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Trump threatens $5bn lawsuit over liberal National Guard policy report
The Guardian • • general
Key Points:
- The Center for American Progress (Cap) received a legal threat from Donald Trump’s lawyer demanding retraction of a report criticizing the National Guard deployment's effectiveness, or face a $5 billion lawsuit.
- The Cap report found that the National Guard deployment in Washington DC, Memphis, and Los Angeles did not significantly impact crime rates despite costing $1.7 billion, noting crime declines began before Trump took office in 2025.
- Trump’s lawyer, Alejandro Brito, alleges the report falsely accuses Trump of manipulating crime data and abusing authority, while Cap defends its findings as factual and protected under the First Amendment.
- Cap’s president, Neera Tanden, condemned the lawsuit threat as an attempt to silence truthful analysis and reaffirmed the center’s commitment to publishing evidence-based research.
- Founded in 2003 by John Podesta, Cap is a prominent liberal think tank known for its progressive policy research and commentary.
