Today’s case of the day, Broidy Capital Management LLC v. Benomar (2d Cir. 2019), is at the intersection of cloak-and-dagger intrigue, international law, and the Trump era. Elliott Broidy was the deputy finance chair of the Republican National Committee. He alleged that the State of Qatar and its agents had hacked his computers, stolen trade secrets and personal information, and passed it to the media. Qatar’s motive, according to Broidy, was to “discredit Broidy and curtail his influence,” because he was “an influential detractor responsible for President Trump’s public criticism of Qatar in June 2017.” Broidy sued Jamal Benomar in the Southern District of New York, alleging that he was a “secret Qatari agent,” and that he “had been paid by Qatar to participate in the alleged Qatari hacking scheme.” Benomar, a Moroccan national, had been a United Nations official until July 1, 2017, and he had served as a diplomat in Morocco’s mission to the United Nations since November 1, 2017. But Morocco did not seek US accreditation until mid-2018. After Broidy filed his lawsuit, the United States did accredit Benomar as a diplomat, but Broidy asserted the suit could proceed anyway, because it arose out of Benomar’s commercial or professional activity, namely, “reviewing and organizing the hacked materials and planning their dissemination to the media.” The District Court dismissed the action, and Broidy appealed. (more…)