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CNN asks federal judge to dismiss Trump campaign's lawsuit
Biz Journal Atlanta ^ | 7-21-2020 | David Allison

Posted on 07/22/2020 6:50:47 AM PDT by spintreebob

CNN is asking a federal judge to dismiss a lawsuit filed by the Trump campaign which accused CNN of making false and defamatory statements.

In March, the Trump campaign sued CNN in federal court in Atlanta, charging that Atlanta-based CNN, which is owned by AT&T Inc.'s WarnerMedia, published the statement that the campaign "assessed the potential risks and benefits of again seeking Russia's help in 2020 and has decided to leave that option on the table," and that "CNN was well aware that these statements were not true..." (Read the complaint here.)

The Trump campaign in February sued The New York Times for libel over an opinion article it published. And on March 3 it sued The Washington Post over two opinion columns published last year that alleged a connection between the campaign and Russian election interference.

CNN on July 20 filed a motion to dismiss the case against it.

"The Campaign’s response confirms the primary intent of this lawsuit is to chill criticism of the President by upending settled law protecting free speech," CNN's attorneys told the court. "The Campaign’s attempt to muzzle political commentary about the President’s re-election campaign is extraordinary. In enacting the First Amendment, this country long ago did away with 'the obsolete doctrine that the governed must not criticize their governors.' Yet this Complaint (and the Campaign’s other lawsuits) seeks to resurrect that rejected doctrine, contravening laws and principles long followed in this Nation for ensuring free speech and a working democracy."

The Trump campaign says it sent a written demand to CNN on Feb. 25 to retract and apologize for its statements and that CNN refused.

"The Campaign therefore was left with no alternative but to file this lawsuit to: publicly establish the truth, properly inform CNN's readers and audience (and the rest of the world) of the true facts, and seek appropriate remedies for the harm caused by CNN's false reporting and failure to retract and apologize for it," the complaint charges.

The Trump campaign's complaint charges that "CNN has engaged in a systematic pattern of bias against the Campaign, designed to maliciously interfere with and damage its reputation and ultimately cause the organization to fail." The campaign is seeking damages "in the millions of dollars."

In its motion to dismiss the complaint, CNN says, "The Campaign cannot avoid that under the well-settled law of every state, the Statement in the Op-Ed is core political speech and protected opinion. The Campaign’s attempt to re-write the Op-Ed is entitled to no deference from the Court. The Op-Ed speaks for itself. As commentary critical of the President’s re-election campaign, the Op-Ed falls well within the considerable 'breathing space' afforded political speech... It is not provably false, as it is based on disclosed facts and thus easily understood as subjective opinion by any reasonable reader. And, the Campaign also cannot plausibly plead CNN acted with actual malice in publishing the Op-Ed."

The motion goes on to say that, "Allowing this suit to proceed further in this election year will undoubtedly chill other valuable political speech, and it should be dismissed..." To read CNN's complete court filing, click here.


TOPICS: Business/Economy; Culture/Society; News/Current Events; Politics/Elections
KEYWORDS: afederaljudgeisntgod; bias; deepstate; fakenews; judiciary; michaellawrencebrown; michaellbrown; ndgeorgia; politicaljudiciary; qanon; trumpjudge
Ad Age reports meanwhile: Twitter cracks down on QAnon In a significant milestone in the war against misinformation, Twitter announced overnight that it will ban thousands of accounts associated with the QAnon far right conspiracy theory movement.

As reported by Bloomberg News, as well as permanently blocking some accounts, Twitter also said it will keep QAnon posts out of trends and recommendation sections as well as blocking URLs associated with the movement, which claims there is a deep state plot against President Donald Trump.

The crackdown comes as QAnon’s wild conspiracy theories have been flourishing on social media, including on Facebook and YouTube as well as Twitter. Twitter is the first to clamp down on the movement so definitively, but according to the New York Times, “Facebook is preparing to take similar steps to limit the reach of QAnon content on its platform, said two Facebook employees with knowledge of the plans, who spoke on the condition of anonymity. “

Both Russian Collusion and Qanon are in the Conspiracy Theory Category. One theory has no evidence at all of its existence. The other theory has some evidence with the expectation that more will be revealed.

What is interesting is the contrast in the way two Conspiracy Theories are handled.

1 posted on 07/22/2020 6:50:47 AM PDT by spintreebob
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To: spintreebob

CNN: We’re the news and we can lie or report fake news and if we can’t find any, we’ll just make it up. And then exaggerate it.


2 posted on 07/22/2020 6:52:39 AM PDT by SkyDancer (~ Pilots: Looking Down On People Since 1903 ~)
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To: spintreebob

Free speech does not include libel.

What a silly argument.


3 posted on 07/22/2020 7:00:47 AM PDT by Mr. K (NO CONSEQUENCE OF REPEALING OBAMACARE IS WORSE THAN OBAMACARE ITSELF)
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To: spintreebob

I came across cnn the other day the the name of the show was Trump Conspiracy Theories or something like that.

They were bad before but TDS has really put them over the edge.


4 posted on 07/22/2020 7:04:02 AM PDT by shelterguy
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To: shelterguy

I stopped watching CNN after the 1st Iraq war conducted by Bush daddy. 8>)


5 posted on 07/22/2020 7:20:34 AM PDT by Robert DeLong
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To: Robert DeLong

I stopped paying attention to cnn back when I found out Saddam Hussein let them have a bureau in Baghdad as long as they said nice things about them.


6 posted on 07/22/2020 7:32:32 AM PDT by shelterguy
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To: Mr. K

Yes, but unfortunately CNN may find a sympathetic Obama judge to throw out the case...

Sorry John Roberts...it makes a big difference these days! Probably for time in memorium!


7 posted on 07/22/2020 7:40:42 AM PDT by MCEscherHammer
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To: shelterguy

So we were basically around for the same time frame, before changing the channel for evermore, unless you watched CNN religiously before the war. 8>)


8 posted on 07/22/2020 7:43:04 AM PDT by Robert DeLong
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To: Robert DeLong

I didn’t pay much attention back then to any news, really.

Then the internet opened my eyes to so many alternative sources of information and it became clear that I had been one of the sheep being fed propaganda on a daily basis.

It was the 2000 election that really lit me up. I am just an uneducated deplorable but it was incredibly obvious how corrupt the whole thing was as I watched the Bush Gore fiasco play out.

I have never believed the “mainstream media” since then.


9 posted on 07/22/2020 8:09:10 AM PDT by shelterguy
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To: spintreebob

Yeh, if the suit goes forward it may impede CNN’s ability to lie about Trump during this year’s campaign.


10 posted on 07/22/2020 9:59:07 AM PDT by Georgia Girl 2 (The only purpose of a pistol is to fight your way back to the rifle you should never have dropped)
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To: spintreebob

Trump judge Michael Lawrence Brown is presiding over 1:20-cv-01045-MLB.


11 posted on 07/22/2020 1:39:25 PM PDT by kiryandil (Chris Wallace: Because someone has to drive the Clown Car)
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To: spintreebob
This attack on QAnon is election tampering of the first order.

I am now in favor of Trump using the Federal government against his political opponents, since they're using the Media and social media to influence the election.

Disclaimer: I'm not part of QAnon.

12 posted on 07/22/2020 1:45:05 PM PDT by kiryandil (Chris Wallace: Because someone has to drive the Clown Car)
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