Fresno City Councilmember Mike Karbassi sues rival Esmeralda Soria alleging defamation
Fresno City Councilmember Mike Karbassi is suing political opponent and fellow councilmember Esmeralda Soria alleging defamation in campaign literature implying he was a criminal.
Democrats Karbassi and Soria are running in the newly drawn Assembly District 27. It covers Fresno, Madera and Merced counties and includes the cities of Merced and Madera and a part of western Fresno.
At issue is a late-campaign mailer from Soria that he says gives the impression Karbassi was guilty of a crime. At the top of the literature is a headline that reads: “Mike Karbassi’s Actions Were Inexcusable.” Underneath that are several headlines, including “Guilty of battery against a student,” “Arrested and cited for assault and battery of a 19-year-old student,” and “Was I wrong? Yes, I touched her when she did not want to be touched.”
The headlines are attributed to media organizations: The Fresno Bee, ABC 30 News and Fox 26.
But according to the lawsuit filed Monday, those headlines are not a result of anything Karbassi did. They were in reference to Brian Calhoun, a former Fresno City College instructor who was found guilty in 2014 of misdemeanor battery on a female student. Calhoun was also a two-term Fresno City councilmember and later became a consultant.
Soria’s mailer points out that Karbassi hired Calhoun in 2019 as a $50-an-hour consultant, despite his criminal conviction.
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“Indeed, Soria knew the claims she published in her Mailer about Mr. Karbassi were false at the time she published them. In fact, on the Mailer’s reverse page, Soria, a licensed California attorney, admits in much smaller print that these claims are not even about Karbassi at all!“ according to the lawsuit. “These false and defamatory statements included express and implied accusations that Plaintiff is a criminal, a harasser of women, commits crimes, and causes waste of tax payer dollars.”
Karbassi is suing Soria for defamation claiming he has suffered injury to his personal, business and professional reputations including embarrassment, humiliation, severe emotional distress, loss of business and significant economic loss.
Karbassi, who referred questions to his attorney Brian Whelan, would only say Tuesday that “the lawsuit speaks for itself and I encourage folks to read it.”
Josh Pulliam, campaign spokesman for Soria said: “Karbassi is shamelessly misusing the courts instead of explaining his use of taxpayer funds to pay $50 an hour to a consultant convicted of assaulting a teenager.”
This story was originally published June 7, 2022 at 3:22 PM.
