Last Straw:They paid the blogger a jury found defamed a performer

The record

• Jeremy Lokken recorded a drag performer's June 2022 Pride in the Park set and sent Bushnell the video.¹²
• Bushnell posted a blurred edit claiming it covered "fully exposed genitals."³
• She spliced in unrelated footage of a child reacting to another performance.³
• The unedited footage showed no exposure, and police never filed charges.³
• A Kootenai County jury unanimously found she defamed the performer, and that she knew the claim was false or acted with reckless disregard for the truth.⁴⁵
• The jury awarded $926,000 in compensatory damages and $250,000 in punitive damages. The Idaho Supreme Court upheld the judgment in September 2026.⁴¹
• On appeal, the court said only six of her 22 cited sources were quoted accurately and called the errors "pervasive and egregious."³
• She testified she ran Facebook pages for Todd Banducci, Elaine Price, Mike Waggoner, Bruce Mattare, Tom Hanley, Luke Sommer, Tony Wisniewski and Duke Johnson.²
• Candidate committees paid her from 2020 through 2026, including committees for Waggoner, Hanley and Sommer.³
• Timothy Braatz writes that the police report names Lokken as the KCRCC town hall videographer.⁶

Who

• Summer BushnellThe full record.
• Jeremy LokkenRecorded the set and sent her the video.
• Tom HanleyHis committee paid her.

Sources

1. Posey v. Bushnell, Docket No. 52072 (Idaho Sept. 22, 2026)Idaho Supreme Court · September 2026
2. Deposition of Summer Bushnell, Posey v. Bushnell, Aug. 25, 2023 (PDF)Kootenai County District Court · August 2023
3. Summer Bushnell: the full recordRigged Red Card
4. Idaho Supreme Court rejects appeal in drag defamation caseCoeur d'Alene Press · September 2026 (archive)
5. Idaho Supreme Court rejects appeal in drag queen defamation caseBoise State Public Radio · September 2026 (archive)
6. Is the Sheriff Getting Special Treatment?Political Potatoes · April 2025 (archive)