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Story Linking Lobbyist, McCain Results In Defamation Suit

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By BILLY HOUSE

bhouse@tampatrib.com

Published: December 31, 2008

WASHINGTON - A woman employed by a Washington lobbying firm with a Tampa connection has filed a $27 million defamation lawsuit against The New York Times for an article about her and Sen. John McCain.

Attorneys for Vicki Iseman, who remains a partner at Alcalde & Fay, filed the suit in U.S. District Court in Richmond, Va., on Tuesday.

She is alleging the February article falsely communicated that she and McCain had an illicit "romantic" relationship in 1999 when he was chairman of the Senate Science, Commerce and Transportation Committee and she was representing clients before Congress on behalf of Alcalde firm, based in Arlington, Va.

Both Iseman and the Arizona senator had told the newspaper they never had a romantic relationship.

However, the lawsuit claims the public viewed the Times' story, published as Republican McCain was running for president, as being about an affair.

"We fully stand behind the article. We continue to believe it to be true and accurate, and that we will prevail," the Times responded in a statement. "As we said at the time, it was an important piece that raised questions about a presidential contender and the perception that he had been engaged in conflicts of interest."

Alcalde & Fay's founder and chairman, Hector Alcalde, was chief of staff for former U.S. Rep. Sam Gibbons of Tampa and a University of Tampa graduate and member of the college's board.

As a lobbyist, he has represented local governments including Hillsborough County and Tampa.

The complaint can be read at: http://libn.com/files/2008/12/iseman-complaint.pdf....

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