Lawyers representing state Rep. Daryl Metcalfe, R-12th, have filed a motion asking a Butler County judge to order evidence preserved in a still-pending libel, slander or defamation lawsuit that could be filed by a fellow member of the state House.

In a motion filed Wednesday with the county prothonotary’s office, lawyers for Metcalfe call the civil legal action initiated by state Rep. Peter Daley, D-49th, of Washington County, “frivolous” and intended to intimidate Metcalfe, who has claimed he saw a fellow House member cast a vote for Daley last December in violation of House rules.

Daley’s actions are “ ... (i)n direct retaliation for (Metcalfe’s) efforts to champion for the people, obey the House Rules, and prevent a monumental fraud from being perpetrated,” states the motion, which will be heard by Judge Marilyn Horan on Wednesday. “(Daley) filed this lawsuit in an attempt to intimidate (Metcalfe) and tarnish his reputation.”

In the motion, Metcalfe’s lawyers, Thomas W. King and Ronald T. Elliot of the Butler-based law firm Dillon, McCandless, King, Coulter & Graham, say Metcalfe saw state Rep. Michael Schlossberg, D-132nd, vote for Daley on Dec. 22. The filing claims Daley, who is a lawyer, was representing a client in Washington County Court that day.

The so-called “ghost vote” came during a contentious vote on a Senate-proposed state budget.

The measure ended up passing the House by one vote, 100 to 99.

Metcalfe, who said he immediately reported the rules violation to House Speaker Mike Turzai, also went public with accusations against Daley and another House Democrat, Rep. Leslie Acosta of Philadelphia.

The motion asks Horan to order all communications between Daley and Schlossberg, Daley and the Democrat Caucus, and Daley and other government agencies, including the office of Gov. Tom Wolf, be preserved “in original form.”

Metcalfe’s lawyers argue that his ability to defend himself or file a counter-claim against Daley would be “severely prejudice(d),” if those communications, which Metcalfe argues might contain evidence of Daley’s whereabouts on Dec. 22, were destroyed.

Metcalfe said the requests to preserve evidence are wide-ranging because of the nature of the budget debate in December.

“I think it’s common knowledge that the governor wanted this vote to pass, and it’s common knowledge that the governor communicates with members of his party (on these votes),” Metcalfe said. “It would be a logical deduction to believe some communication took place between the Governor’s office and the Democratic Caucus when there’re votes being taken ... and people aren’t in town or even in the country.”

In a March 2 filing, Metcalfe’s lawyers, who are being retained by the House Republican Caucus, also seek to force Daley to file a formal suit against Metcalfe. That filing, called a Praecipe for Rule to File Complaint, asks county Prothonotary Glenna Walters to order Daley, who filed preliminary documents with Walters’ office last month, to file a final complaint against Metcalfe within 20 days.

The 20-day countdown would have begun on March 3, when Daley received notification of the filing, said King.

A staff member in the prothonotary’s office said Thursday that those orders are issued as a matter of course when a request like the one filed by Metcalfe’s lawyers is filed. If Daley fails to file within the time limit, he would face a judgment of “non pros,” which amounts to a dismissal of his legal action.

Daley is one of several Democratic House members who announced their retirements earlier this year.

He did not respond to a message Thursday seeking comment.

Bill Patton, the press secretary for the House Democratic Caucus, said the caucus was aware of the motion made by Metcalfe’s legal team, but was “withholding comment in light of the pending litigation.”