a third party where he stated: 'your trust where you hide your assets,'" without providing any additional details.

Relationship frayed over Trump endorsement

According to the Lewandowski complaint, Deters paid $100,000 to attend the February fundraiser at Mar-a-Lago in hopes of receiving an endorsement from Trump.

In their conversation, Lewandowski alleges Deters told him he was "a well-respected Kentucky attorney, was independently wealthy, had more than $5,000,000 in the bank, and had sufficient funds to self-fund his campaign for Governor" — all of which the complaint alleges is false.

However, the complaint says Lewandowski believed Deters and entered into the contract to provide strategic advising to his campaign for $17,500 per month on March 7.

After entering the contract, the complaint states Deters "expressed his ardent desire to be endorsed by" Trump, with Lewandowski replying that the former president "makes his own decisions on endorsements" and he "could not guaranty any such endorsement."

The complaint goes on to state that Lewandowski gave a multi-hour presentation on campaign strategy at Deters' home in May, the same month Deters attended a $75,000 fundraiser that Trump attended at the Kentucky Derby for the former president's PAC.

Alleging that "certain appropriate behavior was expected from attendees by former President Trump and his associates" at the Derby fundraiser — such as not posting photographs or discussing with the media any statements made by Trump about Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell — the complaint states that Deters "did both things he was asked not to do, and this was reported in the Louisville Courier-Journal."

In the Courier Journal story, Deters recounted a conversation he allegedly had with Trump, in which the former president called McConnell a "scumbag."

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"Lewandowski informed Deters that Deters’ behavior at the Derby event, and his comments to the media that followed it, would likely be seen as being disloyal to former President Trump," the complaint states.

Though the complaint argues that Trump endorsed Cameron a few days after that May 7 event, it actually was announced June 16 — drawing an angry response from Deters.

"Deters was incensed by this development," the complaint states. "He called Mr. Lewandowski and screamed at him. Deters became even more incensed when Mr. Lewandowski told Deters that Deters only had himself to blame."

Deters fired back at Lewandowski in video

By June 1, according to the complaint, Lewandowski "was seriously troubled by Deters’ increasingly erraticbehavior," having also learned that Deters' law license "had been suspended or revoked in Kentucky for various acts of misconduct." Lewandowski also alleged that he learned Deters was not as independently wealthy as he portrayed himself at Mar-a-Lago, as he did not have more than $5 million in the bank and could not self-fund his gubernatorial campaign.

After informing Deters he would terminate their contract effective July 1, the Lewandowski complaint alleges the GOP candidate for governor refused to pay him for more than $36,000 of services he was owed, along with a July 29 email threatening to post a damaging video about Lewandowski if he tried to sue him for breach of contract.

"Not only will I not pay a dime, I will counterclaim," stated the Deters email cited in the complaint. "And if I’msued. I’m doing a bulldog show about how bad Corey sucked. There is an obvious reason everyone fires him. I’ll do all I can to warn everyone I can about Corey. You over played your cards."

Deters followed through with the video attacking Lewandowski on Monday, ripping him in is regularly produced "Bulldog Show" on YouTube.

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Recounting his conversation with Lewandowski at Mar-a-Lago, Deters said he remembered thinking "maybe this is the right guy to hire, maybe even help me get the Trump endorsement." Deters went on to allege that he tried to get Lewandowski to alter the contract to delay the $17,500 monthly payments until later in the campaign, to which "he just ignored me."

Shortly after Lewandowski's presentation at his home, Deters then alleged his adviser wanted the campaign to "start spending money on things I don't want to spend money on," along with advice to stop "bashing McConnell."

Deters then alleged Lewandowski "breached his agreement" by failing to write a fundraising letter about McConnell, and then "he lied about the Trump endorsement, the timing of. Claimed that he talked to Trump every day. A bunch of baloney."

Last September, Trump's organization said it had cut ties with Lewandowski in the wake of allegations of sexual misconduct lodged by a Trump donor.

Then serving as head of Trump super PAC Make America Great Again Action, a Trump spokesman said Lewandowski "will be going on to other endeavors and we very much want to thank him for his service," adding that he "will no longer be associated with Trump World."

The Lewandowski complaint alleges that Deters made six different false claims about him in the video, seeking compensatory damages exceeding $75,000 for defamation and attempting to harm his consulting business.

Lewandowski goes on to accuse Deters of fraud for misrepresenting his finances, alleging that "upon information and belief, Deters, the Campaign, and/or Bulldog Media are all insolvent."

Deters was sued for breach of contract and fraud by former business partner Kevin Harris in June, who is represented in that lawsuit by Wiest. Later that month, Deters filed a counterclaim for breach of contract against Harris, then filed a libel lawsuit against Wiest and three other attorneys representing Harris, alleging they made defamatory statements to injure Deters' reputation.

Wiest, who has represented multiple clients in lawsuits challenging COVID-19 mandates over the past two years, is a supporter and donor to the gubernatorial campaign of state Rep. Savannah Maddox, a Republican from Dry Ridge who is viewed as a leader of the small-government "liberty" wing of the GOP in Kentucky.

After Trump's endorsement of Cameron, Deters initially criticized Trump and said he would run for governor of Kentucky as an independent, but has since changed his mind and said he will remain in the Republican primary.

Reach reporter Joe Sonka at jsonka@courierjournal.com and follow him on Twitter at @joesonka.

This article originally appeared on Louisville Courier Journal: KY governor candidate, Corey Lewandowski sue each other over contract