Trump Threatens $5 Billion Suit Against Think Tank Over National Guard Crime Report
Updated
Updated · The New York Times · Aug 21
Trump Threatens $5 Billion Suit Against Think Tank Over National Guard Crime Report
2 articles · Updated · The New York Times · Aug 21
Summary
$5 billion is the amount Trump threatened to seek from the Center for American Progress over a July 13 report saying his National Guard deployments did little to reduce violent crime.
A Monday letter from Trump's personal lawyer, Alejandro Brito, called the report false and malicious and gave the think tank until 5 p.m. Friday to retract it and apologize.
Neera Tanden, the center's president, rejected the demand, saying the group would not bend to legal pressure and that its findings were grounded in evidence-based research.
The threat opens another legal front in Trump's use of defamation claims against critics, even as such suits face First Amendment protections and can still impose defense costs.