A political columnist and campaign surrogate for President Donald Trump has sued The Daily Beast for libel after a Sept. 13 article questioned her professional credentials, she alleged in a complaint filed last week.

In a report tied to the release of Gina Loudon's latest book, "Mad Politics: Keeping Your Sanity in a World Gone Crazy," Daily Beast senior reporter Tanya Basu wrote that the book falsely described Loudon "as having a doctorate in psychology."

Loudon is a national co-chairwoman of Women for Trump 2020 and a member of the Trump campaign's Media Advisory Board, according to her attorney, David Schwartz of Gerstman Schwartz Malito.

She has a doctorate in human and organizational systems from Fielding Graduate University, according to a copy of a diploma submitted by her attorney as evidence in court papers. Human and organization systems is "a subset of psychology," Schwartz wrote in the lawsuit, which was filed Oct. 8 in New York County Supreme Court.

"Indeed, Dr. Loudon's entire education is grounded in the field of psychology," Schwartz wrote. "To even imply otherwise is the height of dishonesty."

Loudon has a bachelor's degree in psychology and master's degrees in education and organization development, Schwartz wrote. Her doctoral dissertation was focused on psychology, according to the lawsuit.

On Friday, Ballard Spahr lawyers Seth Berlin and Jacquelyn Schell, who are representing Basu and The Daily Beast, filed a notice of removal to federal court in the Southern District of New York. The case was assigned to U.S. Senior District Judge Victor Marrero the same day.

Berlin declined to comment Wednesday. Basu and The Daily Beast did not respond to requests for comment Thursday and Friday.

In her report, Basu quoted from the jacket of Loudon's book, which called Loudon "America's favorite psychological expert" and said she had a doctorate in psychology.

Loudon's publishing company took responsibility for that phrasing, Basu reported, quoting a publishing company employee who explained that human and organizational systems had been simplified to "psychology" for the jacket and that the company would update that description for future printings.

In the book itself, Basu pointed out, Loudon explained that she has never had clinical access to the president and, in fact, does not do "clinical work."

She discussed how Trump's personality type and birth order may affect his performance as president in the book, according to The Daily Beast. Basu interviewed other experts and examined studies to explain why those concepts may not be reliable.

The Daily Beast article quoted the president of the Florida Psychiatric Society, who said Loudon's doctorate did not seem to qualify as field of psychological study for the purpose of getting a license.

The report led to a "tidal wave" of misinformation spreading to other news outlets, Schwartz told the Law Journal Thursday.

After the Daily Beast article was published, Amazon sales of Loudon's new book "precipitously dropped," according to the lawsuit. She also lost money because Fox News, CNN and MSNBC stopped booking her for appearances, according to the suit.

Schwartz said he and Loudon believe The Daily Beast knew it was publishing false information.

"And it's happening over and over and over again, and I believe the courts have to become wise to this type of behavior and not take such a broad view of the First Amendment," he said.

Beyond simply winning the lawsuit — Loudon is demanding $25 million in compensatory damages — Schwartz said they are hoping for a "philosophical" victory.

"We're hoping the judge takes a stance and says no, you can't just write whatever you want without even caring about the truth and veracity," Schwartz said.

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