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President Donald Trump scored another legal victory after a federal judge moved to drop a lawsuit brought by retired Lt. Col. Alexander Vindman against Trump administration officials.
Vindman, a former National Security Council aide who helped spark the political witch hunt of President Trump in 2019, suffered a major loss after U.S. District Court Judge James Boasberg dismissed his lawsuit in a 29-page opinion last week, Politico reported.
Named on Vindman’s suit were President Trump’s son Donald Trump Jr., and several Trump allies, including Rudy Giuliani, former deputy chief of staff Dan Scavino, and former Deputy White House Communications Director Julia Hahn, according to Politico. The outlet added that Vindman alleged he was smeared by the Trump officials and was suing them over violating his civil rights after he testified in Congress over Trump’s phone call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
Despite Vindman’s accusations, Judge Boasberg dismissed the suit, maintaining that the complaint failed to prove that the defendants plotted “to intimidate and unlawfully retaliate against him,” per the Washington Examiner.
“Plaintiff’s pled facts, taken as true, certainly suggest that Defendants leveled harsh, meanspirited, and at times misleading attacks against him. But political hackery alone does not violate [Section] 1985. Because Vindman does not sufficiently allege a violation of the 1871 Act, the Court will grant Defendants’ Motions to Dismiss,” the ruling stated.
Vindman emerged in the spotlight in 2019 after testifying about President Trump’s phone call with the Ukrainian president, leading to the first impeachment, which Trump was later acquitted of, The Hill reported. At the time, Vindman served as director for European affairs at the National Security Council (NSC) when he raised concerns over the conversation between the two leaders.
Vindman’s lawsuit claimed that he became the target of “a dangerous campaign of witness intimidation by President Trump and a group of conspirators” to prevent him from testifying, the outlet added.
However, Boasberg wrote that “Vindman’s facts do not plausibly suggest that Defendants agreed to intimidate him so as to prevent him from testifying or doing his job, or to unlawfully retaliate against him.”
According to The Hill, counsel for Vindman, Kristy Parker, expressed disappointment with the ruling, saying, “While we are disappointed by the court’s decision and are considering next steps, we have no doubt that it was right for Lt. Col. Vindman to seek accountability in court for the coordinated campaign of intimidation and retaliation waged against him because he honored his oath as a public servant.”
Whereas, attorney Harmeet Dhillon, who represented Donald Trump Jr. and Dan Scavino, celebrated the court’s decision.
“We’re gratified that the court accepted our arguments that even taken as pled, the allegations made by Alex Vindmann, do not violate his civil rights,” Dhillon stated, according to The Hill. “Harsh political criticism is still allowed in America.”
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