Newtown Athletic Club Owner Sues Democratic Congressional Candidate Over Riot Accusations

NEWTOWN, PA — A Newtown business owner is suing a congressional candidate seeking to flip Pennsylvania's first district, saying her campaign's statements about him constitute defamation.

Jim Worthington, owner of the Newtown Athletic Club, filed the suit against candidate Ashley Ehasz of Bensalem in the Bucks County Court of Common Pleas last week.

He is seeking at least $50,000 in damages, per a copy of the lawsuit obtained by Thomas Sofield of Levittown Now.

Worthington organized a bus trip of about 200 people to attend Donald Trump's rally at the Capitol on Jan. 6 of 2021, as has been detailed in previous reporting. He attended, too, as is said in the lawsuit.

He has faced backlash for organizing the trip, and has maintained since that no one who bought a ticket on one of his buses took part in acts of sedition. Worthington is still involved in a lawsuit against MoveOn.org and the person who created a petition encouraging Bucks County businesses to end their partnerships with him after Jan. 6.

His lawsuit against Ehasz claims the "highly regarded entrepreneur" suffered "reputational and financial harm" due to statements made in the course of her campaign, which kicked off in October.

The lawsuit partly hinges on a webpage soliciting donations for her campaign, which apparently said that "Jim 'Stop the Steal' Worthington" was "a major funder of buses from Bucks County to the January 6 insurrection at the U.S. Capitol." The page appears to have been removed from her website.

The suit also cites a later fundraising email, apparently signed by Ehasz, which per the document said Worthington "spent thousands of dollars and organized busloads of Trump supporters to attend the 'Stop the Steal' rally that turned into a violent insurrection at the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021."

Worthington said in the suit that, because his non-involvement in the riot was publicized through his statements afterward, Ehasz's accusations were deliberately false.

>> Read more about the fallout from Jan. 6 in Bucks County: 1 Year Later: Bucks Co. Has Most Capitol Riot Arrests Nationwide

The lawsuit accuses Ehasz of "undertaking a vicious campaign to maliciously and falsely accuse Worthington of committing federal felonies and crimes of violence by funding and organizing a group to participate in a violent insurrection at the Capitol."

Ehasz's campaign responded, according to a statement shared by Levittown Now.

“This is a frivolous lawsuit by Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick’s friend and donor to intimidate Ashley," campaign manager Hannah Jeffrey told the outlet. "She has been standing up to bullies like Mr. Worthington her entire life and remains focused on her campaign to defeat Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick and fight for the priorities of families in Bucks and Montgomery counties he continues to ignore."

Ehasz hopes to flip the seat currently held by Fitzpatrick, a Republican. A U.S. Army veteran, she has said her candidacy is inspired by anger at systemic inequity in her home district.

The lawsuit seeks at least $50,000 in compensatory damages, plus more in punitive damages in an amount yet-to-be-determined.

Read the full lawsuit here.

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