(Mark Pellin, Headline USA) Claiming that an aggressively leftist CNN had perpetrated a “campaign of libel and slander” against him, former President Donald Trump on Monday filed a lawsuit seeking $475 million in punitive damages from the cable news channel.
“I am proud to file today’s lawsuit in order to begin the process of standing up to Fake News and the Mainstream Media,” Trump wrote on Truth Social.
The lawsuit, filed in U.S. District Court in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, contended 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.”
The lawsuit continued: “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.’”
Contending that “these labels” were “repeatedly reported as true fact,” the lawsuit stated that CNN’s “allegedly ‘reputable’ newscasters,” set out to defame Trump by:
acting not merely with reckless disregard for the truth of their statements (sufficient to meet the definition of the legal standard for ‘actual malice) but acting with real animosity for the Plaintiff and seeking to cause him true harm (the way “actual malice” commonly is understood).
Trump’s message on Truth Social made clear that Monday’s filing against CNN was only the first salvo to hold leftist mainstream media accountable for deliberately pushing disinformation.
“In the coming weeks and months we will also be filing lawsuits against a large number of other Fake News Media Companies for their lies, defamation, and wrongdoing, including as it pertains to ‘The Big Lie,’ that they used so often in reference to their disinformation attack on Presidential Election of 2020,” Trump wrote.
He also noted that fake news media wasn’t alone on his radar for possible future litigation.
“Likewise, we may bring appropriate action against the Unselect Committee of January 6th because, notwithstanding overwhelming evidence, they REFUSED to investigate the massive Presidential Election Fraud which took place, but only investigate and harass the people and Patriots who complained and asked questions about it,” Trump wrote.
