🕒 Created

Donald Trump threatens to sue Center for American Progress for $5 billion over National Guard crime report

Donald Trump is seeking to sue the Center for American Progress for at least $5 billion in damages after the think tank issued a report claiming National Guard deployments had no measurable effect on violent crime. Alejandro Brito, a personal lawyer for Donald Trump, sent a letter demanding the organization retract the report and apologize by a deadline of 5 p.m. Friday. The report, which cost $1.7 billion to implement, analyzed crime data in Los Angeles, Washington, D.C., and Memphis, concluding that crime rates in these cities were not statistically different from cities without the intervention. Neera Tanden, the president and CEO of the Center for American Progress, defended the report as a statement of fact rather than defamation. She argued that the threat of a lawsuit is a transparent attempt to silence independent research that is contrary to the administration's claims. While the administration announced the deployment of troops to rescue the capital from crime, the think tank maintains that violent crime began falling nationwide before the administration took office. Legal experts suggest that Donald Trump may face a difficult hill to climb to prove actual malice in a defamation case regarding statistics.

Sources