An attorney linked to conservative efforts is suing a former legal adversary for defamation over emails sent during an investigation into a group of U.S. Navy training officers. 

The complaint, filed Wednesday in U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, alleges that attorney Eric Montalvo with Federal Practice Group sent defamatory statements to a U.S. attorney with the hope of damaging the reputation of Timothy Parlatore with the Parlatore Law Group.