The phrase "assertion that despite" is correct and usable in written English.
It can be used when introducing a statement that contradicts or challenges a previously mentioned idea or situation.
Example: "The assertion that despite the challenges, progress can be made is a hopeful perspective."
Alternatives: "claim that regardless of" or "statement that in spite of".
Undergirding all of it was an assertion that despite having never held public office, Ms. Nixon, a Democrat, knew all about the capital and its notorious dysfunction.
The president repeated his assertion that, despite the frightening situation at the Fukushima Daiichi reactor complex in Japan, nuclear power will remain an important source of electricity in the United States for decades to come.
Yet the determination not to detract from more traditional Olympic disciplines extends to Bellamy's assertion that despite a stellar wage and the celebrity culture of the Premier League, footballers should not be considered superstars.
Their private view that that issue was all-important contrasts with JDC chair Dr Johann Malawana's public assertion that, despite weeks of talks, junior doctors were still concerned about other issues, including patient safety.
United States officials asked for a panel to examine its assertion that despite the deregulation of telecommunications in 1996, the Mexican field is still dominated by the giant Telefonos de Mexico.
The assertion that despite increasingly overwhelming workloads, public defenders must "tighten their belts" during these times of severe reductions in state and local revenues is an affront to the constitutional guarantee of effective assistance of counsel for indigent criminal defendants.
Additionally, a University of Colorado's National Education Policy Center paper found that charter schools tend to be more racially segregated than traditional public schools, despite advocates' assertion that charters allow educational innovation and equality that doesn't rely on a student's zip code.
Indeed, this week local news organizations have combed through about 50,000 e-mails sent to Gov. Scott Walker to evaluate the truthfulness of his assertions that, despite the tens of thousands of protesters outside his office, a majority of people who wrote to him were supportive.
Despite his assertion that, in the arena, it had crossed his mind that it would be "equally OK if I lost", this would have been impossible to infer from the action.
Duchatelet's grand plan for his network of six European clubs remains a mystery, despite his assertion that "if you have five children... they are all your priority".
Because despite his assertion that "to be a critic is to be importantly different than those sharing their own taste," Stothard's taste in both literature and criticism -- and, by extension, the traditional taste of the literary establishment -- is exactly what's being discussed.
