If you are wondering about the timing of Rep. Michele Bachmann’s (R-MN) announcement that she won’t seek reelection, it’s worth noting that the court date in her Iowa lawsuit was also disclosed today. It is set for May 14, 2014. Yep, right in heart of the election season. The lawsuit, Heki vs. Bachmann, alleges she stole and misused an e-mail distribution list maintained by an Iowa home school group during her failed 2008 presidential campaign.

A 12-page Polk County lawsuit filed last July alleges that two Iowans, Barbara and Richard Heki, suffered “severe emotional distress and loss of current and future business opportunities” after two unapproved emails were sent from the Bachmann for President campaign to members of the Network of Iowa Christian Home Educators (NICHE).

The lawsuit names Bachmann, her campaign, former campaign chairman Kent Sorenson and five other Republican operatives, along with their personal business entities. It alleges that Sorenson stole the home-schooler database off Barbara Heki’s personal computer in early November 2011 as it sat in a Bachmann campaign office in Urbandale.

Court documents allege other campaign officials knew of and supported the theft, which quickly led to the Hekis being kicked off the NICHE board of directors. Source: Des Moines Register

The timing of Michele Bachmann’s disclosure that she will not seek reelection in 2014 is weird, considering the court date was disclosed today. Seems to me Michele Bachmann is anticipating a blistering trial. In any case, this trial and the FBI investigation will make for an interesting GOP sideshow. Well, one less passenger for the 2016 GOP clown car. That’s for sure.

This was cross-posted from The Hinterland Gazette.