Trump Campaign Official Kash Patel Files $50M Defamation Lawsuit Against CNN

Over the weekend, Kash Patel, who is the chief of staff for Acting Secretary of Defense Christopher Miller, filed a $50 million defamation lawsuit against CNN, and specifically naming reporters Barbara Starr, Zachary Cohen, Ryan Browne, Alex Marquardt, and Nicole Gaouette in the suit.

The defamation suit claims thatCNN “deliberately or recklessly conveyed a false message” about Patel and published “unfounded left-wing political narratives” about him. According to a report by Fox News, Patel alleges that CNN published a number of articles from November 24th- Dec.4th, penned by the aforementioned reporters, that “contain a series of false and defamatory statements” specifically about Patel. Specifically listed defamatory left-wing conspiracy statements include:

• “Trump loyalist connected to Biden conspiracy theories is leading Pentagon transition.”
• “Kash Patel, a Trump loyalist, … was connected to efforts to spread conspiracy theories about Joe Biden.”
• Kash “has also worked to discredit Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s probe into Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election.”
• “Pentagon blocked Biden’s intelligence transition team from meeting with agencies.”
• “Defense Department transition office … is led by a Trump loyalist connected to efforts to spread conspiracy theories about the President-elect.”

Patel’s attorney, Steven S. Biss, argues that the “publication of the Defamatory Statements is part of a general pattern of retaliation and discrimination agains Kash” and “a larger conspiracy undertaken between 2018 and the present to discredit Kash through the publication of false statements and the promotion of unfounded left-wing political narratives.” The suit alleges this pattern of retaliation by CNN is directly connected to the fact that Kash, who was previously a top aide to Republican Representative Devin Nunes, was instrumental in poking holes in CNN’s narrative that 2016 presidential candidate Donald Trump colluded with the Russians before that election. The lawsuit states that Kash “uncovered many inconvenient facts undermining the fake political narrative about ‘collusion’ between members of the Trump campaign and ‘Russians’” during his time as counsel for Nunes during his time as chairman of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, saying,

“CNN attacked Kash and published defamatory falsehoods about him because CNN was deeply invested in promoting the Russia collusion hoax and the fraudulent “dossier” manufactured by Fusion GPS for the Hillary Clinton campaign and the Democratic National Committee. Kash debunked CNN’s reporting… CNN’s latest brutal attack on Kash’s reputation in the Articles is a continuation of past smear campaigns to discredit Kash.”

As a reminder, President Trump was investigated by special counsel Robert Mueller and his team of 19 lawyers for 675 days. After 2,800 subpoenas and 500 witness interviews, the Mueller team found no evidence “that any U.S. person or Trump campaign official or associate” conspired or “knowingly coordinated” with Russians during the 2016 presidential campaign.

Patel’s attorney, Bliss, further explained in the lawsuit,

“Millions who read the Defamatory Statements clearly understood them to be referring to Kash and clearly understood them to convey a defamatory meaning.”

“The Defendants fabricated the Defamatory Statements and knew, therefore, that the statements were false. They knew that Kash was not the source of a single conspiracy theory and had no connection to any conspiracy theory about Biden. Defendants provide no evidence or example of any stories spread by Kash about Biden because there are none. CNN reported on the Democrats’ impeachment inquiry and read the Democrats’ report, and knew, therefore, that no evidence was uncovered connecting Kash.”

“Defendants harbored extreme professional and personal animus, bias, spite and ill-will towards Kash as a result of Kash’s revelations of CNN’s corrupt business practices and deceitful misreporting. Because of this malice and desire to injure Kash, Defendants knowingly and recklessly ignored the probable falsity of the story and printed it.”

According to the lawsuit, Patel is seeking presumed damages, actual damages, special damages, and punitive damages as a result of the actions of CNN and the specified reporters, as well as a permanent injunction prohibiting CNN reporters from engaging in future defamatory speech.

Almost one year ago, CNN settled a defamation suit brought by Covington Catholic High School student Nick Sandmann over their fraudulent reporting of a viral confrontation with a Native American elder, which falsely portrayed Sandmann as being aggressive toward the elder.

Yes, We settled with CNN.

— Nicholas Sandmann (@N1ckSandmann) January 7, 2020

In that suit, the Sandmann family sought a combined $800 million in damages from CNN, NBC, and The Washington Post for the “emotional distress Nicholas and his family suffered” as a direct result of the false reporting. From CNN, Sandmann sought $275 million in damages, although the amount of the eventual settlement was not publicly disclosed.

You would think that CNN would have learned its lesson about using its news platform to spread blatantly false information with an obvious political bias, but apparently it will take many more millions for them to decide to report the news honestly and unbiasedly, if that’s even possible.