Mace comments on lawsuit against 3 men she calls ‘predators’

CHARLESTON, S.C. - U.S. Rep. Nancy Mace said a woman she identified as a potential victim of a sexual assault filed a lawsuit against three of the men Mace called predators during a February House speech.

Court documents state the lawsuit, filed by “Jane Doe,” accuses Mace’s former fiance, Patrick Bryant; John Osborne and Eric Bowman and a company the lawsuit identifies as Bowman as owning. It accuses the three men of wrongful intrusion into private affairs, nattery, intentional infliction of emotional distress, premise liability, defamation, abuse of process, negligence per se, negligence, gross negligence, and conspiracy.

Attorney Marybeth Mullaney, who represents the woman suing the three men, released a statement on her client’s behalf shortly after Mace’s news conference:

I am filing this lawsuit for myself and for other women who fear being publicly shamed if they report what happened to them. While Congresswoman Mace and I do not share the same political ideology, what has been and will continue to be important to me is her courage in bringing this to light and her unwavering through this traumatic time in my life. I hope this case encourages women to give themselves the permission to trust their instincts and let go of the shame that never belonged to them in the first place.

Mace read portions of the text of the lawsuit, filed by a former employee of Bryant, from her Daniel Island office on Thursday afternoon.

The lawsuit alleges that the victim was sexually assaulted after she was incapacitated and that the assault was recorded, saved and stored for more than five years.

Mace did not name the woman who filed the lawsuit, but said the victim was one of the women she saw in photos and video footage that prompted her Feb. 25 speech on the House floor.

Mace told reporters she was able to track down the alleged victim who ended up filing the lawsuit and spoke with her on April 6. During that conversation, Mace said she asked the victim what she ed about the night of the alleged assault.

The lawsuit states the plaintiff did not discover the assault of which the men are accused until Mace spoke with her on April 6.

“This young woman didn’t know she was raped bcause she was unconscious when it happened,” Mace said. “I told her the truth after finding the footage. It was one of the hardest conversations of my life.”

Mace said the victim’s strength in coming forward is “immeasurable.”

“And I will stand with her under oath every step of the way,” Mace said.

Mace did not take any questions after reading the lawsuit and a brief statement.

1 of the 3 named in suit issues statement

Bryant, Mace’s former fiance, released a statement Thursday afternoon after Mace’s remarks:

This lawsuit is yet another media stunt in Nancy Mace’s long-running vendetta and blackmail campaign against me.

It is simply part of a narrative and continuing effort on her part designed to attempt to destroy me, and to somehow benefit politically from the publicity.

Osborne and Bowman have not yet responded to the lawsuit or Mace’s allegations.

Mace accused 4 men of being ‘predators’ during February speech

It was during Mace’s speech on the U.S. House floor that she accused Bryant and three other men of what she called “some of the most heinous crimes against women imaginable,” but claimed they have not faced charges even after prosecutors received evidence.

The First District Congresswoman alleged four men from Sullivan’s Island, the Isle of Palms, Mount Pleasant and Rock Hill, conspired to commit rape and to take nonconsensual exploitative photos and videos of women and underage girls.

Mace claimed the victim was raped at a property owned by Bowman on Sullivan’s Island, and that Bryant and Bowman sat by with their phones out while Osborne carried out the assault.

Mace claimed during her speech that the assault was “premeditated and orchestrated while children were in the home.”

She further claimed that when she later confronted Bryant about evidence she found of the alleged crimes, he assaulted her.

She also said while visiting a property owned by one of the men in 2022, she was served two small vodka sodas and inexplicably blacked out. She said she found multiple videos of women who were naked or were being abused and said one of the videos showed her.

The South Carolina Law Enforcement Division confirmed shortly after Mace delivered her speech that it had an open investigation into Bryant but did not say where that investigation stood.

Bryant issued a statement immediately after the speech:

I categorically deny these allegations. I take this matter seriously and will cooperate fully with any necessary legal processes to clear my name.

The fourth man Mace named in her speech, Brian Musgrave, filed a lawsuit alleging defamation and multiple instances of libel against Mace back in March.

Mace filed a defamation suit against Bowman earlier this month. That suit alleged Bowman “intentionally and repeatedly” falsely accused Mace of “illegally influencing the award of Department of Veterans Affairs contracts to friends and political allies” and that Bowman accused Mace of conspiring with his ex-wife and influencing VA contracts to his ex-wife’s company.

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