Trump sues CNN for $475 million in damages
As of press time, Trump has not commented publicly on the defamation suit.
By
Former President Donald Trump is suing cable news outlet CNN for defamation, pointing to its hostile coverage of his administration.
Trump seeks $475 million in punitive damages, alleging that CNN “has sought to use its massive influence — purportedly as a ‘trusted’ news source — to defame the Plaintiff in the minds of its viewers and readers for the purpose of defeating him politically, culminating in CNN claiming credit for ‘[getting] Trump out’ in the 2020 presidential election.”
Trump’s attorneys filed the suit on Monday in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida.
File
trump suit cnn
The suit faces considerable barriers to success, largely due to the demands on a plaintiff, especially a public official, to prove a news network did in fact defame someone. Trump will need to prove that CNN was malicious in its coverage or deliberately ignored the truth of matters on which they reported.
That is “a high legal bar to clear given First Amendment protections granted to the free press under the Constitution,” according to The Hill. “The New York Times, for example, has not lost a defamation case in more than 50 years.”
In a statement on the suit, released Monday evening, Trump lamented that the “once prestigious news channel” had “devolved into a purveyor of disinformation, defamation, and Fake News.”
“I am proud to file today’s lawsuit in order to begin the process of standing up to Fake News and the Mainstream Media,” he added. Trump also mentioned that he would file suits against other outlets in the coming weeks and intended to take legal action against the House select committee investigating the events of Jan. 6, 2021.
Winning such a case is not impossible, however. Covington Catholic High School student Nick Sandmann successfully secured considerable financial settlements from both CNN and the Washington Post for their coverage of a controversy that suggested the high schooler instigated a confrontation with an Indian activist. That depiction of events was ultimately proven false by the discovery of video footage showing that Nathan Phillips, Sandmann’s antagonist, approached him. The exact sums of either settlement remain undisclosed.
Moreover, former GOP California Rep. Devin Nunes, now head of the Trump Media & Technology Group, has found some success in legal actions against his press hounds, with the 8th Circuit Court of Appeals allowing his defamation suit against journalist Ryan Lizza and Hearst Media to return to trial court in late 2021.
__________
RELATED
Supreme Court declines to hear MyPillow CEO Lindell’s defamation case
Supreme Court won’t hear case on Justice Department ‘filter teams’ like those used in Trump search
Supreme Court begins new term with voting, election cases at forefront
***********
(TLB) published this article with permission of John Solomon at Just the News. Click Here to read about the staff at Just the News
Header featured image (edited) credit: Trump/Getty Images
Emphasis and pictorial content added by (TLB) editors
••••
••••
Stay tuned to …
••••
The Liberty Beacon Project is now expanding at a near exponential rate, and for this we are grateful and excited! But we must also be practical. For 7 years we have not asked for any donations, and have built this project with our own funds as we grew. We are now experiencing ever increasing growing pains due to the large number of websites and projects we represent. So we have just installed donation buttons on our websites and ask that you consider this when you visit them. Nothing is too small. We thank you for all your support and your considerations … (TLB)
••••
Comment Policy: As a privately owned web site, we reserve the right to remove comments that contain spam, advertising, vulgarity, threats of violence, racism, or personal/abusive attacks on other users. This also applies to trolling, the use of more than one alias, or just intentional mischief. Enforcement of this policy is at the discretion of this websites administrators. Repeat offenders may be blocked or permanently banned without prior warning.
••••
Disclaimer: TLB websites contain copyrighted material the use of which has not always been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. We are making such material available to our readers under the provisions of “fair use” in an effort to advance a better understanding of political, health, economic and social issues. The material on this site is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving it for research and educational purposes. If you wish to use copyrighted material for purposes other than “fair use” you must request permission from the copyright owner.
••••
Disclaimer: The information and opinions shared are for informational purposes only including, but not limited to, text, graphics, images and other material are not intended as medical advice or instruction. Nothing mentioned is intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis or treatment.
Leave a Reply