Hot off the presses from Lee Fink’s industrial-strength legal team: Dim-witted, Trump-loving, litigious Colonel Sanders spawn and HB councilman Butch Twining has been (tentatively) ordered to pay Gina $120k. This is two months after Judge Craig Griffin ruled Butch’s suit frivolous. I don’t want to make Lee mad because we all know his hair-trigger temper, but – if I don’t say it someone else will – THIS is the kind of elderly abuse we like to see. The good kind. More colorful commentary follows after Lee’s press release:
TENTATIVE RULING ISSUED REQUIRING BUTCH TWINING TO PAY $120,000 TO GINA CLAYTON-TARVIN
Tentative Ruling Comes After Superior Court Judge Dismissed Defamation Case as Frivolous
FULLERTON, CA – Orange County Superior Court Judge Craig Griffin issued a tentative ruling that would require Huntington Beach City Councilmember Butch Twining to pay nearly $120,000 in attorneys’ fees and costs to Gina Clayton-Tarvin for filing a frivolous strategic lawsuit against public participation (SLAPP) against her. A hearing on the motion will be held on Monday, August 24, 2026, at 2:00 PM in Department N-17 of the Orange County Superior Court, North Justice Center, 1275 North Berkeley Avenue, Fullerton.
Twining sued Clayton-Tarvin when she exposed Twining for marching and chanting “while amongst” white supremacists at the September 10, 2025 Charlie Kirk rally at the Huntington Beach pier. Video of the rally, widely available online, show that Twining was at the rally while white supremacists including Ryan Sanchez and Nick Taurus led numerous chants, including “white lives matter,” “fight, fight, fight,” and “white men fight back.” Taurus and Sanchez even targeted local Republican leaders, including District Attorney Todd Spitzer, chanting “Spitzer sucks,” while Twining was present.
Twining’s sought $25 Million in damages against Clayton-Tarvin. In response, Clayton-Tarvin and her lawyers filed a motion under California’s anti-SLAPP statute (Code of Civil Procedure, § 425.16), which allows a court to dismiss a case arising from the exercise of a person’s right of free speech unless the plaintiff can “establish[] that there is a probability [he] will prevail.” The Court granted Clayton-Tarvin’s motion and dismissed the case on March 9, 2026.
The Court’s tentative award of $119,959.05 exceeds the $91,900 that Clayton-Tarvin’s attorneys had offered to settle the matter.
Clayton-Tarvin issued the following statement:
“This ruling sends an unmistakable message to Butch Twining and any other politician who thinks the courthouse can be weaponized to intimidate, punish, or silence the very people they were elected to serve. Twining came after one of his own constituents* with a meritless defamation lawsuit and high-priced Los Angeles lawyers simply because he didn’t like being criticized. He tried to bully me into silence. He failed spectacularly. Now, instead of silencing me, he has been ordered to pay my attorneys’ fees on top of whatever he owes his own lawyers. That’s an expensive lesson in the First Amendment, but apparently one he needed to learn.”
[*Aw, don’t say “one of his own constituents” like that makes you some innocent victim who should be immune to a lawsuit. That’s like when Saddam gassed the Kurdish rebels and everyone was all “Saddam gassed his own people!” – they were his enemies who were trying to overthrow him. Anyway, I would have left off those 5 words. -V]
Judge Craig Griffin was appointed to the Superior Court in May 2009 by Republican Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger. A copy of Judge Griffin’s Tentative Ruling is attached and available at: https://www.occourts.org/
For more information contact:
Lee Fink, Lee@BrowerLawGroup.com, (949) 328-1548
Brett Murdock, brett@murdocklaw.com, (714) 582-2217
Kyle Gurwell, kng@lawofficekg.com, (562) 600-9989
Scott Resnick, scott@scottresnicklaw.com, (602) 888-4475
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So congratulations Gina and Team Fink! A couple things: I remember when Dan C at the ironically named Liberal OC first reported on this frivolous lawsuit last December, expressed doubt that Gina could prevail and wished (so originally!) for “popcorn” so that he could watch the proceedings with superior indifference, and see if the hated Gina could be sued into bankruptcy. Like always when Dan writes about Gina, Oscar & Victor, his comments section became a free-for-all against those worthy HB Dems, featuring Chuck Johnson and John Mardahl writing under numerous pseudonyms. Liberal OC = Channeling the Right-Wing Noise Machine!
I remember the morning Pearlman reported on this “White Men Fight Back” rally featuring Councilman Twining (he must have got a tip from Bixby or Gina.) And I was debating whether to write about it myself, but Twining’s wife immediately started commenting how Butch had NO IDEA, how he left as SOON as he figured out it had become a White Power rally, and PLEASE TAKE THIS DOWN, and Pearlman did take it down. So I just decided to leave it alone too.
But I don’t live in Surf City anymore so I’m not stuck with all the SHIT this MAGAt Council does, so if I were Gina I probably would NOT have left it alone. And really, when you attend a rally for the Slain White Grievance Martyr, in a town with a history of rightwing extremism like HB, what do you expect it’ll turn into?
.And Twining just made things worse. Maybe you could see suing someone for thousands for falsely suggesting you’re a White Supremacist, but 25 MILLION? While you WERE there marching and chanting? Butch (and his friends) were just trying to destroy Gina. They are always trying to destroy Gina, and it never works. What doesn’t kill Gina makes her stronger! . .
I got a little more but gotta run to a gig will finish by noon. Need to get this out though because it hasn’t been reported.
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