COLUMBIA, S.C. — A South Carolina man who contends Rep. Nancy Mace lied about him when she accused him of sex crimes filed a libel and defamation lawsuit against Mace in federal court Friday morning.

The 37-page lawsuit, filed by Brian Musgrave, of Fort Mill, contends that Mace falsely accused him being a rapist, sex trafficker and predator when she made a speech about Musgrave and three other men on the floor of the U.S. House on Feb. 10.

The lawsuit was filed Friday morning in the Charleston division of federal court in South Carolina, said Musgrave attorney Eric Bland of Lexington.

Bland also emailed copies of the legal action with accompanying exhibits to dozens of local, state and national reporters. By 2 p.m., the lawsuit appeared on the federal court records database under the title of Musgrave v. Mace, et al. It has been initially assigned to U.S. Judge Richard Gergel.

The lawsuit comes as Mace — a Charleston Republican who represents the 1st Congressional District in the Lowcountry — is exploring a run for governor in 2026 when the seat will be open because current Gov. Henry McMaster cannot by law run again. As such, the lawsuit has the potential to surface facts and commentary in a highly public way that may either embarrass or vindicate her.

Mace could not be reached for comment.

The lawsuit says Mace “destroyed the lives of Brian Musgrave and his family” and claims Musgrave has suffered “irreparable harm.” It also seeks actual and punitive damages as compensation. It asks a judge to issue a permanent injunction against Mace to stop her from making further false statements that defame Musgrave.

Musgrave also seeks a jury trial.

In a press release, Bland said Mace had refused repeated chances to retract her statements against Musgrave on the House floor but she had not.

The lawsuit raises a major Constitutional question.

Under what is called the “Speech and Debate” clause of the U.S. Constitution, members of Congress are allowed great latitude in anything they say on the House or Senate floor.

“The protections of the speech and debate clause are not absolute and do not protect against speech made outside of Congress and/or speech that is outside of the course of legislative activities,” Musgrave’s lawsuit says.

“Congresswoman Mace’s conduct is not protected by the speech and debate clause of the United States Constitution,” the lawsuit says. “The speech and debate clause does not grant immunity for defamatory statements scattered far and wide by mail, press, and electronic media.”

The lawsuit also contains exhibits of posts Mace made on X, formerly Twitter, in which she repeated or elaborated her allegations against Murgrave and the other three men.

These posts have been viewed hundreds of thousands of times, the lawsuit alleged.

Bland elaborated in his press release, saying that “the mere fact Ms. Mace was elected to serve as a U.S. Congresswoman does not grant her the power to destroy a man’s reputation with impunity and use the hallowed floor of the House of Representatives as a sanctuary to destroy him.”

Bland filed the lawsuit with attorneys Ronnie Richter and Scott M. Mongillo.

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