Trump hires former 9th Circuit Judge Kozinski for legal fight against Twitter


Former 9th Circuit Court of Appeals Judge Alex Kozinski on Friday filed a request to appear in Trump’s appeal against a trial court’s order dismissing a lawsuit against Twitter over the ban of the former president on the social media platform after the January 6 riots at the United States Capitol.

Kozinski declined to comment. John Coale, the lead attorney on the Trump case, said Kozinski was brought in because of his experience with the 9th Circuit, and no other changes are expected to the legal team.

In 2017, Kozinski retired from the 9th Circuit, the federal appeals court that covers much of the western United States, after the court opened an investigation into him following allegations of corporate misconduct. from former paralegals and other junior staff.

Kozinski said at the time that staying in his role would be a distraction for the federal justice system. He added that he had “always had a broad sense of humour” and that he “may not have been attentive enough to the specific challenges and pressures that women face in the workplace”.

He never intended to make his clerks uncomfortable, he added.

The Washington Post first reported on the misconduct allegations against Kozinski in December 2017. Reuters has not independently verified these allegations. The filing of a complaint does not constitute a finding of wrongdoing.

In 2019, Kozinski returned to the 9th Circuit to represent plaintiff in a lawsuit regarding alleged copyright infringement in the film “The Shape of Water.” In 2021, the parties agreed to reject it after Kozinski secured a key ruling.

He was also part of a team of attorneys in federal court in Los Angeles that sued Paramount Pictures Corp last month for alleged copyright infringement in the hit movie “Top Gun: Maverick.” Paramount said the complaints are without merit.

Last year Mr Trump sued Twitter, Facebook and Google (Alphabet) after they banned him from their platforms following the January 6 riot.

In May, U.S. District Judge James Donato San Francisco dismissed Trump’s lawsuit against Twitter, rejecting the former president’s claim that the ban violated his First Amendment freedom of speech.

Twitter said at the time that it had permanently deleted Trump’s account because his tweets violated the platform’s policy against “advocating violence”.

When reached on Friday, a Twitter attorney referred Reuters to the tech company, and a Twitter spokesperson declined to comment.



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