Sections
  • Best of Washington
  • News & Politics
    • Washingtonian Today
  • Things to Do
    • DC Welcome Guide
    • This Week
    • 100 Best Things to Do in DC
    • Neighborhood Guides
    • DC-Area Events Calender
    • Washingtonian Events
  • Food & Drink
    • 100 Very Best Restaurants
    • The Hot List
    • Brunch
    • New Restaurants
    • Restaurant Finder
  • Home & Style
    • Health
    • Parenting
  • Shopping
    • Gift Guides
  • Real Estate
    • Top Realtors
    • Listings We Love
    • Rave Worthy Rentals
  • Weddings
    • Real Weddings
    • Wedding Vendor Finder
    • Submit Your Wedding
  • Travel
    • DC Welcome Guide
    • Best Airbnbs Around DC
    • 3 Days in DC
  • Best of DC
    • Doctors
    • Apartment Rentals
    • Dentists
    • Financial Advisors
    • Industry Leaders
    • Lawyers
    • Mortgage Pros
    • Pet Care
    • Private Schools
    • Realtors
    • Wedding Vendors
  • Magazine
    • Subscribe
    • Manage Subscription
    • Current & Past Issues
    • Features and Longreads
    • Newsletters
    • Newsstand Locations
Reader Favorites
  • 100 Very Best Restaurants
  • DC-Area Events Calendar
  • Brunch
  • Neighborhoods
  • Newsletters
  • Directories
  • Washingtonian Events
Washington’s Best
  • Apartment Rentals
  • DC Travel Guide
  • Dentists
  • Doctors
  • Financial Advisers
  • Health Experts
  • Home Improvement Experts
  • Industry Leaders
  • Lawyers
  • Mortgage Professionals
  • Pet Care
  • Private Schools
  • Real Estate Agents
  • Restaurants
  • Retirement Communities
  • Wedding Vendors
Privacy Policy |  Rss
© 2025 Washingtonian Media Inc.
All Rights Reserved
Skip to content
Washingtonian.com
  • Search
  • Subscribe
  • Menu
Washingtonian.com
  • Subscribe
Reader Favorites
  • 100 Very Best Restaurants
  • DC-Area Events Calendar
  • Brunch
  • Neighborhoods
  • Newsletters
  • Directories
  • Washingtonian Events
More
  • Subscribe
  • Manage My Subscription
  • Digital Edition
  • Shop
  • Contests
  • About Us
  • Advertising
  • Contact Us
  • Jobs
Sections
  • News & Politics
  • Food
  • Things to Do
  • Washingtonian Events
  • Home & Style
  • Editors’ Picks
  • Events Calendar
  • Health
  • Longreads
  • Parenting
  • Real Estate
  • Shopping
  • Travel
  • Weddings
  • Best of Washington
  • News & Politics
    • Washingtonian Today
  • Things to Do
    • DC Welcome Guide
    • This Week
    • 100 Best Things to Do in DC
    • Neighborhood Guides
    • DC-Area Events Calender
    • Washingtonian Events
  • Food & Drink
    • 100 Very Best Restaurants
    • The Hot List
    • Brunch
    • New Restaurants
    • Restaurant Finder
  • Home & Style
    • Health
    • Parenting
  • Shopping
    • Gift Guides
  • Real Estate
    • Top Realtors
    • Listings We Love
    • Rave Worthy Rentals
  • Weddings
    • Real Weddings
    • Wedding Vendor Finder
    • Submit Your Wedding
  • Travel
    • DC Welcome Guide
    • Best Airbnbs Around DC
    • 3 Days in DC
  • Best of DC
    • Doctors
    • Apartment Rentals
    • Dentists
    • Financial Advisors
    • Industry Leaders
    • Lawyers
    • Mortgage Pros
    • Pet Care
    • Private Schools
    • Realtors
    • Wedding Vendors
  • Magazine
    • Subscribe
    • Manage Subscription
    • Current & Past Issues
    • Features and Longreads
    • Newsletters
    • Newsstand Locations
News & Politics

Former Pro-Trump Artist Sues National Portrait Gallery Director for Blocking Him on Twitter

Julian Raven's years-long battle against the Smithsonian museum continues.

Written by Andrew Beaujon
| Published on September 28, 2022
Tweet Share
This past spring, Raven exhibited the piece at a political-art gallery across from the museum—one of many ploys for publicity for his lawsuit.
Raven. Photograph by Jeff Elkins

Julian Raven, a New York artist who once sued the Smithsonian because the National Portrait Gallery refused to exhibit his portrait of former President Trump, has filed a new suit against its director, Kim Sajet. Raven’s complaint? Sajet, he says, has blocked him on Twitter.

Raven has soured on Trump in the years since the real estate developer forged an unlikely career in politics. He called on Trump to resign after his fans sacked the US Capitol on January 6, 2021, and later urged the Portrait Gallery to cover a photo of Trump with black cloth.

This current pro se suit, filed in US District Court for the District of Columbia, rekindles an unusual and bitter feud with Sajet, who phoned Raven in 2016 to inform him that his 16-foot-long painting of Trump, which depicted the Republican with a meteor for hair alongside an eagle and a globe denuded of all continents but North America, was, in her words, “no good.”

Raven filed suit against the Smithsonian, claiming it had not subjected his painting to a proper review. He further honed in on Sajet’s Twitter account, saying she’d violated the Hatch Act by tweeting about the 2017 Women’s March in DC on the gallery director’s official Twitter account, content from which was later retro-migrated to Sajet’s personal account.

Raven’s Hatch Act complaint failed with the US Office of Special Counsel, as did his legal case in federal court. Judge Trevor McFadden, who was nominated to the bench by Trump, dismissed the action, saying Raven had “not articulated a plausible violation of the Constitution,” though he did describe the gallery’s actions toward him as “insults” that were “odious.”  Raven has since published a book called Odious and Cerberus: An American Immigrant’s Odyssey and his Free-Speech Legal War Against Smithsonian Corruption.

It is in the promotion of this book that the new lawsuit emerged. By Raven’s account, all he did was send a tweet to Sajet on September 1, after which, he claims, the director blocked him. (A National Portrait Gallery spokesperson declined to comment.) This action, he says in the claim, is analogous to a 2019 case in which a federal appeals court held that Trump couldn’t block people on Twitter.

Raven’s suit asks that Sajet unblock him and that the court award him $902 in fees he’s incurred to file and serve the action. You can read it here:

Raven v Sajet by Washingtonian Magazine on Scribd

More: Julian RavenNational Portrait Gallery
Join the conversation!
Share Tweet
Andrew Beaujon
Senior editor

Andrew Beaujon joined Washingtonian in late 2014. He was previously with the Poynter Institute, TBD.com, and Washington City Paper. He lives in Del Ray.

Most Popular in News & Politics

1

Every Bus Line in DC Is Changing This Weekend. Here’s What to Know.

2

Yet Another Anti-Trump Statue Has Shown Up on the National Mall

3

8 Takeaways From Usha Vance’s Interview With Meghan McCain

4

Another Mysterious Anti-Trump Statue Has Appeared on the National Mall

5

Bans on Underage Vaping, Swastika Graffiti, Synthetic Dyes: New Virginia Laws Go Into Effect in July

Washingtonian Magazine

July Issue: The “Best Of” Issue

July Issue: The "Best Of" Issue

View Issue
Subscribe

Follow Us on Social

We'll help you live your best #DCLIFE every day

Follow Us on Social

We'll help you live your best #DCLIFE every day

Related

Steven Spielberg’s Portrait Is Coming to the Smithsonian’s Permanent Collection

Total Candy: One of Fall’s Most Fascinating Art Exhibits Has Arrived

National Portrait Gallery Will Spotlight Amy Sherald, Artist Behind Iconic Michelle Obama Portrait

A Life-Size Portrait of Oprah Winfrey Is Now on Display at the National Portrait Gallery

More from News & Politics

Pardoned J6er Will Join Ed Martin’s Justice Department Office, Trump Outlines Hypothetical Alligator Escape Plan, and We Have Fireworks Show Recommendations

The “World’s Largest Outdoor Museum” Is Coming to DC. Here’s a Preview.

A Cult Classic of Cannabis Brands Is Making Its DC Debut

The Commanders Wine and Dine DC Council Members; GOP Senator Suggests Tax Language Was “Airdropped” Into Spending Bill; and Trump Wants DOGE to Investigate Musk

100 Reasons to Love DC Right Now

How DC’s Attorney General Got So Good at Double Dutch

DC Council Ponders New Way to Expel Trayon White, the GOP’s Budget Bill Advances, and We Found You Some Tacos With Ethiopian Flair

For DNC Chair Ken Martin, the Big Beautiful Bill Is Personal

© 2025 Washingtonian Media Inc.
All Rights Reserved.
Washingtonian is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com.
Privacy Policy and Opt-Out
 Rss
Get the best news, delivered weekly.
By signing up, you agree to our terms.
  • Subscribe
  • Manage My Subscription
  • Digital Edition
  • Shop
  • Contests
  • About Us
  • Advertising
  • Contact Us
  • Jobs