Trump threatens defamation suit against left-leaning think tank

President Donald Trump's legal team is threatening a defamation lawsuit against the left-leaning think tank Center for American Progress (CAP) over a report it published in July. The report concluded that National Guard deployments, initiated during Trump's administration, had "no evidence that National Guard deployments have reduced violent crime."

In a letter dated August 17, Trump's lawyer, Alejandro Brito, claimed the CAP report contained materially false statements intended to damage the former president. Brito demanded that CAP retract the report, issue an apology, and provide compensation, setting a deadline of 5 p.m. Friday. Failure to comply, the letter warned, could result in a lawsuit seeking at least $5 billion in damages.

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This is utterly absurd: truth is not and cannot be defamation.

CAP has strongly refuted the defamation threat. Kevin Metz, an attorney for the organization, responded in a letter stating, "This is utterly absurd: truth is not and cannot be defamation." He emphasized that the right to disagree with the government and debate policies is central to American democracy. CAP President and CEO Neera Tanden echoed this sentiment, calling the threatened lawsuit a "transparent attempt to silence us" and asserting, "We will neither cower nor bend in the face of it."

The report in question analyzed citywide crime data from communities where the National Guard was deployed, including Los Angeles, Washington D.C., Memphis, and New Orleans. These deployments were ostensibly aimed at protecting federal immigration officials, combating crime, and restoring order. Despite these efforts, the report found no measurable impact on violent crime, homicides, or gun victimizations in those areas. This finding contrasts with the FBI's recent report indicating a nationwide decrease in violent crime rates for 2025.

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This threatened lawsuit's attack on facts and evidence is baseless. A fundamental protection of the First Amendment is to allow for the publication of facts and analysis that are contrary to the arguments and claims of any administration. A lawsuit is a transparent attempt to silence us. We will neither cower nor bend in the face of it.