Thank you for allowing me to clarify my remarks. I used the wrong term. Not libel, but slander. Basically, I would think the slander would be the various network media slandering various Executive branch officials by implying they are lying, thus calling them liars.
I hope that clears it up.
Libel and slander are both civil wrongs and are two forms of defamation, written and spoken, respectively. Under a Supreme Court precedent from the 1960s,
New York Times v. Sullivan, the news media and the public at large have diminished liability for defamation against public officials and other public figures.
To win a defamation case, a plaintiff who is a defamed public official or other public figure must now show not just that the claim sued on was damaging and wrong on the facts, but that there was a knowing or reckless disregard for the truth by the defendant. In practice, that makes for a difficult case for plaintiffs. Most just take their lumps and blast back at their accusers.