Video-maker dropped from Whipple’s defamation lawsuit after turning over evidence
A man who at one time claimed full responsibility for a smear campaign that falsely accused Wichita Mayor Brandon Whipple of sexual harassment has been dropped from the lawsuit after turning over evidence that several local Republican officials were the masterminds behind the plot, Whipple said Thursday.
Whipple said it was clear that Matthew Colborn, 22, was “a victim of manipulation” and that he shouldn’t be held responsible for the video.
“I think it’s a young guy who got caught up with the wrong people, to be honest,” Whipple said. “I actually feel bad for him. He got wrapped up in this and then I think he was set up to take the fall.”
Colborn was the first person to be named in a lawsuit filed last October during the 2019 Wichita mayoral race, along with two John Does and a New Mexico shell company used to hide the identities of who was behind the video when it posted to Facebook and YouTube. Colborn initially admitted to producing the video, but said he did it at the behest of those John Does.
His story changed multiple times after firing his attorney and acting as his own legal counsel, at one point blaming the chair of the local Republican Party.
“The only thing we were hoping was for Matthew to tell us the truth,” Whipple said.
The change comes after Colborn turned over text messages, audio recordings and other evidence that led to Sedgwick County Commissioner Michael O’Donnell, City Council member James Clendenin and state Rep. Michael Capps being added to the lawsuit.
The suit alleges O’Donnell “was the driving force behind the conspiracy” and wrote the script for the video, which cobbled together quotes from Kansas City Star and Wichita Eagle articles about Capitol interns’ experiences with state lawmakers in Topeka.
The ad used paid actresses in silhouette that read the quotes and urged voters to “Stop Brandon Whipple.” But the accusations were actually made against Republican state senators, not Whipple, a House Democrat.
Clendenin is accused of acting as the primary fundraiser, tapping into thousands of dollars from supporters of former Mayor Jeff Longwell. To hide the donor’s names, the money was run through Capps’ Fourth and Long Foundation, a 501(c)3 nonprofit charity that was originally established to help build a new football stadium at Wichita West High School, where Capps was an equipment manager.
The filing accuses the three officials of conspiring to launch the false ad and, when it started to backfire, hatching a plot to frame Sedgwick County Republican Party Chairman Dalton Glasscock, who worked on Longwell’s campaign and has provided text messages that show he was unaware of who was behind it.
Colborn and his attorney did not return calls seeking comment. O’Donnell, Clendenin and Capps did not immediately respond to requests for comment on the lawsuit.
O’Donnell recently said the lawsuit is politically-motivated and that Whipple and his attorney, Randy Rathbun, are both Democratic Party members who want to see him lose his upcoming election against Sarah Lopez.
“On my father’s grave, I had nothing to do with this video, and we are going to be filing a lawsuit as well,” O’Donnell told KWCH last week. He also told The Eagle in an email that he would counter-sue, but no such lawsuit had been filed as of Thursday afternoon, according to court records.
Whipple said O’Donnell will remain a defendant in the lawsuit whether he wins or loses this November.
“I’m not running against him,” he said. “It’s not about politics, it’s about accountability.”
This story was originally published October 23, 2020 at 5:01 AM with the headline "Video-maker dropped from Whipple’s defamation lawsuit after turning over evidence."