(Luis Cornelio, Headline USA) A former Trump 2.0 official who was fired after claims that she was involved in a “sugar baby” relationship filed a defamation lawsuit on Monday against her ex-boyfriend, alleging he orchestrated the accusations
Julia Varvaro, who served as deputy assistant secretary for counterterrorism in the second Trump administration, filed the 34-page lawsuit against Robert “Bob” Bianchi, alleging he fabricated claims about their relationship and leaked information to the media. Fox News was first to report on the lawsuit.
Varvaro explicitly accused Bianchi of orchestrating a false smear campaign that ultimately destroyed her career, according to the lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia.
Varvaro gained viral attention after the Daily Mail published a story apparently relying largely on Bianchi’s account, which, among other things, portrayed their relationship as a “sugar daddy” or “prostitute” arrangement.
He claimed, first in a complaint with the DHS Office of Inspector General, that Varvaro posed a national security risk because she received financial support in exchange for the relationship.
DHS placed Varvaro, who holds a Ph.D., on administrative leave while it investigated the allegations but later fired her.
It’s been 1 month since I began working for Secretary Noem and President Trump at DHS HQ as the Deputy Assistant Secretary for Counterterrorism. I could not be more grateful to work with this extraordinary administration. ❤️ pic.twitter.com/qOcmeRm24j
— Julia Varvaro (@drjuliavarvaro) May 30, 2025
Her dismissal came even after Bianchi later effectively walked back the “sugar daddy” accusation in an interview with People Magazine.
Among the lawsuit’s most serious allegations is that Bianchi falsely claimed that Varvaro used “sugar daddies” to finance her education.
The lawsuit also accuses him of selectively leaking private text messages to create the impression that her relationship was financially motivated.
Varvaro’s attorneys argue Bianchi launched the campaign after she declined his marriage proposal.
“Instead of respecting Dr. Varvaro’s position, he engaged in a campaign to defame Dr. Varvaro and label her a prostitute,” the complaint states. “But that label is not true.”
The lawsuit concedes that the pair met through an online dating app and that Bianchi offered to pay many of Varvaro’s expenses during the relationship. The lawsuit contends that she was contemplating working as a bartender to support herself at the time.
Bianchi, a millionaire who owns the federal contracting firm SDVO Solutions, LLC, has earned more than $67 million in government contracts, according to the complaint.
Varvaro’s attorneys allege that Bianchi used his government contracting experience to maximize the impact of his allegations.
“His campaign was multi-pronged, based on experience, and designed to ensure that Dr. Varvaro’s reputation would be damaged beyond repair,” the lawsuit states.
“To bolster this falsity, Mr. Bianchi made knowing false statements in the OIG complaint, stating that Dr. Varvaro ‘does not have college debt because sugar daddies paid for her college education’ and the jewelry that Dr. Varvaro owned was ‘all trophies from her sugar daddies.'”
Varvaro is seeking compensatory and damages “including lost profits and lost business opportunities; mental anguish, distress, and humiliation; punitive damages; costs of bringing this action; pre- and post-judgment interest; and such additional relief as this Court deems appropriate.”
