CNN asks federal judge to dismiss Robinson’s lawsuit

CNN has filed a motion to dismiss North Carolina Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson’s defamation lawsuit against the cable news outlet. Robinson filed the suit during the closing weeks of his campaign for governor.

Robinson lost the Nov. 5 election to Democrat Josh Stein, North Carolina’s attorney general.

“Defamation lawsuits are not intended to be political theatre,” CNN’s lawyers wrote in a court filing Thursday. “Yet it appears this is precisely why Plaintiff Mark Robinson (‘Robinson’) brings this suit against Cable News Network (‘CNN’) — a lawsuit he announced at a press conference in the final days of his campaign for Governor of North Carolina.”

“In the midst of that campaign, after conducting a thorough investigation, CNN published an article, ‘I’m a black NAZI!’: NC GOP nominee for governor made dozens of disturbing comments on porn forum’ (the ‘Article’), reporting that Robinson made lewd and racist posts under the username ‘minisoldr’ on the pornography website Nude Africa,” the court filing continued.

“CNN’s Article reports that these posts show that Robinson, at least at some point, privately held views that starkly contrast with those he publicly proclaims. The Article also includes a section in which the CNN journalists who wrote the Article ‘show their work’ as to how they made the connection between Robinson and minisoldr,” CNN’s lawyers wrote.

“Robinson alleges that the Article is false and defamatory and during his press conference announced ‘[the Article] is a journalistic hit job in order to interfere with an election.’ While this may make for campaign drama, it does not make for a good defamation claim,” according to the court filing.

“This Court should dismiss Robinson’s Amended Complaint against CNN because he has failed to plausibly allege a claim for defamation,” the network’s lawyers wrote. “In particular, Robinson did not and cannot plausibly allege facts that show that CNN published the Article with actual malice, i.e., with the subjective awareness of probable falsity.”

“In fact, the Amended Complaint does not include a single allegation demonstrating that CNN doubted the veracity of its reporting. Instead, it includes pages of invective broadly claiming that CNN acts as a monolith promoting a political agenda inconsistent with Robinson’s belief. Even if that were true — and it is not — political disagreement is not evidence of actual malice,” the court filing added.

“The only other allegations involve conclusory guesses, which are untethered from actual facts, that CNN acted with knowing falsity when it published that Robinson was minisoldr because he is sure that someone, somewhere, fabricated the minisoldr posts,” CNN’s lawyers wrote “Based on this guesswork, Robinson proceeds to invent an implausible theory that CNN acted with actual malice and should have never published this highly newsworthy Article because maybe it is possible that someone (who he does not name) could have triangulated various bits of digital information (all of which predates Robinson’s time as a political figure in North Carolina by almost 10 years), fabricated the minisoldr posts, and then somehow manipulated the time stamps on the fake posts so they looked like they were made between 2008 and 2012.”

“And he does so despite the fact that he alleges not a single shred of plausible evidence supporting that theory. Robinson’s hypothesis is implausible, to say the least. Robinson has not adequately alleged that CNN acted with actual malice. Indeed, by ‘showing their work’ the CNN reporters demonstrate their subjective belief in the truth of their reporting, which Robinson is unable to contravene.”

The network filed its motion in US District Judge Louise Wood Flanagan’s court one week after filing paperwork to remove the case from state court.

In moving the case out of state court, CNN emphasized differences between the news network and second defendant Louis Money, a former porn store clerk who criticized Robinson in a music video.

“CNN is not affiliated with Money in any way,” the network’s lawyers wrote. “There is no allegation that anyone at CNN has even spoken to Money at any time ever. And the allegedly defamatory statements Robinson claims Money made are different in content than those he claims CNN made. In short, Robinson’s claims against Money have nothing to do with Robinson’s claims against CNN.”

CNN lawyers argued to the federal court on Nov. 14 that Robinson linked CNN and Money to justify filing suit in state court.

“Money is named in this lawsuit for one purpose and one purpose only – to defeat diversity jurisdiction and preclude removal,” the network’s lawyers wrote. “Robinson’s gambit, however, fails because Money is fraudulently joined in this action. Not only is there no connection between Money and CNN, but also there is no possibility that Robinson can succeed on his claims against Money. Jurisdiction is, therefore, proper in this Court.”

In support of moving the case to federal court, CNN also attacked Robinson’s claims against Money.

“Here, there is no possibility that Robinson can prevail in his claim against Money because (1) Robinson cannot plausibly plead actual malice and (2) Robinson cannot establish that Money’s statements are defamatory,” CNN’s court filing argued. “Accordingly, because Robinson cannot sustain his action against Money in state court, the [federal] Court can disregard Money’s citizenship and exercise diversity jurisdiction over this action.”

Robinson announced his suit against CNN and Money on Oct. 15.

“Today, we are taking the first step to do exactly what I said I was going to do after these scurrilous attacks were launched against myself and my family. We are holding CNN accountable,” said Robinson. “What this amounts to is, to quote Clarence Thomas: ‘This is a high-tech lynching’ on a candidate who has been targeted from day one by folks who disagree with me politically and want to see me destroyed.”

The original version of the lawsuit sought $50 million in damages. Robinson amended the complaint to seek damages in excess of $25,000 after Money filed a court document emphasizing that North Carolina court rules ban plaintiffs from specifying details of the damages they seek.

“The Complaint contains many impertinent and bizarre allegations, meandering into two discussions of George Soros, conspiracies about media bias, and applauding Mark Robinson for lifting himself out of bankruptcy,” Money’s lawyers wrote. “The Complaint also sues CNN, and of course the lawsuit has been highlighted by nearly every if not every local news network in North Carolina and has been discussed in the national media.”

The filing accused Robinson’s lawyers of violating court rules by announcing that the lieutenant governor sought $50 million in damages:

“[I]t has to be considered that the violation of Rule 8(a)(2) may have been for the very purpose of creating media attention for Mr. Robinson’s campaign by creating a rambling narrative regarding CNN, Mr. Robinson, and a man who did an obscure video poking fun of Mr. Robinson for frequenting a pornography store (which the Complaint seems to at least partially agree with) … and for owing him $25. Somehow, according to Mr. Robinson, that caused him $50,000,000 of damages.”