General Discussion

A federal appeals court handed another legal defeat Thursday to a Russian-born academic who claims she was libeled by press accounts that she says insinuated she had an affair with former National Security Adviser and Defense Intelligence Agency chief Michael Flynn.

The academic, Svetlana Lokhova, sued several news organizations in 2019 over the reports and also named as a defendant Stefan Halper, a U.K.-based former professor who was a central figure in the FBI investigation into alleged collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia.

A ruling issued by the Richmond, Va.-based 4th Circuit Court of Appeals Thursday upheld an earlier district court decision throwing Lokhova’s suit out in its entirety.

Halper’s lawyers asked the appeals court to impose sanctions on Lokhova’s lawyer Steven Biss, a Charlottesville, Va.-based attorney who has drawn notoriety for filing a series of libel suits on behalf of Rep. Devin Nunes, (R-Calif.), now the ranking minority member of the House Intelligence Committee.

Halper’s lawyers said Biss’ handling of the Lokhova case violated bar rules. Thacker was sharply critical of Biss, saying: “His history of unprofessional conduct is long.” She declined to order sanctions though, saying the issue remained up to the district court.