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During a regular session of the Senate Committee on Public Accountability, a senator publicly accuses a private contractor of kickbacks in connection with a national highway project, citing a confidential memo circulated among committee members for deliberations on the project. The contractor files a civil libel suit in the Regional Trial Court. The senator moves to dismiss, invoking the inviolability of speech and debate in the course of legislative proceedings. (a) Identify the controlling doctrine governing statements made in the legislative process and describe its scope. (b) Distinguish legislative privilege from ordinary defamation law and from any other related immunities or protections. (c) Apply the doctrine to the facts: should the libel suit be dismissed on account of legislative privilege? Explain any limits, exceptions, or boundaries that would affect your conclusion.