The lawyer for Olivia Troye fired back after his client was threatened with a defamation lawsuit by Kash Patel, whom President-elect Donald Trump nominated as FBI director.
On Wednesday, Jesse Binnall, a lawyer for Patel, sent a letter to Troye claiming she made “defamatory statements about Mr. Patel” during an appearance on MSNBC on Monday. He specifically homed in on remarks she made claiming Patel, who served as chief of staff to the Secretary of Defense and as senior advisor to the Director of National Intelligence under Trump, would “lie about intelligence” and would “lie about making things up on operations.”
Binnall requested Troye, who was a senior counterterrorism adviser to former Vice President Mike Pence, express her intent to retract her comments within five days.
Troye appeared on CNN the following day, where she was asked if she would do so.
“I’m not going to retract from telling the truth,” she said. “That is where I am. And this is something that I lived when I was working with him. And it is absolutely true. I you know, my job in that role was to serve the vice president of the United States in the best way possible.”
On Friday, Troye’s lawyer, Mark Said, fired off a reply to Binnall.
“As you know, I am personally well aware of the impulsive nature fueled by your client’s appetite to sue individuals, as well as your firm’s proclivity to support such lawsuits,” he wrote. “I am reminded of the Italian proverb that a ‘lawsuit is a fruit-tree planted in a lawyer’s garden’ and I can only imagine the number of apples and oranges growing in your backyard. Whether they thrive or not, of course, is the question. Indeed, as you know, I have motions pending in two federal district courts seeking sanctions against your firm and your clients.”
Said then closed with a nod to the “French Taunter” from Monty Python and the Holy Grail:
But to answer your specific question as to Ms. Troye’s intentions as to a retraction, I think Monty Python expresses it best:
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