Such a suit would be a devastating mistake because in American law, truth is exculpatory against charges of slander and libel. Which makes all the facts related to the truth of the plaintiff’s statements discoverable.
In 1895, famed author Oscar Wilde was engaged in a homosexual relationship with the son of the Marquess of Queensbury. The Marquess (the same guy who standardized the rules of boxing) publicly accused Wilde of being a “sodomite,” after which Wilde sued the Marquess for criminal libel.
But suing the Marquess made the matter of Wilde’s sexual predilections discoverable. In the civil suit, the agents of the Marquess proved to the court’s satisfaction that Wilde was in fact engaging in homosexual activity, which under Victorian English law was a criminal offense.
The Marquess was exonerated and Wilde was charged with (and found guilty of) sodomy and gross indecency.
Wilde was sentenced to two years at hard labor, which ruined his health and led to an early death.
The Wood/Powell duo is not a bear SmartMatic wants to go poking, least of all not for libel when Powell can prove what she wrote was true and factual.
... the truth of the plaintiff’s statements discoverable....
Sorry, my mistake. I meant to write, "... the truth of the defendant's statements discoverable...."