Attempted Silencing by Lawsuit: Why I Won’t Back Down

It’s happening again.

This week, Richard Grenell amended and refiled his lawsuit against me. It’s not about truth. It’s not about justice. It’s about punishment, and it's personal.

Grenell’s ongoing legal assault is meant to do one thing: hurt me. Hurt me financially, professionally, and personally. It targets my attorneys. It targets my livelihood. It targets my resolve.

These types of lawsuits are designed to scare potential employers from hiring you. The strategy is clear: make someone toxic enough that no institution wants to take the risk. It's the long game of silencing dissent. Not by proving you're wrong, but by making it too costly for you to speak at all.

Let me be even more clear: Richard Grenell’s repeated lie that I was “fired” is infuriating. It is categorically false. At the time, I chose not to sue General Keith Kellogg when he went on national tv in September of 2020 and claimed he had fired me, even though I was told I should. Both he and Vice President Mike Pence know that I wasn’t fired. I had a bigger purpose, to warn the American people about what Donald Trump was doing, and what would come if he returned to power. That mission was, and still is, more important to me than personal vindication.

I’ve spent the last few years sounding the alarm about a second Trump term. About the erosion of the rule of law, the attacks on our Constitution, the threats to national security and civil liberties. About the extremism that Stephen Miller and his ilk are now proudly institutionalizing. I knew speaking out would come at a cost. And this is that cost.

They know what they’re doing. It’s part of a broader effort to bully me into silence, to intimidate others into staying quiet, and to make public accountability so punishing that no one dares try it again.

And let’s talk about defamation. That means knowingly telling a lie. In this case, I told the truth. I still believe, and continue to stand by, what I said about Richard Grenell. Colleagues came back from a trip with Vice President Mike Pence horrified by what they witnessed. They believed Grenell’s actions while serving as Ambassador to Germany could have placed him (Pence) in a very precarious situation, at an event attended by far-right individuals. I trusted their accounts. I still do. And nothing has changed. This case was already dismissed once.

Let me be clear. I will not back down.

As my attorney Mark Zaid recently wrote:

Amazingly, this footnote below taken directly from the Amended Complaint in this latest lawsuit filing acknowledges that they do not materially address reasons why the lawsuit was dismissed in first place in their most recent filing.

This is a very lonely space to be in, which is why I won’t stop standing by others who’ve been targeted by Trump and his circle of enablers. This isn’t just about me. It’s about what kind of country we want to live in. One where truth-tellers are bankrupted for doing the right thing? Or one where we still believe in accountability, honesty, and courage?

To those of you reading this, especially my paid subscribers who continue to support my work and essentially my livelihood, I want to thank you for standing with me. Many of you have sent words of encouragement, shared my writing, and reminded me why I chose to speak up in the first place.

For additional details on this lawsuit, and if you'd like to support my legal defense fund, please visit: Support Olivia’s Legal Defense

They may try to break me, but I know I’m not alone. And if you're standing for truth too, neither are you.

More soon,

Olivia