There's a bit of an intra-party scandal brewing for Democrats in Virginia after it emerged that Governor Abigail Spanberger's top aide is suing a Democrat operative for defamation after an apparently ugly dustup amid the ongoing effort to gerrymander the commonwealth's congressional map. Word of the lawsuit comes on the heels of Spanberger's awkward performance while delivering the official Democrat response to President Trump's State of the Union address on Tuesday night.
Spanberger's current and longtime chief of staff, Bonnie Krenz-Schnurman, filed the lawsuit in Richmond Circuit Court earlier this week, alleging that Ben Tribbett spread false rumors that Mrs. Krenz-Schnurman's husband was not the father of her newborn baby; Tribbett reportedly told others that an unnamed elected official in the commonwealth was the biological father.
Krenz-Schnurman denies the accusation in the filing, which claims:
Defendant Ben Tribbett has told elected officials, consultants, and senior political leaders across Virginia that Plaintiff — chief of staff to Governor Spanberger — engaged in an extramarital affair with a sitting state delegate who supported a competing congressional redistricting proposal, became pregnant by him, and is passing that child off as her husband’s.
The filing also states, "The paternity allegation Defendant is circulating is scientifically impossible and Plaintiff can provide DNA and genetic testing to remove any doubt regarding these facts. Plaintiff has never had a romantic or sexual relationship with the delegate Defendant identifies."
Gov. Abigail Spanberger’s chief of staff, Bonnie Krenz-Schnurman, is suing Virginia political operative Ben Tribbett for defamation.https://t.co/ZwItXkiK87
— Brandon Jarvis (@Jaaavis) February 24, 2026
It should be noted that Tribbett, who operates a Democrat consulting firm and goes by the handle @notlarrysabato on X, works closely with the odious and foul-mouthed Sen. Louise Lucas, the 82-year-old president pro tempore of the state Senate. Lucas is one of the leaders of the gerrymandering effort and started the push for a new map last year before the state elections took place. It's Lucas who has gloated repeatedly over her party's attempt to strip four congressional seats from Republicans, which would lead to a 10-1 Democrat-to-GOP split.
SEE ALSO: Abigail Spanberger's SOTU Rebuttal Was Just Plain Weird
It Begins: Major Defense Contractor Bails on Virginia Just One Month Into Spanberger's Term
Lucas and her fellow Democrats, having been egged on by House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (NY-08), secreted themselves behind closed doors earlier this month to hash out the gerrymandered map, and that's when Tribbett, who was involved in the redrawing effort, allegedly began spreading the rumors about Krenz-Schnurman. From the filing:
“At the outset of Governor Abigail Spanberger’s term-following her decisive statewide election, Virginia Democrats were engaged in a consequential debate over congressional redistricting,” the filing states. “Multiple approaches were advanced within the party. Defendant supported one strategy. A different proposal allegedly supported by the state delegate Defendant now falsely claims is the father of Plaintiff’s child, ultimately advanced.”
The filing also alleges that Tribbett started the rumor in order to protect his "professional standing and deflect from his own failures by shifting blame for a political loss onto Plaintiff." A person with knowledge of the situation claimed that Tribbett was offered the chance to apologize for his actions, but declined to do so.
Per her filing, Krenz-Schnurman is seeking $17,750,000 in reputational damages and an additional $350,000 in punitive damages.
The Spanberger administration is off to a heckuva start.
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