Family of UN's Albanese Sues Trump Admin Over Sanctions

The family of U.N. investigator Francesca Albanese has sued the Trump administration over U.S. sanctions imposed on her last year for her criticism of Israel's policies during its war against Iranian-backed Hamas terrorists, saying the penalties violate the First Amendment.

In a lawsuit filed Wednesday in the U.S. District Court in Washington, D.C., Albanese's husband and minor child outlined the serious impact those sanctions have had on the family's life and work, including the ability to access their home in the nation's capital.

"Francesca's expression of her views about the facts as she has found them in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and about the work of the ICC is core First Amendment activity," the lawsuit stated, referring to the International Criminal Court. That tribunal has issued arrest warrants against Israeli officials, including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, over allegations of war crimes.

"At its heart, this case concerns whether Defendants can sanction a person — ruining their life and the lives of their loved ones, including their citizen daughter — because Defendants disagree with their recommendations or fear their persuasiveness," according to the filing.

The State Department dismissed the lawsuit as "baseless lawfare" and defended the U.S. sanctions against Albanese as "legal and appropriate."

"Francesca Albanese has openly supported antisemitism, terrorism, and has engaged in lawfare against our nation and our interests, including against major American companies vital to the world economy," the department said.

Albanese, the U.N. special rapporteur for the West Bank and Gaza, is part of the 47-member U.N. Human Rights Council in Geneva. She has been tasked with investigating human rights abuses in the Palestinian territories and has been vocal about what she has described as the "genocide" by Israel against Palestinians in the Gaza Strip.

Although special rapporteurs do not represent the U.N. and have no formal authority, their reports can step up pressure on countries, and their findings inform prosecutors at the ICC and other venues working on transnational justice cases.

Israel and the U.S., which provides military support to its close ally, have strongly denied the genocide accusation. Washington had decried what it has called Albanese's "campaign of political and economic warfare" against the U.S. and Israel before imposing sanctions on her in July after an unsuccessful U.S. pressure campaign to force the U.N. to remove her from her post.

U.N. spokesperson Stephane Dujarric said that the U.N. was aware of the complaint and "will continue to engage with the U.S. authorities to seek resolution" of the case.

The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the lawsuit.