The U.S. Justice Department lodged an appeal for emergency relief to re-impose sanctions on Francesa Albanese, United Nations special rapporteur for the Palestinians, after a federal judge lifted the designation temporarily.
The Trump administration sanctioned Albanese, who has a history of making antisemitic and anti-Israel statements, in July for what it said was an intimidation campaign against U.S. companies and groups with ties to Israel.
Richard Leon, a U.S. district court judge, ruled that the sanctions likely violated Albanese’s free speech.
Brett Shumate, U.S. assistant attorney general, challenged the judge’s injunction in a filing on Thursday with the Court of Appeals for the District Court of Washington, D.C.
Albanese is a foreign national, who has not lived in the United States for a decade and whose speech in question was expressed outside the United States, making her ineligible for American free speech protection, according to Shumate.
The Justice Department also decried the sanctions being lifted due to claims from Albanese’s husband and daughter, who weren’t sanctioned but say that they were affected deeply. The latter two’s grievances “could easily be addressed by exempting them from the sanctions” without absolving Albanese, the department said.
“The injunction is both legally indefensible and overly broad,” it told the court.
The Justice Department warned that if the injunction stands, “it will undermine important national security and foreign policy interests of the United States.”
The department is asking the court for an immediate administrative stay of the injunction while it considers the motion.
