President Donald Trump has issued a legal threat against the Center for American Progress, a Washington-based think tank, demanding the organization retract a report examining the effectiveness of National Guard deployments in various cities. The nonprofit was given until the end of business Friday to comply or face a lawsuit seeking $5 billion in damages.
The report in question, released July 13, analyzed crime trends in cities where the administration deployed National Guard units. The Center for American Progress concluded that the deployments had no measurable impact on violent crime patterns, noting that crime declines in those areas were already occurring prior to the interventions. The organization’s analysis suggested the administration was mischaracterizing existing crime reduction trends to take credit for policy achievements.
Trump’s attorney, Alejandro Brito, characterized statements in the report as false and defamatory, citing specific language that accused the administration of exploiting pre-existing crime declines. The legal demand called for immediate retraction of what it described as malicious statements causing financial and reputational harm to the president.
The Center for American Progress declined to retract the report. The organization’s president and chief executive, Neera Tanden, stated that the lawsuit represented an attempt to silence the nonprofit’s research and analysis. Kevin Metz, the organization’s general counsel, responded to the legal threat by asserting that factual statements cannot constitute defamation under established legal standards.
First Amendment experts noted that similar legal threats have characterized Trump’s approach to criticism and unfavorable media coverage. Kevin Goldberg of the Freedom Forum suggested such actions are typically designed to pressure targets into compliance rather than pursue legitimate legal remedies.
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