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DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA COURT OF APPEALS

No. 22-CV-0004

SALEM MEDIA GROUP, INC., APPELLANT,

V.

IMRAN AWAN, et al., APPELLEES.

Appeal from the Superior Court

of the District of Columbia

(2020-CA-000652-B)

(Hon. Fern Flanagan Saddler, Trial Judge)

(Argued March 29, 2023 Decided September 7, 2023)

Gabriela Richeimer for appellant.

Deepak Gupta, with whom Kyle Farrar, Mark Bankston, Hassan A. Zavareei, 

Allison W. Parr, Spencer Hughes, Leora N. Friedman, Peter Romer-Friedman, 

Robert Friedman, and Neil K. Sawhney, were on the brief, for appellees.

Before BLACKBURNE-RIGSBY, Chief Judge, ALIKHAN, Associate Judge, and 

GLICKMAN, Senior Judge.

GLICKMAN, Senior Judge: In 2019, appellant Salem Media Group, Inc.,

published a book titled Obstruction of Justice: How the Deep State Risked National 

Security to Protect the Democrats (hereinafter, Obstruction of Justice). The book 

details its author Luke Rosiak’s investigative journalism into the activities of 
2

appellees Imran Awan, Abid Awan, Jamal Awan, Tina Alvi, and Rao Abbas. These 

five individuals, whom the parties have referred to collectively as “the Awans,” are

former information technology support staff employed by the U.S. House of 

Representatives. As previously had been reported in the news media, the Awans

were investigated for alleged violations of House policies and possible crimes

relating to equipment procurement, IT security, and other job-related matters. The 

Awans sued Salem for defamation, intentional infliction of emotional distress

(IIED), and unjust enrichment based on Rosiak’s statements in Obstruction of 

Justice regarding their alleged misconduct. 

This interlocutory appeal is from the denial of Salem’s “special motion to 

dismiss” under the District of Columbia Anti-Strategic Lawsuits Against Public 

Participation (Anti-SLAPP) Act.1

 The Anti-SLAPP Act was passed to protect the 

targets of lawsuits aimed at punishing or preventing the expression of opposing 

points of view on matters of public concern.

2

 The Act allows the defendant to file a 

“special motion to dismiss” to test the legal and factual sufficiency of the claims 

early in the litigation. The defendant must first make a “prima facie showing that 

 1 D.C. Code §§16-5501 to -5505.

2 See Competitive Enter. Inst. v. Mann, 150 A.3d 1213, 1226 (D.C. 2016). 
3

the claim at issue arises from an act in furtherance of the right of advocacy on issues 

of public interest.”3

 If that showing is made, then the burden shifts to the plaintiff 

to demonstrate “that the claim is likely to succeed on the merits.”4

 “[T]he court 

evaluates the likely success of the claim by asking whether a jury properly instructed 

on the applicable legal and constitutional standards could reasonably find that the 

claim is supported in light of the evidence that has been produced or proffered in 

connection with the motion.”5

 If the plaintiff’s showing fails, then the special 

motion to dismiss must be granted. 

The Anti-SLAPP Act special-motion-to-dismiss procedure functions 

essentially like an early motion for summary judgment under Superior Court Civil 

Rule 56. There are important differences, however — among them, that the special 

motion to dismiss “requires the court to consider the legal sufficiency of the evidence 

presented before discovery is completed.”6 In the present appeal, the Awans have 

 3 D.C. Code §16-5502(b).

4 Id.

5 Mann, 150 A.3d at 1232.

6 Id. at 1238 n.32. The Anti-SLAPP Act provides that “upon the filing of a 

special motion to dismiss, discovery proceedings on the claim shall be stayed until 

the motion has been disposed of,” subject to the proviso that “[w]hen it appears likely 

that targeted discovery will enable the plaintiff to defeat the motion and that the 
4

not challenged the discovery-limiting aspects of the special-motion-to-dismiss 

procedure, nor have they complained that the restriction of their ability to take 

discovery prejudiced them in responding to the special motion in this case. 

Accordingly, we do not opine on that subject in this opinion. We note, however, 

that in another appeal decided on the same date as this one, this court has held that 

the Anti-SLAPP Act’s restrictive special-motion-to-dismiss discovery provisions 

violate the Home Rule Act because they conflict with the more liberal discovery 

provisions of Rule 56 and therefore are “inoperative or unenforceable.”7

Salem moved under the Anti-SLAPP Act to dismiss all three causes of action 

asserted by the Awans. The trial court denied Salem’s motion in full. Salem argues 

that the trial court erred and that each claim should have been dismissed. 

 

discovery will not be unduly burdensome, the court may order that specified 

discovery be conducted.” D.C. Code §16-5502(c)(1), (2).

7 Banks v. Hoffman, No. 20-CV-318, slip op. at 44 n.33 (D.C. Sept. 7, 2023). 

As explained in Banks, the Home Rule Act provides that “[t]he Council shall have 

no authority to . . . [e]nact any act, resolution, or rule with respect to any provision 

of Title 11 (relating to organization and jurisdiction of the District of Columbia 

Courts),” D.C. Code §1-206.02(a)(4). In Title 11, D.C. Code §11-946 provides in 

pertinent part that “[t]he Superior Court shall conduct its business according to the 

Federal Rules of Civil Procedure . . . unless it prescribes or adopts rules which 

modify those Rules” and such modifications are approved by the Court of Appeals. 

(Superior Court Civil Rule 56 is based on its federal counterpart.)
5

First, Salem contends the court erred in failing to dismiss the Awans’

defamation claim for lack of sufficient proof of malice on Salem’s part. Recognizing 

that the goal of compensating persons who are harmed by the publication of libelous

falsehoods may be in tension with the core First Amendment goal of protecting

vigorous speech and debate about issues of public interest, the Supreme Court has 

held that certain plaintiffs asserting defamation claims directly implicating that 

constitutional concern must prove the defendants acted with a heightened degree of 

culpability in publishing the injurious lies. Specifically, plaintiffs who are 

considered to be “public figures” must prove the defendant defamed them with 

“actual malice,” a more demanding fault standard than the simple negligence 

standard that otherwise would apply to claims of defamation asserted by private 

figures.

8

 In the present case, Salem contends the Awans had to prove it published 

the libels in Obstruction of Justice with actual malice because each of them was a 

“limited-purpose public figure,” a term used to describe a person who “voluntarily 

injects himself or is drawn into a particular public controversy and thereby becomes 

a public figure for a limited range of issues.”9

 Alternatively, Salem argues that the 

 8 See Gertz v. Robert Welch, Inc., 418 U.S. 323, 343 (1974); Phillips v. 

Evening Star Newspaper Co., 424 A.2d 78, 85-86 (D.C. 1980).

9 Gertz, 418 U.S. at 351.
6

Awans became “involuntary public figures,” a term reserved for persons who are so 

central and well known with respect to a particular public controversy that they 

become public figures even if they do not desire or seek the public’s attention.

10 

The Awans were employed as IT support staff at the House of Representatives

and had no involvement with the press prior to the government investigations. We 

conclude that the trial court properly found, on the evidence before it, that the Awans 

were not limited-purpose or involuntary public figures based either on their 

voluntary actions with respect to the public controversy surrounding them or their 

centrality and prominence with respect to that controversy. The trial court therefore

did not err in rejecting Salem’s special motion to dismiss the defamation count of 

the Awans’ complaint for lack of proof of actual malice. 

Second, Salem argues that the trial court erred in denying its special motion 

to dismiss the Awans’ IIED claim. Such a claim requires a plaintiff to prove that the 

defendant engaged in “extreme and outrageous conduct” that “intentionally or 

recklessly” caused the plaintiff to suffer “severe emotional distress.”11 We agree 

 10 See, e.g., Dameron v. Wash. Mag., Inc., 779 F.2d 736, 742-43 (D.C. Cir. 

1985).

11 Mann, 150 A.3d at 1260.
7

with Salem that, in accordance with the Anti-SLAPP Act, the court should have

dismissed this claim for lack of sufficient evidence that Salem’s publication of 

Obstruction of Justice amounted to “extreme and outrageous” conduct. 

Lastly, the Awans’ unjust enrichment claim seeks disgorgement of the profits 

Salem earned through its defamatory publication of Obstruction of Justice. We 

agree with Salem that this equitable remedy is not available for the defamation 

alleged in this case. We therefore reverse the denial of Salem’s special motion to 

dismiss the unjust enrichment count. 

I. Background

Imran Awan was the first of appellees to work for the House of 

Representatives. While studying at Johns Hopkins University, he interned for an IT 

services firm that worked with House and Senate offices on Capitol Hill. He 

returned to the House to work as an IT professional in 2004 after graduation. Over 

time, Imran took on IT responsibilities for several House offices. When the amount 
8

of work increased, he trained his brothers Abid and Jamal Awan, his wife Tina Alvi, 

and his close family friend Rao Abbas, to join him as “shared” IT employees serving 

multiple House offices at the same time as a team. Their job responsibilities included 

setting up and servicing technology for House offices, liaising with home district 

offices to troubleshoot issues, and purchasing equipment. The Awans did not have 

public-facing roles, did not interact with the press or constituents, and did not set 

House policies. 

In 2016, the Chief Administrative Officer and Sergeant at Arms for the House 

of Representatives began investigating equipment procurement irregularities in the 

Awans’ performance of their IT responsibilities. The investigation expanded after 

the Office of the Inspector General suspected that the Awans might have violated IT 

security requirements and House policies governing the use of “shared employees.”

The investigation eventually involved the United States Capitol Police and the 

Federal Bureau of Investigation. 

On February 2, 2017, several media outlets broke the news that five unnamed

IT employees for the House of Representatives were under investigation for 

procurement fraud and unauthorized access of House IT systems. Luke Rosiak 

reported on this story two days later, specifically naming several of the Awans as 
9

the subjects of the investigation, in an article published by The Daily Caller, a news 

media organization co-founded in 2010 by former Fox News television host Tucker 

Carlson. That article was the beginning of Rosiak’s publication of a series of articles 

focusing on the investigation of appellees.

In July 2017, Capitol Police and FBI agents arrested Imran for making a 

misrepresentation on a home equity loan application. The charge was unrelated to 

the Awans’ work while employed at the House. Imran had listed a rental property 

as his wife’s primary residence, when it was really a property they rented to other 

people, in order to secure a line of credit. Prosecutors also filed criminal charges 

against Alvi for the misrepresentation, but she was living in Pakistan at the time of 

Imran’s arrest. 

Press coverage of the investigations and Imran’s arrest varied. The New York 

Times noted that “[f]or months, conservative news outlets have built a case against” 

the Awans. For example (as summarized in Washington Post and New York Times

articles submitted by the parties), Sean Hannity and Geraldo Rivera discussed the 

investigations on a Fox News television show segment. The articles report that 

Rivera said that Imran was a “corrupt I.T. guy” who “has all of the passcodes” and 

“has all of the information” and asked if he could have been the one who leaked the 
10

Democratic National Committee’s emails to WikiLeaks. In addition, YouTuber 

George Webb accused the Awans of being Pakistani spies and argued that the 

government was “orchestrating” the prosecution of Imran’s loan misrepresentation

to “look like there’s a trial” when there was not. 

President Trump spoke publicly about the supposed House IT scandal several 

times. He first reposted a tweet of an article with the headline “ABC, NBC, And 

CBS Pretty Much Bury IT Scandal Engulfing [Representative] Debbie Wasserman 

Schultz’s Office.” As reported in news articles included in the record, the President 

tweeted in April 2018 that the “Pakistani mystery man” held “Servers and 

Documents” and in June 2018 that the “Justice Department must not let Awan ... off 

the hook.” According to the Awans’ complaint, in July 2018, President Trump also 

tweeted that the “Rigged Witch Hunt ... should look into ... the Pakistani Fraudster”

and, on July 17, 2018, asked “[w]hat happened to the servers of the Pakistani 

gentleman that worked on the DNC?” while speaking at a joint press conference with 

Russian President Vladimir Putin about Russian interference with the 2016 U.S. 

presidential election. 

Imran’s attorneys responded to requests from the media for comment. They 

said he was innocent and claimed that “anti-Muslim bigotry” motivated public 
11

accusations of criminal conduct. Most of their comments discussed only Imran, but 

his attorney’s statements discussed the Awans as a group in one article. In a different 

article, Abid’s attorney provided a statement regarding the allegations of espionage

and procurement fraud, and Imran’s attorney addressed the criminal charge related 

to the misrepresentation on the loan application pending against Alvi and her 

decision to travel to Pakistan with her children while she was under investigation but 

before she was charged with that crime. 

Imran pleaded guilty in the United States District Court for the District of 

Columbia on July 3, 2018, to one count of making a false statement on a loan 

application in violation of 18 U.S.C. §1014. The government included a paragraph 

in his plea agreement publicly confirming that investigators had not found any 

evidence of criminal wrongdoing related to “public allegations that [Imran] stole 

U.S. House of Representatives ... equipment and engaged in unauthorized or illegal 

conduct involving House computer systems.” The paragraph stated as follows:

The Government conducted a thorough investigation of 

those allegations, including interviewing approximately 

40 witnesses; taking custody of the House Democratic 

Caucus server, along with other computers, hard drives, 

and electronic devices; examining those devices, 

including inspecting their physical condition and 

analyzing log-in and usage data; reviewing electronic 

communications between pertinent House employees; 

consulting with the House Office of General Counsel and 
12

House information technology personnel to access and/or 

collect evidence; and questioning [Imran] during 

numerous voluntary interviews. The Government has 

uncovered no evidence that [Imran] violated federal law 

with respect to the House computer systems. Particularly, 

the Government has found no evidence that [Imran]

illegally removed House data from the House network or 

from House Members’ offices, stole the House 

Democratic Caucus Server, stole or destroyed House 

information technology equipment, or improperly 

accessed or transferred government information, including 

classified or sensitive information. 

During Imran’s sentencing on August 21, 2018, District Judge Chutkan 

commented that the paragraph in the plea agreement was “extraordinary.” She 

added that “while the nature of the offense in this case is a felony and is serious, it 

is one that was brought to the government’s attention based on its thorough 

investigation of unfounded allegations against Mr. Awan and his family.” These 

allegations consisted, the judge said, of “baseless accusations” and “conspiracy 

theories linking Mr. Awan to the most nefarious kind of conduct, all of which have 

been accusations lobbed at him from the highest branches of government,...

investigated and found to be untrue by the United States Department of Justice and 

the FBI.” She concluded “that Mr. Awan and his family have suffered sufficiently.” 

Imran was sentenced to time served and three months of supervised release. As part 

of Imran’s plea agreement, the government agreed to request that the court dismiss 
13

the charges against his wife. The government moved to dismiss the charges against 

Alvi during Imran’s sentencing, and the court granted that motion. 

The details of Imran’s plea agreement were reported in the media, including 

the paragraph by prosecutors “publicly debunk[ing] conspiracy theories pushed by 

President Donald Trump and right-wing media,” as one NBC News article 

characterized it. Imran gave an interview to The Washington Post on the day he 

signed the plea agreement. He told the Post about his Pakistani background, 

explained the harm that he had experienced, and said that the “[P]resident used [him] 

to advance his political agenda.” In an interview with CNN, Imran’s attorney said 

that Imran might seek a job in Silicon Valley. Imran was quoted as saying “I’m 

grateful to be here in this country and whatever it has given me. There’s so much 

goodness here, and that should not get overshadowed.” 

Several months later, on January 29, 2019, Regnery Publishing, a division of 

Salem Media Group, Inc., published Luke Rosiak’s book, Obstruction of Justice. In 

311 pages, Rosiak chronicled what he said was “the product of years of investigative

work ... based upon hundreds of documents and dozens of interviews with 

individuals close to the [Awans] or otherwise knowledgeable of the events discussed 

within the book.” The cover of the book displays Imran’s photograph. Obstruction 
14

of Justice was available for purchase in hard copy through Amazon and as an 

audiobook on Audible. In a foreword to the book, former Speaker of the House 

Newt Gingrich urged “[e]very American who is concerned about corruption in 

Washington [to] read Luke’s book on what is possibly the largest scandal and 

coverup in the history of the United States House of Representatives.” 

The Awans dispute that characterization and argue that Obstruction of Justice

is “riddled with outrageous, false, and defamatory attacks against the Awans,

including but not limited to claims that they conspired to hack congressional servers, 

spied for foreign countries, and took advantage of their status as House employees 

to commit extortion, theft, and bribery.” Rosiak continued to speak publicly about 

the Awans throughout 2019 as he promoted the book with appearances on 

commercial radio, television, and YouTube shows, making statements the Awans 

assert were “even more inflammatory and spurious than those in the book.” 

On January 28, 2020, the Awans sued The Daily Caller, Rosiak, and Salem in 

Superior Court for defamation, IIED, and unjust enrichment. The Awans filed an 

amended complaint on February 11, 2020. They sued Salem, specifically, for 

defamatory statements made in Obstruction of Justice. Their complaint identifies 

the following statements in the book as defaming one or more of them:
15

• “Representative Wasserman Schultz’s IT aide [i.e., Imran] hacked the 

House,” and “Imran was using his position to make ‘unauthorized access’ to 

House data.”

• The “House had secretly caught the Awans hacking congressional servers a 

year ago, and there had been even more evidence of suspicious activity since.” 

• “Imran solicited a cash bribe from Taylor [a fellow IT staffer who asked to 

remain anonymous] in order to sell access to a Florida congresswoman’s 

office.”

• Imran was “caught ... stealing the identity of an intelligence specialist, and 

sending electronic equipment to foreign officials.”

• Imran said that “he was a ‘mole’ in Congress.”

• Abid was “stealing cell phones” and “sending iPads and iPhones to 

government officials in Pakistan.”

• The Awans were “stealing a couple hundred thousand in laptops” and 

“charged hundreds of thousands of dollars of equipment to congressional 

offices, sometimes delivered straight to their homes, but never took the 

invoices to chiefs of staff.”

• Imran bragged about “how he used money he earned in Congress to pay police 

in Pakistan to torture his enemies,” and “actually gave money to a police 

officer and said, ‘Rape the guy. How many times you will rape him? I will 

pay you.’”

• Imran told fellow House IT contractors that, “I have these guys that work for 

the Faisalabad police department, and all we have to do is pay them $100 a 

month and they take [people] over to the police station, strip their clothes off, 

hang them upside down and beat them with a shoe.” 
16

In support of their IIED claim, the Awans alleged that Salem, Rosiak, and The 

Daily Caller’s conduct of “consistently publishing highly offensive and false 

assertions about the circumstances of the plaintiffs’ employment and their character 

for years, long after they should have known the allegations were false and causing 

emotional distress and danger,” amounted to extreme and outrageous conduct that 

has caused severe emotional distress. 

Finally, the Awans asserted a claim of unjust enrichment to recover the profits 

earned from making defamatory statements “using the plaintiffs’ names, personal 

information, and facts and circumstances” about their private lives.

On June 15, 2020, Salem and Rosiak filed special motions to dismiss the 

amended complaint pursuant to the Anti-SLAPP Act.12 The trial court heard 

arguments on their special motions at the same time during a hearing on September 

7, 2021. In a written opinion issued after the hearing, the court concluded that Salem 

and Rosiak made a prima facie showing that the Anti-SLAPP Act applied to the 

 12 In addition, Rosiak and The Daily Caller moved to dismiss certain claims 

as untimely. On July 27, 2021, the court dismissed claims against them arising 

outside the one-year statute of limitations. (The court did not dismiss claims arising 

from publications after January 28, 2019.) The Daily Caller is no longer a party to 

this litigation as the result of the dismissal of all claims against it.
17

Awans’ claims. Specifically, the court said, the claims arose out of Salem’s 

publication of Rosiak’s book, which was distributed “in the public forum on an issue 

of public interest.” The “issue of public interest,” according to the trial court, was

“a national security investigation in the United States House of Representatives.” 

The burden then shifted to the Awans to demonstrate a likelihood of success on the 

merits. 

First, the court found that the Awans were likely to succeed on all elements 

of their defamation claim. As to the fault standard upon which to judge the 

publication of the defamatory statements, the court concluded that while the 

controversy “is clearly of public concern,” the Awans were not public figures; they 

were “private citizens who were involuntarily thrust into the controversy.” The court 

said that the Awans “did not bring themselves to the forefront of this issue in order

to influence the resolution of the issues involved” and “did not deliberately attempt 

to influence the outcome of the issue outside of bringing this lawsuit.”13 “[W]orking 

as information technology specialists for members of Congress,” the court added, 

“does not automatically give them status as public figures, as their roles were solely 

outside of the public eye.” Because the court concluded that the Awans were private 

 13 (Citing Wolston v. Reader’s Dig. Ass’n, 443 U.S. 157 (1979)).
18

figures, it found it unnecessary to determine whether they were likely to succeed in 

establishing that the defendants published with actual malice. 

Next, the court found that the Awans were likely to succeed on their IIED

claim because Rosiak’s statements, including those published in Obstruction of 

Justice, were extreme and outrageous, and they caused severe emotional distress as 

evidenced by the declarations the Awans submitted. Finally, the court said that the 

“claims for unjust enrichment stem from Defendants’ alleged revenue and profits 

obtained by publishing the alleged defamatory allegations” about the Awans. Since 

“a properly instructed jury could look at the totality of the circumstances regarding 

the defamation claims and unjust enrichment claims and find for Plaintiffs,” the 

court found that the Awans showed a likelihood of success. Thus, the court denied 

the special motions to dismiss, concluding that, based on the evidence proffered, a 

jury properly instructed on the law could reasonably find that all of the Awans’

claims are supported. 

Both Salem and Rosiak appealed the court’s denial of their Anti-SLAPP 

motions to dismiss and we consolidated those appeals. However, prior to oral 

argument in this case, Rosiak moved for voluntary dismissal of his appeal pursuant 
19

to D.C. App. R. 13(b), which we granted.14 This opinion thus is limited to Salem’s 

appeal of the trial court’s order denying its special motion to dismiss. We review de 

novo “whether a jury properly instructed on the applicable legal and constitutional 

standards could reasonably find that the claim is supported” based on the evidence 

proffered.

15 We begin with the defamation claim.

II. Defamation

The Awans sued Salem for allegedly defamatory statements that it published 

in Obstruction of Justice. To successfully bring a claim for defamation, the plaintiff 

must prove: 

(1) that the defendant made a false and defamatory 

statement concerning the plaintiff; (2) that the defendant 

published the statement without privilege to a third party; 

 14 Rosiak v. Awan, No. 21-CV-0893, Order (D.C. Mar. 27, 2023).

15 Competitive Enter. Inst. v. Mann, 150 A.3d 1213, 1232 (D.C. 2016); see id.

at 1240.
20

(3) that the defendant’s fault in publishing the statement 

[met the requisite standard]; and (4) either that the 

statement was actionable as a matter of law irrespective of 

special harm or that its publication caused the plaintiff 

special harm.[16]

The trial court concluded that the Awans satisfied their burden on all four elements. 

Salem’s argument is limited to the third element; it argues that the trial court 

evaluated the claim under the wrong fault standard. The applicable fault standard

“turns upon whether the plaintiff is a public or a private figure.”17 If the plaintiff is 

a private figure, then negligence is the applicable fault standard.18 But if the plaintiff 

is a public figure, then (at least if the defamatory statement pertains in some way to 

that status) the plaintiff must demonstrate by clear and convincing evidence that the 

defamatory statement was made with “actual malice,” i.e., “with knowledge that it 

was false or with reckless disregard of whether it was false or not.”19 As we 

 16 Id. at 1240 (first alteration in original) (footnote omitted) (quoting 

Oparaugo v. Watts, 884 A.2d 63, 76 (D.C. 2005)).

17 Fridman v. Orbis Bus. Intel. Ltd., 229 A.3d 494, 504 (D.C. 2020). 

18 Phillips v. Evening Star Newspaper Co., 424 A.2d 78, 87 (D.C. 1980).

19 N.Y. Times Co. v. Sullivan, 376 U.S. 254, 280, 285-86 (1964); see also Gertz 

v. Robert Welch, Inc., 418 U.S. 323, 342 (1974); Beeton v. District of Columbia, 779 

A.2d 918, 924 (D.C. 2001). 
21

emphasized in Mann, this is a significantly more demanding standard than 

negligence: “Knowledge” means the defendant “actually knew that the statement 

was false,” a state of mind we have referred to as “subjective knowledge.”20 

“Reckless disregard” does not require such actual knowledge, but it requires a 

showing that “the defendant in fact entertained serious doubts as to the truth of [the] 

publication.”21

A. The Actual Malice Standard

Erroneous statements that may be harmful to the subject’s reputation are 

“inevitable in free debate.”22 Conditioning liability for defamation in the course of 

public discourse on proof of actual malice is meant to ensure that “the freedoms of 

expression” protected by the First Amendment “have the ‘breathing space’” 

necessary to survive.23 In New York Times Co. v. Sullivan, the Supreme Court 

concluded that the “profound national commitment to the principle that debate on 

 20 Mann, 150 A.3d at 1252.

21 Id. (quoting St. Amant v. Thompson, 390 U.S. 727, 731 (1968)).

22 New York Times Co., 376 U.S. at 271. 

23 Id. at 271-72 (quoting NAACP v. Button, 371 U.S. 415, 433 (1963)). 
22

public issues should be uninhibited, robust, and wide-open” required the actual 

malice standard to apply to a defamation suit brought by a public official for 

statements that related to his official conduct.

24 The Court later expanded the rule 

that there be proof of defamation with actual malice to suits brought by other “public 

figures,”25 as we explain below. 

The balance of interests did not lead to the same result for plaintiffs deemed 

to be “private” figures. In Gertz v. Robert Welch, Inc., a private attorney who 

represented the family of a young man killed by a police officer sued for defamation 

based on statements a magazine published about him.

26 The Supreme Court 

concluded that, as the attorney was a private individual rather than a public figure, 

the actual malice standard did not apply to the attorney’s claim, and that states 

“should retain substantial latitude in their efforts to enforce a legal remedy for 

defamatory falsehood injurious to the reputation of a private individual” for two 

reasons.27 First, private individuals are “more vulnerable to injury,” so the “state 

 24 Id. at 270, 279-80.

25 Curtis Publ’g Co. v. Butts, 388 U.S. 130, 154-55 (1967).

26 418 U.S. 323, 325-27 (1974).

27 Id. at 345-46.
23

interest in protecting them is correspondingly greater.”28 That is so because the first 

remedy for a victim of defamation is to use “available opportunities” to correct the 

lies and misstatements.29 Public officials and public figures enjoy “significantly 

greater access to the channels of effective communication and hence have a more 

realistic opportunity to counteract false statements than private individuals normally 

enjoy.”30 Second, and “[m]ore important” than the access to self-help remedies, is 

that an “individual who decides to seek governmental office must accept certain 

necessary consequences of that involvement in public affairs,” and thereby “runs the 

risk of closer public scrutiny than might otherwise be the case.”31 While media can

“act on the assumption that public officials and public figures have voluntarily 

exposed themselves to increased risk of injury from defamatory falsehood,” private 

individuals have not, and are therefore “more deserving of recovery.”32

With these principles in mind, the Court identified three types of defamation 

plaintiffs who must prove the defendant defamed them with actual malice: (1) a 

 28 Id. at 344. 

29 Id.

30 Id.

31 Id.

32 Id. at 345. 
24

public official; (2) an individual who “achieve[s] such pervasive fame or notoriety 

that he becomes a public figure for all purposes and in all contexts,” referred to as a 

general-purpose public figure; and (3) “[m]ore commonly, an individual [who] 

voluntarily injects himself or is drawn into a particular public controversy and 

thereby becomes a public figure for a limited range of issues,” i.e., a limited-purpose 

public figure.33 

Salem argues that the Awans are limited-purpose public figures, either by 

virtue of their own voluntary actions or involuntarily in view of their prominence in 

the public controversy at issue. “Because of the constitutional dimensions of the 

issue,” whether an individual is a public figure and “subject to the New York Times

standard is a question of law to be resolved by the court.”34 On reviewing the denial 

of an Anti-SLAPP motion to dismiss, we therefore consider whether the record 

supports the court’s conclusion that the Awans maintained their status as private 

individuals.

35 We utilize the framework set forth in Waldbaum v. Fairchild 

 33 Id. at 351.

34 Moss v. Stockard, 580 A.2d 1011, 1029 (D.C. 1990).

35 See Competitive Enter. Inst. v. Mann, 150 A.3d 1213, 1240 (D.C. 2016).
25

Publications, Inc.,

36 which we have said offers a “road map” for applying the 

Supreme Court’s precedent in this area of law.37 Initially, we must identify whether 

there was a public controversy in existence and, if so, determine its scope.38 If there 

was a preexisting public controversy, we must determine whether the plaintiff is a 

private or public figure and whether the defamatory statements were “germane to 

the plaintiff’s participation in the controversy.”39 

B. The Existence of a Public Controversy

“A public controversy is ‘not simply a matter of interest to the public ... [but] 

a real dispute, the outcome of which affects the general public or some segment of 

it in an appreciable way.... [It] is a dispute that in fact has received public attention 

because its ramifications will be felt by persons who are not direct participants.’”40 

 36 627 F.2d 1287 (D.C. Cir. 1980).

37 Moss, 580 A.2d at 1030. 

38 Id. at 1031.

39 Id. (“Defamatory statements wholly unrelated to the controversy do not 

merit New York Times protection.”).

40 Id. at 1030-31 (quoting Waldbaum, 627 F.2d at 1296).
26

Importantly, “the controversy to which the defamation relates [must have been] the 

subject of public discussion prior to the defamation.”41 

Salem has characterized the public controversy as “the House IT scandal —

involving intersecting issues of alleged procurement fraud, Congressional network 

security and national security.” The trial court did not specifically define the public 

controversy in finding that one existed under the Waldbaum framework. We think 

Salem’s assertion and particular framing of the public controversy in issue in this 

case to be somewhat inaccurate and problematic. The record indicates there was a 

full investigation of (comparatively minor) irregularities in the performance of IT 

services for House members; irregularities that did raise potential concerns and that 

were taken with appropriate seriousness by the investigators, but that ultimately did 

not give rise to charges or findings of procurement fraud or endangerment of 

Congressional or national security. (In fact, the investigation ended in something of 

an exoneration.) This investigation was a matter of public interest and concern, but 

as has been said, not every matter of public interest and concern is a matter of public 

“controversy.” To be sure, when the existence of the investigation became public, 

there were efforts in some media to identify a “scandal” and raise questions of

 41 Id. at 1030.
27

serious wrongdoing on the part of the Awans (while others were more cautious and 

awaited the outcome of the inquiry under way before embracing any conclusions). 

But it thus is questionable whether public discussion of the asserted controversy 

actually preceded the commencement of the defamatory statements about the Awans

that led to this lawsuit; the publication of those statements may have begun whatever 

controversy there was. Despite the foregoing caveats, however, for present purposes 

we shall accept that there was a genuine public controversy over the investigation 

and what it might have uncovered. We accept the trial court’s conclusion that it had 

the “two components” of a public controversy because (1) “the controversy to which 

the defamation relates was the subject of public discussion” in 2017 and thus prior

to the allegedly defamatory statements Salem published in January 2019, and (2) “a 

reasonable person would [or, at least, could] have expected persons beyond the 

immediate participants in the dispute to feel the impact of its resolution.”42

We turn, therefore, to consider whether the Awans became public figures by 

voluntarily and purposely injecting themselves into the controversy, or involuntarily.

 42 Id.
28

C. Voluntary Limited-Purpose Public Figures

Salem argues that the Awans became voluntary limited-purpose public figures 

by assuming special prominence in the controversy through their “ready access” to 

mass media in order “to influence policy and to counter criticism of their views and 

activities.”43 Salem points to the media coverage of the criminal and administrative 

investigations; statements the Awans and their attorneys gave concerning the alleged 

House IT scandal to the media; the “sympathetic treatment” the Awans received in 

the “mainstream press”; and public defenses offered on their behalf by their 

“congressional bosses.”

To determine whether someone is a voluntary limited-purpose public figure, 

we look to “the nature and extent of an individual’s participation in the particular 

controversy giving rise to the defamation.”44 The plaintiff “must have achieved a 

special prominence in the debate, and either ‘must have been purposely trying to 

 43 Fridman v. Orbis Bus. Intel. Ltd., 229 A.3d 494, 504 (D.C. 2020).

44 Gertz v. Robert Welch, Inc., 418 U.S. 323, 352 (1974).
29

influence the outcome or could realistically have been expected, because of his 

position in the controversy, to have an impact on its resolution.’”45 Although 

individuals with “significantly greater access to the channels of effective 

communication”46 have one of the characteristics that is typically associated with a 

public figure, mere prominence combined with having some access to the media is 

insufficient.47 It is the “regular and continuing access to the media that is one of the 

 45 Moss, 580 A.2d 1011, 1031 (D.C. 1990) (emphasis added; quoting 

Waldbaum v. Fairchild Publ’ns, Inc., 627 F.2d 1287, 1297 (D.C. Cir. 1980)); cf. id.

(“If ‘[the plaintiff] is shaping or is trying to shape the outcome of a particular public 

controversy, he is a public figure for that controversy; if not, he remains a private 

individual.’” (quoting Waldbaum, 627 F.2d at 1298 n.32)); see also Fells v. Serv. 

Emps. Int’l Union, 281 A.3d 572, 583 (D.C. 2022) (applying the standards from 

defamation law to D.C. Code §16-5501(3) to determine whether the defendant 

demonstrated that the plaintiff was a “public figure” under the Anti-SLAPP Act).

46 Gertz, 418 U.S. at 344.

47 In Time, Inc. v. Firestone, for example, the Supreme Court held that the 

plaintiff, a prominent member of “Palm Beach society,” did not become a public 

figure limited to the controversy surrounding her divorce by virtue of her decision 

to hold a few press conferences “to satisfy inquiring reporters.” 424 U.S. 448, 453, 

454 & n.3 (1976).
30

accouterments of having become a public figure.”48 In other words, “[t]rivial or 

tangential participation is not enough.”49 

Moreover, engagement with the media simply in order to respond to 

defamatory statements is not enough either.

50 “[I]f the content of a defamatory 

statement touches upon an area that state law has traditionally considered to be 

defamatory per se, then the plaintiff cannot be categorized as a limited-purpose 

public figure solely because he makes reasonable public replies to the statement.”51

And in Wolston v. Reader’s Digest Association the Supreme Court rejected the 

notion “that any person who engages in criminal conduct automatically becomes a 

public figure for purposes of comment on a limited range of issues relating to his 

 48 Hutchinson v. Proxmire, 443 U.S. 111, 136 (1979); see also Doe No. 1 v. 

Burke, 91 A.3d 1031, 1043 (D.C. 2014) (concluding that an attorney was a limitedpurpose public figure because she sought out publicity on behalf of her client that 

was so substantial it prompted a defendant in one of her previous cases to seek a gag 

order against her).

49 Waldbaum, 627 F.2d at 1297.

50 Hutchinson, 443 U.S. at 136 (recognizing that while the plaintiff, a research 

behavior scientist who accepted federal research awards, had access to the media to 

respond to the fake award he received by one Congress member who believed he 

wasted public funds, he was not a public figure).

51 Wells v. Liddy, 186 F.3d 505, 534 (4th Cir. 1999).
31

conviction.”52 Ilya Wolston had failed to respond to a grand jury subpoena issued 

in connection with an investigation of Soviet intelligence agents in the United States, 

and the media covered his criminal contempt proceeding.53 The Court held that 

Wolston’s failure to respond to the subpoena was not a “voluntary action” that was 

“calculated to draw attention to himself in order to invite public comment or 

influence the public with respect to any issue.”54 Rather, Wolston “limited his 

involvement to that necessary to defend himself against the contempt charge.”55 His 

conduct did not make him a limited-purpose public figure.56

 52 443 U.S. 157, 168 (1979).

53 Id. at 161-63.

54 Id. at 165, 168.

55 Id. at 167.

56 See id. at 167-68. For essentially the same reason, we reject Salem’s 

argument that the Awans should have expected that the media would discuss the 

administrative investigations into their violations of House policies, so (like public 

figures) they assumed the risk of being defamed. If someone “who engages in 

criminal conduct” will not “automatically become[] a public figure,” id. at 168, then 

someone who is subject to internal administrative investigations and 

correspondingly less significant consequences should be viewed in the same way.

That such conduct will not make someone a public figure is even more appropriate 

in this case because the conduct giving rise to the administrative investigation is the 

very same as what sparked the criminal investigations. 
32

Thus, we must focus on the nature and extent of the Awans’ participation in 

the asserted public controversy.57 The media coverage started after the House 

investigation began and continued through the time after Salem published 

Obstruction of Justice. Among the many articles covering the controversy that 

Salem cites, there are a handful of articles demonstrating that Imran’s attorneys 

responded to press inquiries. His attorneys’ comments expressed their assertion of 

his innocence, offered additional context to the allegations, and addressed the public 

allegations, which could only be explained, in their view, as stemming from political 

motivations and anti-Muslim bigotry. Imran himself provided an interview to The 

Washington Post — with “his first public statements since the investigation began,” 

according to the Post — on July 3, 2018, the same day he entered his plea agreement 

in the prosecution for his misrepresentation on a loan application. Imran said that 

he believed his prosecution was politically motivated because of his Pakistani 

background and that it had “cost me my reputation, my livelihood, my family.” In 

his only other interview in the record before us, Imran reflected on being “grateful 

to be here in this country” after his sentencing. 

 57 Salem does not argue that the Awans had control over the news reporters or 

comments from members of Congress who defended the Awans. We thus focus on 

the voluntary statements that the Awans themselves or their representatives made.
33

The number of comments about Abid, Jamal, Alvi, or Abbas given to the press 

is even sparser; the statements consisted of a few sentences related to the accusations 

of criminal conduct. Abid’s attorney specifically defended Abid in context of the

allegations of espionage and procurement fraud, stating that “what they were doing 

was not unusual” in the House, and that “[i]n a fluid situation you do what you’re 

ordered to do,” so missing equipment “disappeared after it was brought to the folks 

who were demanding it.” Imran’s attorney specifically mentioned Alvi in regards 

to the pending criminal charge of her misrepresentation on the loan application and 

her decision to return to Pakistan before the investigation came to a resolution. The 

attorney said that she and Imran repaid the loan from their retirement funds, and

explained that she left the United States so that they could rent their home as a source 

of income and to “‘escape the media frenzy,’ which had included ‘harassment’” 

directed towards their children. 

These brief comments providing Imran’s or another family member’s side of 

the story in response to press inquiries are not sufficient to make the Awans

voluntary limited-purpose public figures. There is no evidence before this court that 

Imran or the Awans’ attorneys provided comments to the press until after all 

members of the group were under criminal investigations and Imran and Alvi faced 

criminal charges. “There appears little reason why these individuals should 
34

substantially forfeit that degree of protection which the law of defamation would 

otherwise afford them simply by virtue of their being drawn into a courtroom.”58 

Some of Imran and his attorneys’ comments expressed concern about antiMuslim bias and political motivations, which perhaps could be considered indicative 

of an effort to influence broader issues of public concern or to ferret out bias in the 

criminal investigation to influence its outcome.

59 However, Imran’s background

became tied to the controversy before he made comments about this topic, and his 

responses were appropriately limited. The media reported that members of Congress 

referenced his Pakistani background and fears of anti-Muslim bias in the 

investigation long before Imran and his attorneys did. Simultaneously, reports in the 

media suggested that Imran was spying on the U.S. on behalf of Pakistan. The 

Awans cite multiple instances in which President Trump either publicly referred to 

someone named “Awan” or someone connected to the House IT scandal with 

reference to that person’s Pakistani background, using phrases such as the “Pakistani 

mystery man” and “Pakistani fraudster.” In another context, Imran and his 

 58 See Time, Inc. v. Firestone, 424 U.S. 448, 457 (1976).

59 Cf. Wolston, 443 U.S. at 168 (“[T]his is not a case where a defendant invites 

a citation for contempt in order to use the contempt citation as a fulcrum to create 

public discussion about the methods being used in connection with an investigation 

or prosecution.”).
35

attorneys’ comments could be viewed as an attempt to broadly influence public 

debate about matters of public controversy. But in light of the existing narrative, 

while their comments still touch on matters of public concern, they were limited to 

defending the Awans related to the investigations into their work for the House.

This media access did not rise to longstanding and widespread access like that 

of the plaintiffs in Fridman v. Orbis Business Intelligence Ltd.,

60 the case on which 

Salem primarily relies. There, this court concluded that three Russian business 

figures “assumed special prominence in the controversy” involving the “Russian 

government and its activities and relations around the world, including the United 

States,” because of their access to mass media.61 The record included “hundreds of 

pages of news articles” about the three plaintiffs related to the public controversy, 

“thousands of internet search hits for each” individual, and “personal interviews”

that “spanned a wide range of subjects.”62 Notably, the plaintiffs had previously 

been deemed public figures and evidence of their continuing access to the media in 

 60 229 A.3d 494 (D.C. 2020).

61 See id. at 507, 509 (alterations omitted).

62 Id. at 508.
36

the fifteen years since provided a sufficient basis to conclude that their public figure 

status had not subsided.63

Salem argues that even if the Awans were not public figures in February 2017 

when press coverage first began, the “media comment” about them made them 

public figures by the time that Salem published the allegedly defamatory statements 

in January 2019. But “those charged with defamation cannot, by their own conduct, 

create their own defense by making the claimant a public figure.”64 That reasoning 

applies to Salem’s conduct even though Salem was not the first to publish statements 

about the Awans. Publishers cannot rely on other people’s defamation to claim a 

change in the plaintiff’s status. Nor are publishers who come along after those who 

first cover the same story entitled to greater protection from liability. 

Salem also argues that the Awans assumed the risk of injury through their

“work in politics,” including their conduct while employed by the House of 

Representatives. But it is inaccurate to say that the Awans worked in politics. They 

were not politicians or political staffers, and they did not fulfill public-facing roles 

 63 See id. at 507 n.5.

64 Hutchinson v. Proxmire, 443 U.S. 111, 135 (1979).
37

or make public policy. Nor was their position accompanied by an understanding 

that they could influence others’ views.

65 Even though the Awans worked for the 

government, it was only in subordinate, non-political service positions. If those

positions gave them some access to politicians or political information, they had that 

in common with a great many other non-political government employees who 

perform services to enable the government to function. This was not enough to make 

the Awans “public figures.” To hold otherwise would effectively contravene the 

Supreme Court’s admonition that public officials “cannot be thought to include all 

public employees.”66

 65 Cf., e.g., Fells v. Serv. Emps. Int’l Union, 281 A.3d 572, 584 (D.C. 2022) 

(concluding that the interim president for a national union was a limited-purpose 

public figure because of “his role as a high-level union representative who frequently 

spoke in the press,” which “suggests an intent and capacity to influence the outcome 

of the debate surrounding all manner of labor concerns”); Waldbaum v. Fairchild 

Publ’ns, Inc., 627 F.2d 1287, 1299-1300 (D.C. Cir. 1980) (concluding the plaintiff 

was a limited-purpose public figure because he was an “executive within a 

prominent and influential company” who used his position to be the “mover and 

shaper of many of the cooperative’s controversial actions” such that he “became an 

activist, projecting his own image and that of the cooperative far beyond the dollars 

and cents aspects of marketing”).

66 Hutchinson, 443 U.S. at 119 n.8; see id. at 135 (rejecting that “everyone 

who received or benefited from the myriad public grants for research could be 

classified as a public figure”); see also Moss v. Stockard, 580 A.2d 1011, 1032 n.37 

(D.C. 1990) (“The constitutional defamation cases strike a careful balance between 

this societal interest and the states’ interest in affording a remedy for reputational 

injury. . . . [T]o expose anyone handling public funds to defamatory charges of 
38

We conclude that the Awans did not voluntarily engage in the controversy 

giving rise to this defamation case so as to become voluntary limited-purpose public 

figures.

D. Involuntary Public Figures

Salem argues that even if the Awans are not voluntary public figures, they 

qualify as “involuntary” public figures. The concept of involuntary public figures

stems from the Supreme Court’s unelaborated comment in Gertz that 

“[h]ypothetically, it may be possible for someone to become a public figure through 

no purposeful action of his own.”67 The Court considered this a possibility only in 

“exceedingly rare” situations.68 “Simply being the subject of discussion is not 

enough”69 because a “private individual is not automatically transformed into a 

public figure just by becoming involved in or associated with a matter that attracts 

 

misappropriation, would give the rule an inappropriately broad compass without 

reference to that balance of interests”).

67 Gertz v. Robert Welch, Inc., 418 U.S. 323, 345 (1974).

68 Id.

69 Moss, 580 A.2d at 1031 n.35.
39

public attention.”70 The Supreme Court has not had occasion since Gertz to provide 

further guidance on what it takes to become a public figure involuntarily, and courts 

and commentators have struggled with the concept and found it elusive and 

confusing; some even have expressed doubt as to its actual existence.

71 This court 

has acknowledged the existence of this category of public figures,72 but we have 

never applied it to a particular plaintiff. In weighing the “exceedingly rare” necessity 

of making a private individual an involuntary public figure, it is important to 

remember the “high price” that imposing the actual malice standard associated with 

public figure status “exacts” from victims of defamation, and that there is not 

 70 See Wolston v. Reader’s Dig. Ass’n, 443 U.S. 157, 167 (1979); see also 

Time, Inc. v. Firestone, 424 U.S. 448, 456 (1976) (reaffirming that “subject-matter 

classifications,” such as whether something is an issue of public concern, do not 

“determine the extent of constitutional protection afforded defamatory falsehoods”).

71 See, e.g., Nunes v. Lizza, 486 F. Supp. 3d 1267, 1295 (N.D. Iowa 2020) 

(commenting that subsequent Supreme Court decisions “appeared to suggest” that 

involuntary public figures are not only “hypothetical, but perhaps mythical,” and 

that some lower courts “have rejected [the] idea that the involuntary public figure 

exists any more than Bigfoot or the Loch Ness Monster”) (citing cases)). For a 

comprehensive overview of the issues, see W. Wat Hopkins, The Involuntary Public 

Figure: Not So Dead After All, 21 Cardozo Arts & Ent. L.J. 1 (2003). 

72 See, e.g., Fridman v. Orbis Bus. Intel. Ltd., 229 A.3d 494, 505 (D.C. 2020) 

(“Occasionally, someone is caught up in the controversy involuntarily and, against 

his will, assumes a prominent position in its outcome.”).
40

liability without some showing of fault even for private defamation plaintiffs.73 We 

therefore must be reluctant to adopt too broad a definition of the perhaps 

“hypothetical” involuntary public figure; we must be mindful that public figure 

status normatively is limited to those who in some way have earned it by their own 

choices:

For the most part those who attain this status have assumed 

roles of special prominence in the affairs of society. Some 

occupy positions of such persuasive power and influence 

that they are deemed public figures for all purposes. More 

commonly, those classed as public figures have thrust 

themselves to the forefront of particular public 

controversies in order to influence the resolution of the 

issues involved. In either event, they invite attention and 

comment.[74]

In determining whether the Awans should be held to be involuntary public 

figures, we find further guidance in decisions of the California Supreme Court and 

 73 See Gertz, 418 U.S. at 342, 347 (explaining that the actual malice “standard 

administers an extremely powerful antidote to the inducement to media selfcensorship of the common-law rule of strict liability for libel and slander” but also 

“exacts a correspondingly high price from the victims of defamatory falsehood” such 

that states may define the standard of liability for injury to private individuals “so 

long as they do not impose liability without fault”).

74 Gertz v. Robert Welch, Inc., 418 U.S. 323, 345 (1974).
41

the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit. The California Supreme 

Court has said:

We infer from the logic of Gertz that the high court would 

reserve this characterization [of an involuntary public 

figure] for an individual who, despite never having 

voluntarily engaged the public’s attention in an attempt to 

influence the outcome of a public controversy, nonetheless 

has acquired such public prominence in relation to the 

controversy as to permit media access sufficient to 

effectively counter media-published defamatory 

statements.”[75]

The Fourth Circuit has articulated the following two-part test for delimiting 

the category of involuntary public figure:

First, to prove that a plaintiff is an involuntary public 

figure the defendant must demonstrate to the court that the 

plaintiff has become a central figure in a significant public 

controversy and that the allegedly defamatory statement 

has arisen in the course of discourse regarding the public 

matter. To prove that the plaintiff is a central figure in the 

controversy, the defendant must put forth evidence that the 

plaintiff has been the regular focus of media reports on the 

controversy. A significant public controversy is one that 

touches upon serious issues relating to, for example, 

community values, historical events, governmental or 

political activity, arts, education, or public safety. Second, 

although an involuntary public figure need not have 

sought to publicize her views on the relevant controversy, 

she must have nonetheless assumed the risk of publicity. 

Therefore, the defendant must demonstrate that the 

 75 Khawar v. Globe Int’l, Inc., 965 P.2d 696, 702 (Cal. 1998).
42

plaintiff has taken some action, or failed to act when action 

was required, in circumstances in which a reasonable 

person would understand that publicity would likely 

inhere.[76]

Salem urges us to follow the D.C. Circuit’s arguably somewhat less restrictive 

approach to the involuntary public figure question in Dameron v. Washington 

Magazine, Inc.77 In that case, Merle Dameron “by sheer bad luck” had been the only 

air-traffic controller working at Dulles Airport at the time of a plane crash resulting 

in great loss of life.

78 Dameron claimed he was defamed by a magazine article that 

falsely said the controller on duty had been “assigned partial blame” for the accident. 

The court held that Dameron had become an involuntary public figure “for the very 

limited purpose of discussions of the ... crash.”79 It reasoned that Dameron “was at 

the center of a controversy involving the loss of many lives in a mishap involving a 

public carrier,” and that he had become “well known” to the public and acquired a 

special prominence and “public notoriety” in this limited connection after testifying 

for hours about his role in the highly publicized hearing before the agency 

 76 Wells v. Liddy, 186 F.3d 505, 539-40 (4th Cir. 1999).

77 779 F.2d 736 (D.C. Cir. 1985).

78 Id. at 738, 741.

79 Id. at 743.
43

investigating the plane crash.80 Acknowledging that Dameron had become 

“embroiled” in the public controversy over the cause of the crash “through no desire 

of his own,”81 the court “pause[d] to emphasize” what it said was “the limited scope” 

of its holding.”82 The court added that it was “confident” that “[t]he circumstances 

in which an involuntary public figure is created will . . . continue to be few and far 

between.”83

We think the foregoing cases counsel against a finding that the Awans were 

involuntary public figures with respect to any public controversy. If the 

circumstances of this rather garden-variety case of a government investigation of 

procurement irregularities sufficed to render the Awans involuntary public figures, 

then what the Supreme Court hypothesized as an “exceedingly rare” status will 

become anything but rare. The Awans were obscure individuals with a small IT 

business who did not acquire what the California Supreme Court called “such public 

prominence in relation to the controversy as to permit media access sufficient to 

effectively counter media-published defamatory statements.” We doubt that the 

 80 Id. at 742.

81 Id.

82 Id. at 743.

83 Id.
44

controversy concerning their IT services to a few House members rose to the level 

of significance envisioned by the Fourth Circuit’s test (notwithstanding that some of 

members the Awans served were themselves prominent), and Salem has not shown 

that the Awans “[took] some action, or failed to act when action was required, in 

circumstances in which a reasonable person would understand that publicity would 

likely inhere.” 

As for Dameron, we have reservations about its analysis, which seems in 

tension with Gertz and with Wolston’s statement that “[a] private individual is not 

automatically transformed into a public figure just by becoming involved in or 

associated with a matter that attracts public attention.”84 In any event, the 

circumstances of public interest in the present case differ materially from those in

Dameron, and the Awans’ involvement in those circumstances was not so central 

that we must recognize them as involuntary public figures to protect the freedoms of 

expression in the First Amendment. For one, it is telling that an effort to revise the

House’s policies governing shared employees and procurement, which triggered the 

House IT controversy, did not involve the Awans directly. The topic was freely 

discussed in a Committee on House Administration hearing called “Examining the 

 84 443 U.S. at 167.
45

Role of Shared Employees in the House” on April 12, 2018. Testimony alluded to

the investigation of the Awans’ conduct but without reference to their names or 

characteristics. Unlike in Dameron, the Awans were not called to testify publicly 

about their role in the controversy even after the criminal investigation ended. In 

addition, Salem has not presented evidence that the public’s identification or 

recognition of the Awans in connection with the inquiry into compliance with House 

policies reached the same level as the identification in Dameron. 

The Supreme Court in Gertz v. Robert Welch, Inc. balanced the state’s interest 

in providing redress for reputational harm of private individuals against “vigorous 

and uninhibited press” protected by the First Amendment.

85 The Court concluded 

that applying the actual malice standard to private individuals would “abridge [the] 

legitimate state interest to a degree that” the Court found “unacceptable.”86 Instead,

what the Court called the “more equitable boundary” allows recovery for defamation 

so long as the publisher is not held liable solely based on the inclusion in its 

publication of a false statement, i.e., without regard to fault.

87 In this case, requiring 

 85 418 U.S. 323, 342, 347-48 (1974).

86 Id. at 346.

87 See id. at 347-48.
46

the Awans to prove that Salem negligently published false statements in Obstruction 

of Justice (rather than requiring a showing of greater fault, i.e., actual malice),

adequately achieves the proper balance. 

For the above reasons, we affirm the trial court’s conclusion that the Awans 

are not limited-purpose public figures and affirm the denial of the special motion to 

dismiss the defamation claim.

88

III. Intentional Infliction of Emotional Distress

We turn now to the Awans’ IIED claim. “To establish a prima facie case of 

intentional infliction of emotional distress, a plaintiff must show ‘(1) extreme and 

 88 Because we conclude that the Awans are not public figures, we do not 

address Salem’s argument that the Awans cannot demonstrate actual malice. We 

also need not address whether the evidence is sufficient for a jury to find the claim 

supported by the evidence proffered because Salem has not argued that the Awans 

could not meet their burden if the negligence standard applies.
47

outrageous conduct on the part of the defendants, which (2) intentionally or 

recklessly (3) causes the plaintiff severe emotional distress.’”89 The trial court found 

that a properly instructed jury could reasonably find that the claim was supported by 

the evidence proffered. Specifically, the court said that “the statements made by 

Defendant Luke Rosiak ... in his book, published by Defendant Salem Media Group, 

Inc.,” rose “to the level of extreme and outrageous conduct” and that such “conduct 

intentionally or recklessly caused Plaintiffs severe emotional distress.” 

Salem argues that the trial court erred because the Awans cannot demonstrate 

the elements of IIED. We agree that the Awans have not shown that Salem’s conduct 

was “extreme and outrageous.” “Extreme and outrageous conduct” is conduct that 

is “so outrageous in character, and so extreme in degree, as to go beyond all possible 

bounds of decency, and to be regarded as atrocious, and utterly intolerable in a 

civilized community.”90 

The Awans describe the “extreme and outrageous” conduct in this case as the 

“multi-year campaign of disseminating false narratives and conspiracies that appeal 

 89 Competitive Enter. Inst. v. Mann, 150 A.3d 1213, 1260 (D.C. 2016) 

(quoting Williams v. District of Columbia, 9 A.3d 484, 493-94 (D.C. 2010)).

90 Drejza v. Vaccaro, 650 A.2d 1308, 1312 n.10 (D.C. 1994) (quoting 

Restatement (Second) of Torts §46 cmt. d (Am. L. Inst. 1965)).
48

to xenophobic and Islamophobic stereotypes — a coordinated attack that has 

unleashed an onslaught of negative media coverage, harassment, and threats trained 

on the plaintiffs.” That may be a fair characterization if we throw Rosiak and The 

Daily Caller’s allegedly tortious conduct from the period prior to Salem’s 

publication of the book into the mix, but we are not aware of any evidence to indicate 

that Salem “coordinated” with them during or after that time.91 The only conduct

properly attributable to Salem is its publication of Obstruction of Justice. 

The question of “whether the defendant’s conduct may reasonably be 

regarded as so extreme and outrageous as to permit recovery” requires a demanding 

showing that is a threshold question for the court.92 This court has weighed “the

advantage to society of preventing [the alleged] harm” against the “chilling effect of 

 91 Cf. King v. Kidd, 640 A.2d 656, 674-75 (D.C. 1993) (satisfying the elements 

of IIED where the plaintiff’s supervisor colluded with the person the plaintiff 

accused of sexual harassment to retaliate against the plaintiff for filing a complaint 

and to cover up the wrongdoing).

92 Drejza, 650 A.2d at 1316; see id. at 1312; see also King, 640 A.2d at 668 

(determining what is extreme and outrageous by looking to “community standards 

of offensiveness and decency” and “the specific context in which the conduct took 

place,” including “the nature of the activity at issue, the relationship between the 

parties, and the particular environment in which the conduct took place”).
49

imposing liability.”93 We must be especially attentive to the potential chilling effect 

where the claim is based on pure speech relating to a matter of legitimate public 

interest. This court has been cautious in the past when urged to impose liability 

based on IIED for such speech even if it is deeply upsetting to its subjects. For 

example, we held that the conduct of persons who stood on the street outside the 

plaintiff’s home loudly “chanting slogans” and “vague threats” of future injury was 

not extreme and outrageous.94 We said that although “serious threats” would have 

led to a different result, the conduct was “part and parcel ‘of the frictions and 

irritations and clashing of temperaments incident to participation in a community 

life,’ especially life in a society that recognizes a right to public political protest.”95 

Similarly, public discussion of truthful statements that divulge personal details will 

not necessarily be extreme and outrageous. For instance, an attorney was held not 

 93 Waldon v. Covington, 415 A.2d 1070, 1078 (D.C. 1980) (citing Clark v. 

Associated Retail Credit Men of Wash., D.C., 105 F.2d 62, 65 (D.C. Cir. 1939)); see 

also Restatement (Third) of Torts: Phys. & Emot. Harm §46 cmt. c (Am. L. Inst. 

2012) (“[A] court may decide that an identified and articulated policy is weighty 

enough to preclude liability. Thus, a court may decide that although the First 

Amendment does not bar liability, the protection of speech is nonetheless a weighty 

enough concern in a given context that liability for intentionally inflicted emotional 

harm should not be imposed.”).

94 Ortberg v. Goldman Sachs Grp., 64 A.3d 158, 163-64 (D.C. 2013).

95 Id. (citation omitted).
50

liable for discussing the sexual harassment that led to employment retaliation against 

her clients, including sharing the full name of the employee who was harassed on a 

public blog and the video depicting the incident on YouTube and local television 

stations.

96 This court has also concluded that a police press release mistakenly 

accusing someone of being the culprit of a widely-discussed murder, even where the 

evidence against the person had immediately been called into question, is not

extreme and outrageous.97

Calling pure speech about an issue of public concern “extreme and 

outrageous” conduct is clearly reserved for the rarest of cases. It is undisputed that

Obstruction of Justice is speech about potentially serious matters that were the 

subject of public controversy and concern. In light of the high bar for these types of 

IIED claims, we conclude that the Awans have not identified features of Salem’s 

conduct in publishing the book sufficiently atrocious to satisfy the elements of IIED. 

 96 See Doe v. Bernabei & Wachtel, PLLC, 116 A.3d 1262, 1265, 1269 (D.C. 

2015).

97 Minch v. District of Columbia, 952 A.2d 929, 935-36, 940-41 (D.C. 2008) 

(finding the elements of IIED not satisfied where police publicized their arrest of a 

college student for murdering his classmate even though the prosecutor dropped the 

charges shortly after the arrest for lack of probable cause and someone else later 

admitted to the murder).
51

The Awans do not contend that Salem gratuitously and spitefully publicized highly 

personal and embarrassing information about them; nor do they claim that Salem 

was motivated to endanger their wellbeing or cause them economic injury.

98 We do 

not dismiss the Awans’ claims that Salem’s libelous publication indeed added to the 

reputational harm and emotional distress that they suffered. The contents of 

Obstruction of Justice may have been false, defamatory, and actually detrimental to 

the Awans, but actionable defamation alone is not enough to amount to IIED. That 

Salem may have committed the tort of defamation does not mean it engaged in 

extreme and outrageous conduct with the specific intent to inflict emotional distress

or threaten their wellbeing; nor that Salem maliciously sought to cause them to suffer 

unwarranted harassment or to spark an unjustified reopening of the government’s 

investigations of their activities (which were resolved months before the publication 

of Obstruction of Justice). In sum, where the Awans have not raised the foregoing 

concerns, we cannot say that Salem’s publication of non-threatening public speech

 98 Cf. Newmyer v. Sidwell Friends Sch., 128 A.3d 1023, 1042 (D.C. 2015) 

(concluding that an ex-husband’s publication of a civil complaint against his exwife’s romantic partner could be extreme and outrageous given the “particularly 

sexually explicit language of the complaint” and its goal to trigger an investigation 

by the plaintiff’s professional governing bodies and to “brand” the plaintiff with 

“scarlet letter”).
52

crossed the threshold to meet the elements of IIED.

99 And even if proven, such 

aggravated and malicious conduct can be fully compensated through a defamation 

claim.100 We therefore reverse the trial court’s ruling with respect to the IIED cause 

of action.

IV. Unjust Enrichment

The Awans claim that Salem financially benefited “by publishing false and 

defamatory statements using the plaintiffs’ names, personal information, and facts 

and circumstances of the plaintiffs’ private lives.” They seek disgorgement of the 

profits from Obstruction of Justice to reverse Salem’s unjust enrichment by such 

 99 Salem also argued that the trial court’s finding that its publication of 

Obstruction of Justice amounted to extreme and outrageous conduct violates the

First Amendment. Because we conclude that the Awans’ claim failed to satisfy the 

elements of IIED, we do not address its constitutional argument. 

100 We note that if the Awans establish that Salem defamed them with actual 

malice, the Constitution permits the imposition of punitive damages. See Gertz v. 

Robert Welch, Inc., 418 U.S. 323, 350 (1974).
53

means. This court recognizes unjust enrichment when “(1) the plaintiff conferred a 

benefit on the defendant; (2) the defendant retains the benefit; and (3) under the 

circumstances, the defendant’s retention of the benefit is unjust.”101 The trial court 

concluded that “a properly instructed jury could look at the totality of the 

circumstances regarding the defamation claims and unjust enrichment claims and 

find for Plaintiffs.” We disagree and reverse. 

Unjust enrichment and restitution do not properly apply to the claims asserted 

in this case. Other courts have rejected similar claims brought by defamation 

plaintiffs because the plaintiff never conferred a benefit on the defendant in the way 

that unjust enrichment claims typically require. For instance, the U.S. Court of 

Appeals for the Eighth Circuit did not permit the plaintiff, who was the subject of a 

portion of a book, to seek disgorgement of the profits from the book’s sales because 

the plaintiff did not confer a benefit on the author through the plaintiff’s “mere 

existence as a colorful figure who might inspire people to make up stories about 

him.”102 Similarly, courts have said that defamation plaintiffs may not seek 

 101 News World Commc’ns, Inc. v. Thompsen, 878 A.2d 1218, 1222 (D.C. 

2005). 

102 See, e.g., Ventura v. Kyle, 825 F.3d 876, 887 (8th Cir. 2016); see also 

Organovo Holdings, Inc. v. Dimitrov, 162 A.3d 102, 126 (Del. Ch. 2017) (“[T]he 

remedy of disgorgement appears sufficiently disconnected from the tort of 
54

disgorgement for advertising and revenue profits gained by platforms that shared a 

defamatory article because the plaintiff would be “attempting to obtain an additional 

remedy that bears no relation to the injury” suffered and because the plaintiff would 

not otherwise be entitled to receive a portion of the advertising revenues.

103 

Like the plaintiffs in those cases, the Awans did not “confer a benefit” on 

Salem that would provide a basis for unjust enrichment. And the harm the Awans

allege is Salem’s defamation of them — not that Salem failed to compensate them 

for publishing Rosiak’s description of events that involve them. Unjust enrichment 

is not intended to address that type of harm. It remedies a very different problem, 

one in which restitution is used to reverse the effects of a voluntary transaction that 

 

defamation that that a request for disgorgement would not have supported equitable 

jurisdiction.”).

103 Palin v. N.Y. Times Co., No. 17-CV-4853 (JSR), 2020 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 

11544, at *5-6 (S.D.N.Y. Jan. 21, 2020); see also Alharbi v. Theblaze, Inc., 199 F. 

Supp. 3d 334, 361 (D. Mass. 2016) (granting summary judgment because no benefit 

was conferred by the defamatory statements written about the plaintiff from which 

the publisher generated advertising and subscriber revenue); cf. Diaz Rodriguez v. 

Torres Martir, 394 F. Supp. 2d 389, 391-92, 394 (D.P.R. 2005) (denying summary 

judgment on claims for libel, unjust enrichment, and violations of his right to selfimage, name, and privacy, because, as a well-known celebrity, the plaintiff would 

“customarily” be paid for promoting products and services and therefore could seek 

disgorgement for profits obtained by the magazine that used his photo in an 

advertisement without his consent).
55

unfairly enriched one party at the expense of the other.104 Restitution is the 

appropriate measure of compensation in those types of cases, while it is not in 

defamation cases. Awarding damages for defamation provides financial redress in 

the hopes of making the plaintiff whole even if the reputational damage cannot be

entirely undone.

105 Relatedly, damages are typically an adequate mechanism to 

recover for the harm caused by defamation without requiring restitution,

106 and we 

 104 See, e.g., 4934, Inc. v. D.C. Dep’t of Emp. Servs., 605 A.2d 50, 55 (D.C. 

1992) (crediting the Department of Employment Services the amount of money the 

claimant received from the private party who caused the workplace injury that was 

the basis for the workers’ compensation claim); Jordan Keys & Jessamy, LLP v. St. 

Paul Fire & Marine Ins. Co., 870 A.2d 58, 62 (D.C. 2005) (seeking payment for 

legal services); Glasgow v. Camanne Mgmt. Inc., 261 A.3d 208, 220-21 (D.C. 2021) 

(returning profits voluntarily shared based on the misunderstanding that a 

contractual obligation existed).

105 See Gertz v. Robert Welch, Inc., 418 U.S. 323, 344 n.9 (1974) (“[T]he law 

of defamation is rooted in our experience that the truth rarely catches up with a lie.”).

106 See, e.g., Ventura, 825 F.3d at 887 (concluding that damages are an 

adequate remedy for defamation); Alharbi, 199 F. Supp. 3d at 361 (same); Palin, 

2020 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 11544, at *5 (same); Hart v. E.P. Dutton & Co., 93 N.Y.S.2d 

871, 880 (N.Y. Sup. Ct. 1949) (“It is evident that the right to recover based upon 

libel has been limited to the recovery of damages under the common law and statutes 

applicable thereto. It would seem, therefore, that the law is so well established that 

an innovation such as the plaintiff seeks in this action would impose new and 

unnecessary hazards upon publishers and would be contrary to the policy of our 

law.”), aff’d sub nom. Hart v. E. P. Dutton & Co., Inc., 277 A.D. 935, 98 N.Y.S.2d 

773 (N.Y. App. Div. 1950).
56

see no reason to think this case would be an exception to that general rule in the 

event the plaintiffs prove their defamation claims.

The Awans point to the Restatement (Third) of Restitution and Unjust 

Enrichment §44 (Am. L. Inst. 2011), which recognizes the validity of using 

restitution to remedy tortious harms. That said, even under the Restatement, this is 

not the case for allowing disgorgement of profits because it explains that unjust 

enrichment should be limited or denied if “the proper measure of recovery poses 

insurmountable difficulties of calculation.”107 The Awans have identified nine 

statements in the 311-page book that they claim are defamatory. Allocating the 

defamatory statements to the profits earned relative to the other statements and topics 

in the book would pose serious difficulties.

 107 Id. §44 cmt. d; see also id. §44 (“Restitution by the rule of this section will 

be limited or denied ... if the benefit derived from the interference cannot be 

adequately measured ....”).
57

V. Conclusion

For the foregoing reasons, we affirm the trial court’s denial of the AntiSLAPP special motion to dismiss the defamation claim. We reverse the court’s 

rulings with respect to the claims for IIED and unjust enrichment.108 We remand for 

further proceedings consistent with this opinion.

 108 In light of this court’s contemporaneous decision in Banks v. Hoffman, No. 

20-CV-318 (D.C. Sept. 7, 2023), holding that the Anti-SLAPP Act’s special-motionto-dismiss procedure contravenes the Home Rule Act, we refrain from directing the 

trial court to grant Salem’s special motion to dismiss the IIED and unjust enrichment 

claims with prejudice, as would otherwise be required under D.C. Code §16-

5502(d).