The former CNN anchor, who spent years as one of President Donald Trump’s most outspoken media critics, is asking a federal judge to dismiss charges tied to the disruption of a church service in St. Paul, Minnesota, earlier this year.
Lemon’s lawyers argue that the prosecution is politically motivated. In court papers filed Friday, they claimed the Justice Department is pursuing a “vindictive” case against him because of Trump’s personal hostility toward the former CNN host.
They also argue that Lemon was acting as a journalist during the Jan. 18 protest at Cities Church and that his conduct was protected by the First Amendment. According to his legal team, Lemon never crossed the line from covering the protest to participating in it.
Federal prosecutors tell a very different story.
The indictment alleges that Lemon was aware of the protesters’ plans before they entered the church and that he helped keep the location secret while livestreaming preparations.
“We’re going to head to the operation,” Lemon told viewers, according to the indictment. “Again, we’re not going to give any, any of the information away.”
Prosecutors appear to view statements like that as evidence Lemon was doing more than simply observing events as a reporter. He has been charged with conspiracy against the right of religious freedom at a place of worship.
Lemon was later arrested in Los Angeles, where he had traveled to cover the Grammy Awards.
Whether his conduct actually amounted to a federal crime is a question for the courts. Lemon has every right to challenge the charges, question the government’s evidence and argue that his actions were protected journalism.
What is harder to accept is the suggestion that the prosecution can simply be explained as Trump settling a personal score.
Don Lemon asked a judge to dismiss the civil rights case against him, citing years of President Trump’s derisive comments against him.
Lemon was accused of violating congregants’ right to worship when he entered a Minnesota church with protesters. https://t.co/GHEqGQpAuf
— The Washington Post (@washingtonpost) August 8, 2026
There is little doubt that Trump and Lemon have a long and bitter history. Trump has repeatedly attacked Lemon publicly, while Lemon spent much of Trump’s first term criticizing him on CNN. Their mutual dislike is hardly a secret.
But political hostility by itself does not prove that a prosecution is illegitimate.
The more important question is what Lemon actually did before and during the church protest.
According to the indictment, he knew where the demonstrators were headed before the public did. He did not reveal the location while streaming their preparations. Once the group reached Cities Church, he entered the building as protesters interrupted the service. He then questioned members of the congregation and church leadership during the confrontation.
Lemon’s lawyers may ultimately persuade a judge that those actions were part of legitimate newsgathering. They may also argue successfully that the government is stretching federal law too far. Those are serious legal questions, and they deserve to be considered on the evidence.
But claiming the entire case exists because Trump dislikes him is a much broader argument, and one that requires more than pointing to years of public insults between the two men.
Lemon’s career has also changed dramatically since the height of his CNN years. He lost his prime-time program in 2022, later moved to CNN’s morning lineup and was eventually fired from the network. He now hosts his own program online, including on YouTube.
That history has helped fuel criticism that Lemon’s presence at the St. Paul protest was as much about maintaining his public profile as covering a newsworthy event. His supporters, of course, see it differently and argue that independent journalists routinely follow activists into contentious situations precisely because those situations are news.
That debate is likely to continue.
What matters in court, though, is not whether Trump likes Don Lemon, whether conservatives dislike his journalism or whether his critics believe his best television years are behind him. The case will turn on his conduct, the government’s evidence and whether prosecutors can prove that he crossed the line from documenting a protest to participating in an unlawful disruption.
Lemon is entitled to fight the charges as aggressively as any other defendant.
But if prosecutors can support the allegations laid out in the indictment, blaming the case on Trump’s personal animosity will not be enough to make it disappear.
