President Trump’s personal attorney, Alejandro Brito, has issued a nine-page letter to the Center for American Progress (CAP), a liberal think tank, demanding the retraction of a report critical of the president’s National Guard deployments by Friday evening. The letter, reviewed by The Hill, accuses CAP of “manufacturing” the claim that the deployments have not improved violent crime rates and threatens a $5 billion defamation lawsuit if the report is not retracted, with an apology and compensation provided to Trump.

In response, CAP President and CEO Neera Tanden, a former senior adviser to President Biden, dismissed the threat as “baseless” and defended the report as “rigorous, evidence-based research and analysis.” Tanden emphasized the First Amendment protection for publishing facts and analysis contrary to the administration’s claims, characterizing the lawsuit as an attempt to silence independent research. She argued that public policy disagreements should be resolved through robust debate rather than threats or intimidation.

The article notes that Trump’s personal lawyers have previously pursued defamation suits against perceived adversaries, often targeting media organizations with substantial financial demands. CAP’s report, published last month, concluded that there was “no evidence” the National Guard deployments reduced violent crime, accusing the administration of attempting to claim credit for a pre-existing trend to justify expanded policing. Trump’s reaction on Truth Social labeled the report as a “Radical Left SCAM” and foreshadowed legal action. CAP’s general counsel, Kevin H. Metz, responded to Brito’s letter, calling any potential suit “absurd” and warning that pursuing litigation could set a dangerous precedent, potentially enabling future administrations to target conservative think tanks for reporting facts deemed inconvenient. Source

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