The U.S. Government Says Amir Hekmati's Exclusion from $20 Million Terror Victims Fund Was Justified

The U.S. Department of Justice has called for the dismissal of a lawsuit by a former Marine who claims he was unfairly and illegally denied $20 million in federal compensation for victims of foreign terrorism. According to Reuters, the U.S. Department of Justice rejected Amir Hekmati's claim for compensation from a special government fund in a filing on Friday in Washington, D.C. Hekmati, who stated that he endured nearly five years of detention in Iran after serving in the armed forces, filed a lawsuit against the U.S. government in December. He alleged that the Department of Justice and others violated his constitutional rights and other matters by canceling the $20 million payment after initially agreeing to it. The Department of Justice and Hekmati's lawyers did not respond to requests for comment. In his lawsuit, Amir Hekmati stated that he was subjected to 'prolonged and sustained' physical abuse after his detention began in 2011 in an Iranian prison. His interrogators in Iran accused him of spying for the U.S. based on a complaint he filed. Hekmati was returned to the United States in 2016 as part of a prisoner exchange between Tehran and Washington. In Hekmati's complaint, he stated that in 2017 he was informed he would receive $20 million from the government’s terrorism victims fund, which was established by a U.S. congressional act in 2015 for American victims of torture abroad. Kenneth Feinberg, the fund's director at the time, stated in late 2020 that Hekmati was not eligible because the Department of Justice determined he had lied about the reasons for his presence in Iran. Hekmati claims the Department of Justice falsely stated that he intended to sell classified information to Iran. He has not been charged with espionage by the U.S. In his lawsuit, Amir Hekmati stated that the government unfairly revealed the identities of four confidential sources who allegedly disputed his claims about the reasons for his trip to Iran to visit family. He argues that he should have had the opportunity to confront these sources. In rejecting Amir Hekmati's request for the $20 million, the government stated that he had the full range of constitutional opportunities in the process of addressing this money. The Department of Justice stated that Hekmati had multiple opportunities to provide evidence that would refute the special agent's conclusions. Amir Hekmati has sued the U.S. Department of Justice over the rejection of his $20 million compensation request.