Judge rejects SPLC bid to dismiss case as ‘vindictive’ prosecution

A federal judge in Alabama denied the Southern Poverty Law Center’s (SPLC) bid to dismiss a case brought by the Trump administration on the grounds it amounted to a vindictive prosecution, finding the civil rights nonprofit did not meet the bar to demonstrate the Justice Department was motivated by animus in bringing t

“President Trump’s animosity towards Don Lemon and his reporting is well-documented,” the journalist’s lawyers wrote to a judge.

Former CNN anchor Don Lemon asked a federal judge Friday to dismiss the case stemming from an anti-ICE protest that disrupted a Minnesota church service, arguing President Donald Trump’s Justice Department selectively and vindictively targeted him for reporting. Prosecutors allege Lemon was part of a “takeover-style at