Former President Donald Trump has filed a lawsuit against CNN over alleged defamation and is seeking $475 million in punitive damages.
The lawsuit was filed on Monday in the U.S. District Court in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.
Lawyers representing the former president accused the network of a “campaign of dissuasion in the form of libel and slander” to keep him from winning the 2020 presidential election.
“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,” the lawsuit reads. “CNN’s campaign of dissuasion in the form of libel and slander against the Plaintiff has only escalated in recent months as CNN fears the Plaintiff will run for president in 2024. As a part of its concerted effort to tilt the political balance to the Left, CNN has tried to taint the Plaintiff with a series of ever-more scandalous, false, and defamatory labels of ‘racist,’ ‘Russian lackey,’ ‘insurrectionist,’ and ultimately ‘Hitler.'”
In order for a public figure to sue for defamation, they typically have to prove “actual malice,” but Trump’s legal team argued that standard does not apply in this case.
“Even though the actual malice standard is met here, in circumstances like these, the judicially-created policy of the ‘actual malice’ standard should not apply because ‘ideological homogeneity in the media—or in the channels of information distribution—risks repressing certain ideas from the public consciousness just as surely as if access were restricted by the government,'” the lawsuit states. “Suits like these do not throttle the First Amendment, they vindicate the First Amendment’s marketplace of ideas.”
Trump had threatened to sue the network in July if they did not retract a number of statements in a letter titled “Notice of Intent to Bring Civil Action for Defamation.” The letter was addressed to CNN Chief Executive Officer Chris Licht and CNN Executive Vice President and General Counsel David Vigilante.
“In accordance with Florida Statute § 770.02, CNN must publish a full and fair correction, apology, or retraction, in the same editions or corresponding issues of the website publication in which the aforementioned articles, transcripts, or broadcasts appeared and in as conspicuous a place and type as said original article, transcript or broadcast within ten (10) days from the date of service of this notice,” the letter said.
CNN declined to comply with the demands.
“CNN has had the opportunity to review your letter of July 21, 2022, and to evaluate your demand to take down and retract the 34 articles and television segments you identify as defamatory, and to cease referring to representations made by former President Trump regarding the outcome of the 2020 presidential election as ‘lies.’ We decline your request,” CNN’s response began.
The response continued, “while we will address the merits of any lawsuit should one be filed, we note that you have not identified a single false or defamatory statement in your letter. It is well-established that the outcome of the 2020 presidential election was unaffected by fraud, as verified by the dismissal of no fewer than 50 lawsuits by judges across the United States asserting otherwise, the sanctioning of multiple attorneys for making unsubstantiated election-fraud claims, and investigations conducted by the Department of Justice, Congress, and various state and local bodies.”
