Date: 2024-10-19 Page is: DBtxt003.php txt00017205
Politics
Push back against AOC getting nasty
AOC says Dov Hikind can’t sue her over ‘personal’ Twitter
Peter Burgess
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez Getty Images
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez says ex-Assemblyman Dov Hikind’s lawsuit against her for blocking him on Twitter is bogus because the account in question is “personal,” new court papers reveal.
Through her lawyer, the freshman congresswoman told a judge Wednesday that the legal precedent cited by Hikind — which centers on President Trump’s Twitter account — is a completely different set of circumstances, according to a letter filed in Brooklyn federal court.
“The facts in this case are significantly distinct from [Trump’s]. The complaint itself concedes that Ms. Ocasio-Cortez maintains an official twitter account @repAOC that is completely separate from her personal @AOC account,” her attorney, Allyson Belovin, wrote to Judge Frederic Block.
The liberal darling also denies that she blocked Hikind “because of the content of his speech,” according to the letter.
But the former Democratic assemblyman, who now hosts a weekly radio show, fired back Thursday — saying Ocasio-Cortez uses the account to boost herself politically.
Enlarge ImageJoe Sandler Joseph SandlerSandler Reiff
“SHE MUST TAKE ME AND THE PUBLIC FOR IDIOTS, AS IF IT TAKES MORE THAN A CURSORY GLANCE TO REALIZE THAT @AOC IS HER PRIMARY CHANNEL ON WHICH SHE COMMUNICATES HER POLICY PROPOSALS AND POLITICAL DISCOURSE,” Hikind said in a statement.
He added, “It doesn’t take more than a glance of Ocasio-Cortez’s most recent (and the past year’s) Twitter activity to realize that she uses her ‘personal’ account for pushing her policy proposals and general political discourse with almost nothing personal shared.”
“If indeed she blocked me for ‘no particular reason’ and without cause, how does she decide who to block and who not? What kind of a whim is it to only block certain people who, quite curiously, are vocally critical of her policies and statements? What is she so afraid of?”
Last month, Hikind sued Ocasio-Cortez in Brooklyn federal court, claiming the progressive poster girl blocked him on Twitter because of his “criticism” of her.
He claimed the move was in violation of his First Amendment rights, citing a recent ruling by a federal appeals court in New York that found Trump’s practice of blocking critics on Twitter was unconstitutional.
Enlarge ImageJohn Roca Dov HikindJohn Roca
On Wednesday, the congresswoman’s lawyer filed the letter in response to a motion for a judgment filed by Hikind.
But Ocasio-Cortez has since hired a new, more politically prominent lawyer, Joseph Sandler, according to court documents filed the same day.
Sandler was longtime in-house counsel for the Democratic National Committee, and has a long history of representing progressive clients.
He declined to comment Thursday.
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