Olivia Troye Legal Defense Fund Re: MAGA Litigant

Enforcement of the rule of law is an important and valuable principle in our Democracy. Unfortunately, the law can be abused as a weapon to try and intimidate those who stand up against govt corruption and misconduct.

In 2022, former Ambassador Richard Grenell filed a defamation lawsuit in the Circuit Court for the City of Alexandria (VA) against our client Olivia Troye, a former Homeland Security and Counterterrorism advisor to Vice President Mike Pence, as part of MAGA's efforts to silence those who challenge their actions to undermine Democracy. We took the deposition for Mr. Grenell and sought to take the deposition of Kash Patel (now FBI Director) but he continually evaded. This case was dropped by Mr. Grenell on the eve of trial.

Then, in 2023, Mr. Grenell filed the lawsuit again. This time we were able to remove it to federal court in the Eastern District of Virginia, where we successfully obtained an outright dismissal as a matter of law in February 2025. Not surprisingly, Mr. Grenell appealed to the Fourth Circuit, but there was a technical error that prevented the appeal from continuing so it was sent back to the district court. Now, in August 2025, he has amended his Complaint but added absolutely no new facts or legal arguments to address the reasons why his Complaint was dismissed in the first place. Amazingly, his Complaint states in a footnote:

"Plaintiff acknowledges that this amendment does not materially address the first part of this Court’s opinion relating to the defamatory nature of the statements. Plaintiff cannot, and does not attempt to, address that aspect of the Court’s order. Plaintiff preserves all argument he made in the Opposition to the Motion to Dismiss,

but amends with the objective of clarifying the record. Therefore, Plaintiff’s amendment does address and clarify the second part of the Court’s opinion in relation to damages and his employment history."

This effort is an intentional act at lawfare to punish Olivia (and perhaps her lawyers) and keep the MAGA policy of vindictiveness alive.

FH+H and Mark S. Zaid, PC, are representing Olivia pro bono to defend her against this intimidation effort. But we have been doing more than just defend. Our response was to embark upon an aggressive response, to include taking depositions where available of key Trump former officials and where appropriate filing counter-claims against Mr. Grenell as well as his financial supporters such as Kash Patel.

Litigation of any sort unfortunately becomes expensive very quickly, especially when Mr. Grenell keeps appealing every losing decision. There will still be countless legal hours devoted to this effort. Therefore, you can help us fight back against MAGA by contributing even the smallest of amounts of donations to this legal fund. Please consider making a difference.

Any unused funds from this fundraiser will be transferred to assist in other similar litigation to help preserve the rule of law.