Former Idaho gubernatorial candidate and anti-government activist Ammon Bundy is once again on the clock in his bankruptcy proceedings.
Lawyers for St. Luke’s Health System recently filed a new motion to prevent Bundy from discharging a $52 million defamation judgment levied against him by a jury in 2023.
Bundy filed for bankruptcy last summer in Utah to wipe the judgment from his record.
Attorneys for St. Luke’s are asking the judge to not discharge the judgment debt because they say he acted maliciously and flouted the original court proceedings by refusing to show up.
The Utah bankruptcy court judge initially ruled in favor of St. Luke’s in January, but reversed that decision after Bundy said he wasn’t properly served with legal paperwork.
Bundy must respond to the latest motion by June 16 and attend a hearing on the issue July 15 to maintain his objection.
The $52 million judgment stems from repeated protests and online statements he made directed at the hospital and certain staff members, claiming they were aiding and abetting child traffickers.
Bundy’s friend and sometimes business partner, Diego Rodriguez, also helped lead the charge against St. Luke’s when his grandson was taken from his mother for a health evaluation.
Protests briefly shuttered St. Luke’s downtown campus, requiring ambulances to be rerouted.
As previously reported by Boise State Public Radio and the Idaho Capital Sun, switchboard employees fielded calls from 30 different states that included death threats, according to statements made by the health system.
They included:
- "I'll f------ kill you"
- "If that baby is not returned to its mother there is going to be hell to pay"
- "Groups are going to be coming . . . we're coming"
- "The governor of this state should be shot"
- "It's disgusting what this hospital is doing to this baby ... sex trafficking ... you are responsible for that"
- "How about you give that baby an enema you baby killers? What is wrong with you morons? You are going to pay for this."
- "If anything happens to your [sic] child your ass is dead"
- "You will be put in jail and executed"
- "I am so f------ pissed off at you people right now, you have no right to be alive."
Throughout both the civil lawsuit and bankruptcy proceedings, Bundy has said St. Luke's is trying to inflict financial harm on his family.
Editor's note: St. Luke's Health System is a financial supporter of Boise State Public Radio, but had no involvement with this story.
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