Jailed Nevada cattlemen Cliven Bundy is suing a Democratic candidate for Congress, accusing him of defamation with a campaign mailer that Bundy says blames him for the ambush deaths of two Las Vegas police officers in June 2014.
Attorney Bret Whipple, representing Bundy, said Friday the implication that Bundy caused husband-and-wife anti-government extremists Jared and Amanda Miller to kill the officers is false and "maliciously defamatory."
Authorities say the Millers were kicked out of an encampment near where Bundy is accused of leading an April 2014 standoff with federal agents about 80 miles outside Las Vegas.
Whipple says Bundy never met the Millers.
The mailer says Bundy's standoff "led to the deaths of two Las Vegas police officers."
A spokesman for Kihuen stood by the mailer and branded the lawsuit a last-minute political stunt by Bundy on behalf of Kihuen's opponent, incumbent Republican Congressman Cresent Hardy.