The truth hurts ... at least according to Deion Sanders -- who insists his daughter wasn't lying when she called Pilar a "gold diggin' h*e" on the Internet ... so Pilar has no right to sue for defamation.
TMZ broke the story ... Deion's estranged wife filed a $200 million lawsuit last month against Deion and his daughter Deiondra -- after Deiondra went on a Twitter rant, in which she trashed Pilar as a "gold diggin' h*e" ... and publicly accused her of cheating on Deion.
Pilar sued for defamation, plus a laundry list of other things like fraud, slander, libel, civil conspiracy and emotional distress -- claiming Deiondra and Deion have been out for her for years ... and the Twitter outburst was just the latest example.
But now, Deion's firing back ... filing a response to the lawsuit -- insisting Pilar has no grounds to sue for defamation ... because Deiondra wasn't lying when she called Pilar a "gold diggin' h*e."
In fact, Deion insists, his daughter's Twitter insult is TRUE -- claiming, “Any statements made by any defendants were true, did not create a false impression ... and were not malicious.” The last part is less believable.
Deion also claims the "h*e" insult didn't actually hurt Pilar's reputation -- especially not to the tune of $200 million.
Deion wants Pilar's lawsuit dismissed. Calls to Pilar were not returned.