Donald Trump Sues CNN For Defamation, Seeks $475 Million In Damages
[guest post by Dana]
That he has filed another lawsuit against yet another entity for allegedly having done him wrong is completely unsurprising. I mean, what took him so long? This is an excerpt from the silly suit filed in U.S. District Court in Fort Lauderdale, Florida:
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. 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.”
Obviously, the First Amendment has no meaning or relevance to Donald Trump.
But of course the grifter is gonna grift:
Less than 24 hours after filing suit against CNN, former President Donald Trump is asking his supporters to donate to his cause.
“I am SUING the Corrupt News Network (CNN) for DEFAMING and SLANDERING my name,” the potential 2024 presidential candidate said in a fund raising email Tuesday that encouraged supporters to contribute $5 or more. “Remember, when they come after ME, they are really coming after YOU.”
He does this because it works.
–Dana
Read the complaint in its entirety. It’s just mind-boggling.
Dana (1225fc) — 10/4/2022 @ 9:00 amThe headline should read “Trump Sues CNN for Definition of Character.”
The jokes just write themselves.
Rip Murdock (d2a2a8) — 10/4/2022 @ 9:17 amThe case is a loser unless the Supreme Court decides to rewrite libel and slander law for Trump. Thomas has been itching at the chance to do that for decades, and Alito is probably on board; I wonder about the others.
aphrael (236dda) — 10/4/2022 @ 9:45 amSpeaking of amendments:
Where’s Jackie? Walorski’s mom tells Biden ‘in heaven’ as he says sorry for gaffe
Joe Biden apologized to the family of the late Rep. Jackie Walorski for mistakenly asking “Where’s Jackie?” Walorski’s mother responded “in Heaven with Jesus” when Biden brought up the gaffe, the New York Post reported. The family met with Biden before he signed a bill in her honor and then got a West Wing tour.
https://nypost.com/2022/10/03/wheres-jackie-walorskis-mom-tells-biden-in-heaven-as-he-says-sorry-for-gaffe/?utm_campaign=2416017&utm_medium=browser_notifications&utm_source=pushly
Why an apology for a top-of-mind comment0 so your press secretary insisted? “C’mon, man!”
Now apologize for your lying, out-of-your-mind comments to Puerto Rico:
Biden claims ‘I was sort of raised in the Puerto Rican community’ in Delaware
President Biden told an audience in Puerto Rico Monday that “I was sort of raised in the Puerto Rican community at home, politically” — despite the fact that only about 2,000 people of Puerto Rican ancestry lived in Delaware when he was launching his career five decades ago.
https://nypost.com/2022/10/03/biden-claims-he-was-raised-in-the-puerto-rican-community/
DCSCA (4c363e) — 10/4/2022 @ 9:51 amThis lawsuit will end up just like his RICO lawsuit against Hillary Clinton, the DNC, James Comey, Lisa Page, Peter Strzok, etc. That is, it won’t get passed a motion to dismiss. From the judge’s ruling in that case:
Also, the judge ruled that many of the defendants did not have a sufficient connection to Florida to assert personal jurisdiction, something that is likely to occur here, as CNN’s corporate headquarters is located in Atlanta.
Never trust a lawyer named Trusty.
SAD!
Rip Murdock (d2a2a8) — 10/4/2022 @ 9:52 amIt won’t get out of the district courtroom. It’s a performance lawsuit for Trump’s deplorables.
Rip Murdock (d2a2a8) — 10/4/2022 @ 9:56 amWow, DCSCA, it only took 3 comments for you to veer off course.
Dana (1225fc) — 10/4/2022 @ 9:59 amTrump isn’t POTUS; Biden is.
DCSCA (4c363e) — 10/4/2022 @ 10:01 amTrump should have let the “sleeping dogs lie.” Now every media organization will be repeating the allegations, far beyond CNN’s regular viewership.
Sad!
Rip Murdock (dee8eb) — 10/4/2022 @ 10:03 amKen White read the complaint so I wouldn’t have to.
Paul Montagu (753b42) — 10/4/2022 @ 10:14 amJudge: “I’ve reviewed the materials. Frivolous lawsuit, candidate for SLAPP. Dismissed with prejudice. Court adjourned.”
He should sue the House of Representatives for those Impeachments, too.
Kevin M (eeb9e9) — 10/4/2022 @ 10:54 amJonathan Turley is not sanguine about Trump’s chances……:
Rip Murdock (d2a2a8) — 10/4/2022 @ 10:58 amPaul,
It’s really an amazing read. I think you’d like it. Even as a non-lawyer, it was easy to see how ridiculous his claims are. His logic must be, why not pay the small filing fee in the very slim chance of being awarded a bundle?
Dana (1225fc) — 10/4/2022 @ 11:02 amThe case is a loser unless the Supreme Court decides to rewrite libel and slander law for Trump
To be fair, they would be unwriting law written by a previous court. But even if they revisit Sullivan, it’s a big step to call opinion and/or fact-based reporting “libel.” The questionable parts of Sullivan are the degree it allows false things to be said about public figures and/or what the qualifications are for being a “public figure.”
None of this would particularly help Donald Trump and Fox News and MSNBC would probably have bigger problems, in general, than CNN.
Kevin M (eeb9e9) — 10/4/2022 @ 11:04 amHis logic must be, why not pay the small filing fee in the very slim chance of being awarded a bundle?
You don’t get it. This is yet another Trump gold mine. Already the emails go out, asking for money to pursue this case against those bastards at CNN. It’s also yet another Trump martyrdom. The Deep State once again refuses Trump’s valid complaints against the lamestream media conspiracy! This will require yet more money to overcome.
Kevin M (eeb9e9) — 10/4/2022 @ 11:10 amIt appears that the tsunani of investigations and disclosures has significantly affected the former president. He’s showing unmistakeable signs of fatigue. At his prime, he would have sued for at least a billion dollars – now, not even half a billion.
John B Boddie (517c97) — 10/4/2022 @ 11:13 amThere areseveral ways that Trump can lose this lawsuit.
1) Public figure
2) No damages
3) It wasn’t CNN alone who said wrong things.
Sammy Finkelman (1d215a) — 10/4/2022 @ 11:23 amSome of the rioters may have been hoping to keep Trump president but all they could possibly have accomplishedd was to make Nancy Pelosi acting president. The motive may also have been revenge.
And while it is somewhat incoherent. Trump saying McConnell has a death wish, in the absence of any actual recent attacks on politicians, means he would lose the leadership. Who is the media trying to convince otherwise? MAGA people?
Sammy Finkelman (1d215a) — 10/4/2022 @ 11:27 amHis logic must be, why not pay the small filing fee in the very slim chance of being awarded a bundle?
his logic is to garner publicity, attract attention [successfully, hence the post] and pull the spotlight from DeSantis’ storm prep- which he had no part of. And bombarding the fake news with ‘fake’ lawsuits id fitting. It’s surtprising how little folks still don’t understand how The Donald operates. It’s always about ‘the ratings.’
DCSCA (4c363e) — 10/4/2022 @ 11:29 amI can’t even with this.
Doesn’t Trump know that the defendant gets discovery?
whembly (b770f8) — 10/4/2022 @ 11:31 amIt won’t even get far. The lawsuit won’t survive a motion to dismiss.
Rip Murdock (d2a2a8) — 10/4/2022 @ 11:36 amIf there is a defamation lawsuit that might succeed, it might be this, though it will still need to overcome the “actual malice” standard.
Rip Murdock (d2a2a8) — 10/4/2022 @ 11:50 amObviously, to Donald Trump, the First Amendment has no meaning or relevance.
right, now do Dominion’s defamation lawsuits
JF (fe670c) — 10/4/2022 @ 12:11 pmYou mean where they sued people for clear lies about their product that had a demonstrable impact on their business?
Seems like that’s a good example of when defamation law is applicable.
Time123 (936713) — 10/4/2022 @ 12:18 pmTime123 (936713) — 10/4/2022 @ 12:18 pm
why do you hate the 1A??
JF (fe670c) — 10/4/2022 @ 12:26 pmHeh. Like clockwork…added to the post:
Dana (1225fc) — 10/4/2022 @ 12:27 pmPretty good fundraising scheme for Trump to continue grifting the gullible.
Time123 (936713) — 10/4/2022 @ 12:30 pmMr. President Donald Trump, who was working as a waitress at a cocktail bar when he met Roy Cohn, has 4,095 lawsuits to his name and counting.
Sigh. If only he had used his orangeness for good instead of badness.
nk (282728) — 10/4/2022 @ 1:00 pmLink.
nk (282728) — 10/4/2022 @ 1:06 pmUnfortunately there’s no federal anti-SLAPP law. This suit is Exhibit 3 gazillion why there should be.
lurker (cd7cd4) — 10/4/2022 @ 1:41 pmPretty good fundraising scheme for Trump to continue grifting the gullible.
Reaganomics. 😉
DCSCA (2ed6d4) — 10/4/2022 @ 1:43 pmI’ll give you the benefit of the doubt, assume you’re not a lawyer, and chalk your risible false equivalence up to ignorance rather than intentional trolling. Of course the whatabouting attempt to change the subject remains either way.
lurker (cd7cd4) — 10/4/2022 @ 1:51 pmJF:
Once upon a time, Dominion Voting Systems had a decent reputation for election machines. Trump and his minions claimed the machines were easily manipulated in efforts to steal the vote. If those claims are lies, Dominion’s reputation and ability to make money has been torched because of a lie. (Can you imagine a Republican administration ever using that company ever again)?
Sounds like a libel suit to me.
Can you make a case that Trump — a public figure — suffered reputational and financial harm from anything CNN said. Really?
Appalled (814283) — 10/4/2022 @ 2:15 pmHeh. Like clockwork…added to the post:
See @15
Kevin M (eeb9e9) — 10/4/2022 @ 2:24 pmWell, well, if it isn’t the suer:
Not entirely OT and the open thread was getting loggy.
Now is the time for all good appointees to come to the aid of the Trumpy.
nk (76acca) — 10/4/2022 @ 6:44 pmGlad to see you agree with the premise of the post.
Dana (797f4a) — 10/4/2022 @ 7:10 pmOkay, Dana, I read it, and feels like Trump wrote a good of bit of it himself, because it sounded like his usual thin-skinned whining. In other words, a 29-page b-tchfest.
Paul Montagu (753b42) — 10/4/2022 @ 7:41 pmHe’s clearly outraged that CNN is protected by the First Amendment and has the right to express opinions he doesn’t like, because I didn’t see anything that involved evidence.
I’d really like to see a discovery process where Trump has to prove his Big Lie, that he actually has the goods on “massive fraud” and that he really won.
#8,
Yes, Trump is not POTUS. The rule for this site is, “There is to be no criticism of Biden.”
Per Ann Coulter, the reason for the Mar-a-Lago raid was to keep Trump at the top of the cycle in order to hurt the GOP in the midterms.
Again, I want Trump to shut up and go away.
DN (57bbe0) — 10/5/2022 @ 6:36 am