Listen to Jesse Ventura's Response When Asked What He’s Going to Do With the $1.8 Million Settlement in Chris Kyle Lawsuit

Jesse Ventura, on Tuesday, was awarded a $1.8 million settlement in a defamation lawsuit he filed against slain Navy SEAL and “American Sniper” author Chris Kyle. The former Minnesota governor has alleged that Kyle intentionally lied when he claimed that he punched him in a bar after he said the Navy SEALs deserved to "lose a few."

Ventura was asked Wednesday what he plans to do with the nearly $2 million that will come from the Kyle estate on CBS’ “This Morning,” with one of the anchors mentioning that it will be taken from Kyle’s widow, Taya, and two children.

“Pay my lawyers,” Ventura said, never revealing if his attorney fees really had accumulated into the millions. “Like I said, I didn’t have an insurance company paying the freight for me, I had to pay my own.”

CBS

He had claimed earlier in the segment that Taya Kyle “had all her attorney fees paid by insurance.”

Speaking on his nationally syndicated radio program on Wednesday, Glenn Beck said if Ventura had any "character" he would pay his attorneys and then return the rest of the money to Kyle's family.

"Justice and mercy. Let’s assume they got it right. Justice, OK, then justice has been served. Mercy. Mercy, Jesse Ventura. Mercy," Beck said, making it clear that he believes Kyle was telling the truth.

Ventura made the case that he is a victim in this case and said he only wanted to get to the “truth” to clear his name.

“I’m already damaged,” he said. “I can’t go to a SEAL reunion anymore. That was the one place where I always felt safe. I can’t go there anymore without looking over my shoulder now wondering who is going to come after me next.”

When asked if he plans to take any further legal action, Ventura said he intends to “visit HarperCollins” for publishing a book without doing “due diligence” to verify Kyle’s story was true.

Watch the interview via CBS:

(H/T: Noah Rothman)