ST. PAUL — A judge on Wednesday allowed former Minnesota Gov. Jesse Ventura’s defamation lawsuit against the widow of slain “American Sniper” author Chris Kyle to go to trial.

U.S. District Judge Richard Kyle denied a motion by Chris Kyle’s widow to dismiss the suit. The judge is not related to Chris Kyle, a former Navy SEAL who was killed last year at a Texas gun range.

Ventura alleges Chris Kyle, considered to be the deadliest sniper in American history, defamed him in his best-selling book. In it, Kyle claimed he punched someone named “Scruff Face,” whom he later identified as Ventura, in a 2006 bar fight. Ventura says the fight never happened.

“It’s never been about money. It’s about clearing my name. It’s a lie,” Ventura told The Associated Press in an interview last month.

The judge wrote Ventura has offered enough evidence that a jury could conclude Chris Kyle’s statements were “materially false.”