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Case 18-2868, Document 276, 08/09/2019, 2628224, Page62 of 77 is available to a person “who has been defamed in the first instance,” here, Ms. Maxwell, and “who, in response to the attack, responds in kind.” /d. The privilege of the initially-attacked person (Ms. Maxwell) includes in rebuttal of the initial attack the right to speak the truth, but the right to rebut is not confined to the truth or to mere denial: This defense of reply is material, of course, only where the response in kind is defamatory. The injury, if any, to plaintiff is excused, because it is the plaintiff who started the altercation. ... It is a contradiction in terms to say that the one attacked is a privileged only to speak the truth, and not to make a counter attack, or that legitimate self-defense consists only in a denial of the charge or a statement of what is claimed to be the truth respecting its subject-matter. Id. (emphasis supplied; quoting Collier v. Postum Cereal Co., 134 N.Y.S. 847, 853 (1* Dep’t 1912)); see generally Restatement of the Law of Torts (Second) § 594 cmt. k (1977) (noting that to protect her reputation from attack by another person, she is conditionally privileged to publish defamatory matter about her attacker reasonably believed necessary to defend her reputation, “including the statement that [her] accuser is an unmitigated liar’). A defendant asserting the defense of reply need only establish she has been attacked with a defamatory statement. See id. at 297. Beginning no later than 2009 plaintiff attacked Ms. Maxwell with defamatory statements. In 2014, plaintiff knew the press was giving extensive coverage to, and scrutinizing all filings in, the Crime Victim’s Rights Act case pending in the United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida and in plaintiff's 2009 civil action against Mr. Epstein. Knowing this, plaintiff repeatedly filed papers in court alleging that Ms. Maxwell participated as a “recruiter” in a “‘sex trafficking” scheme operated by Mr. Epstein. E.g., Exhibit D. In 2011, plaintiff granted “exclusive” interviews to the British tabloid press during which she repeated her false allegations against Ms. Maxwell and also alleged that as part of the “sex trafficking” scheme she had sex with numerous prominent public figures, including 55