A lawyer representing Democratic congressional candidate Susie Lee is dismissing a request from her Republican opponent Danny Tarkanian asking her and her campaign to retract certain statements about Tarkanian’s past business dealings as a “campaign stunt.”

Lee’s lawyer, Todd Bice, in a letter sent to Tarkanian’s lawyer on Monday, said that the cease and desist letter lacks “applicable law” and fails to “acknowledge pertinent facts” in its request that Lee and her campaign retract certain statements relating to Tarkanian’s role setting up telemarketing companies and his bankruptcy proceedings, which Tarkanian alleges to be defamatory. Tarkanian’s lawyer Marc Randazza sent the cease and desist request last week, asking Lee and her campaign to not only retract the statements but also issue a public apology and promise to never publish them again.

Tarkanian was awarded damages by the Clark County District Court after his 2004 opponent for state Senate, Mike Schneider, made similar statements about his role in setting up telemarketing companies, and the Republican congressional candidate is suing his 2016 opponent, now-Rep. Jacky Rosen, over the same issue.

Bice, in the letter, called the cease and desist letter an effort by Tarkanian to “use litigation threats to silence discussion about his conduct” and said that it is “an affront to the principles upon which our democratic process rests.” He wrote that Lee’s campaign is “entitled” to address Tarkanian’s past and that the statements identified in the letter are “accurate, fair and protected speech.”

The original cease and desist letter rebuffed claims about both the telemarketing businesses and the bankruptcy proceedings, including a screenshot from a website paid for by Lee’s campaign, a tweet from Lee and a press release put out by her campaign as examples of the statements. The letter also offered that Tarkanian was “willing to waive any claims against” Lee and her campaign relating to the statements as long as they took the requested action.

Bice, in the Monday letter, said that the statements are “matters of public concern within the First Amendment” and that Lee’s campaign will “continue to highlight for voters the stark differences between the candidates’ records.”

Lee’s campaign manager, Brandon Cox, again doubled down in a statement Monday evening, saying that the statements are “documented, factual, readily accessible in public documents, and has been thoroughly reported and validated by multiple media outlets.”

Tarkanian spokesman Richard Hernandez said in a statement Monday night that the points made in the letter from Lee's attorney parallel those made by Rosen's attorneys in a motion to dismiss Tarkanian's lawsuit, which was denied last year.

"Like the Rosen campaign, Susie Lee for Congress seems to suffer from the delusional belief that the law allows for the spreading of malicious lies. It doesn't. Just ask Mike Schneider," Hernandez said.

Tarkanian and Lee are running to represent Nevada’s 3rd Congressional District, which is being vacated by Rosen as she pursues a bid for the U.S. Senate.

Disclosure: Susie Lee has donated to The Nevada Independent. You can see a full list of donors here.