Man sues Nancy Mace over sexual abuse allegations she made against him on House floor

A man who has been accused of conspiring to commit sexual abuse sued South Carolina GOP Rep. Nancy Mace on Friday for defamation, after she named him in a speech on the House floor last month.

Mace accused four men, including her ex-fiancé, of physical abuse and recording sex acts with her and others without their consent. She claimed that she found a trove of 10,000 videos and other photographic evidence in November 2023 on the phone of ex-fiancé Patrick Bryant.

The lawmaker did not provide any direct evidence to support the allegations, but said she had turned evidence over to South Carolina law enforcement. The South Carolina State Law Enforcement Division previously confirmed Bryant is being investigated for assault, harassment and voyeurism.

Brian Musgrave, one of the other men Mace named, filed the lawsuit in a federal court in South Carolina, where he denied the allegations and said he was not present for any of the alleged events the lawmaker described, per Politico.

The lawsuit is asking for an exception from the Constitution’s speech and debate clause, which generally protects lawmakers from potential prosecution for remarks made on the House or Senate floor.

“[The clause] does not transform the floor of Congress into a sanctuary for defamation, nor does it protect Congresswoman Mace’s extra-Congressional defamatory statements surrounding her speech,” Musgrave’s suit said.

The lawsuit is seeking an unspecified award for compensatory and punitive damages to be determined by a jury.

Mace has not commented on the defamation suit as of the time of publishing. 

Misty Severi is a news reporter for Just The News. You can follow her on X for more coverage.