BOISE, Idaho — Former candidate for Idaho governor Ammon Bundy has another warrant out for his arrest after he failed, once again, to show up for a court hearing Monday, Nov. 13.
This was another contempt hearing in Ada County related to the St. Luke's defamation lawsuit in which the health system was awarded a default judgement for $52.5 million. A default judgement because Bundy did not show up for any of it.
As KTVB has previously reported, Bundy and his friend Diego Rodriguez have had a lengthy legal battle with the hospital. quick recap. In March 2022, Idaho's Child Protective Services said Rodriguez's grandson, dubbed "baby Cyrus," was in medical danger due to malnutrition and his parents stopped showing up to doctor's appointments.
Police took custody of baby Cyrus and took him to St. Luke's in Boise. Immediately, Bundy, Rodriguez and several members of their respective groups, The People's Rights Network and Freedom Man Political Action Network staged several protests outside the hospital. At one point even causing the hospital to shut down for bit.
St. Luke's claims Bundy and Rodriguez continued to harass and defame hospital staff. Even after baby Cyrus was returned to his parents. So, the hospital filed a civil lawsuit to stop it, however, after losing the lawsuit and ordered to remove the defamatory stuff from his website, Bundy did not.
Thus, the contempt of court charge. There have been five of these filed by St. Luke's, but this would be the second where an arrest warrant has been issued.
Because of that, Ada County District Judge Nancy Baskin set Bundy's new bond at $250,000 and revoked his previous $10,000 bond.
The fact that Bundy was a no-show in court was actually not a surprise. He sent an email to St. Luke's attorneys yesterday. He said, in part, he won't be in court today...or any other day. That he has much more important matters to attend, such as providing for my family's needs.
"My entire life has been consumed by political prosecutions and I must now do what is necessary to sustain my family," Bundy wrote.
He added that he hopes St. Luke's will find better things to spend their money on, other than expensive lawyers.
The question is, will there be another arrest of Bundy at an event by the Gem County Sheriff? Well, there is another layer to this. Posts on social media seem to point to the Bundy's skipping town and moving out of Idaho.
When KTVB asked him about it, he replied via text.
"I'm sure the Idaho establishment and liberal(s) would like that," Bundy texted. "The only thing I care to tell you is I don't regret any of it...I was honest and getting baby Cyrus back makes all of the trouble worth it."
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