Federal judge dismisses Trump libel lawsuit against CNN News
Sgt. Dana M Clarke // Public domain
Federal judge dismisses Trump libel lawsuit against CNN

A federal judge on Thursday dismissed a lawsuit filed by President Donald Trump accusing CNN of libel.

Trump’s complaint, filed in March, was prompted by CNN contributor Larry Noble’s June 2019 op-ed article in which he argued that former special counsel Robert Mueller should have charged Trump for soliciting help from Russia during his 2016 campaign.

The complaint particularly focused on Noble’s statement that “[t]he Trump 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,” which Trump’s legal team claimed was “100 percent false and defamatory.”

Trump’s legal team also argued that CNN knew the statement was false when it published the op-ed article and that the article itself showed a “systematic pattern of bias” against Trump. Noble and CNN, on the other hand, argued that the statement was merely Noble’s opinion and was thus protected under federal law.

Judge Michael Brown ruled in favor of CNN, dismissing Trump’s complaint. He concluded that Trump failed to prove that the statement was published with actual malice, as is required for a libel lawsuit to succeed. He did, however, leave the door open for Trump to potentially revive the lawsuit by filing an amended complaint.

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