As a business mogul, U.S. President Donald Trump sued people and got sued. He often won either in court or via out-of-court settlements (the latter process which resolves most lawsuits). In the aftermath of a series of undercover videos released by muckraker James O’Keefe and the Project Veritas crew, the Trump campaign says it intends to sue CNN, whose motto probably should be revised to “the most dis-trusted name in news.”
Secretly recorded by a soft-spoken CNN insider/whistleblower, the Project Veritas videos depict staffers admitting that the channel no longer actually reports news down the middle. The revelations caused the hashtag #ExposeCNN to trend earlier this week.
Instead, they are functioning as operatives in a 24/7, anti-Trump vendetta by Jeff “Captain Ahab” Zucker, the network president. Zucker and Trump previously worked together on the Apprentice franchise, when Zucker was previously the NBC president. NBC is, of course, the former employer of disgraced Today show host Matt Lauer.
“In a statement, CNN said that ‘this is nothing more than a desperate PR stunt and doesn’t merit a response,” USA Today reported. Quoting at least one legal expert, USA Today claims the threatened lawsuit will “go nowhere.”
They may be right based on First Amendment protections, but in the last couple of years, you may have noticed how predictions from so-called experts haven’t done so well.
One thing is certain: CNN’s ratings have cratered with their obsessively negative coverage of the president, whether you like him or not. Actual viewership would probably be even worse if the tedious network wasn’t force-fed into the nation’s airports.
In a letter to CNN’s Zucker and the network’s Executive VP about “biased reporting practices” that referenced the Veritas videos, Trump’s lawyer wrote in part…
“Your actions are in violation of the Lanham Act (15 U.S.C. § 1051 et seq.), among other applicable laws, by constituting misrepresentations to the public, to your advertisers, and others. Accordingly, my clients intend to file legal action against you, to seek compensatory damages, treble damages, punitive damages, injunctive relief, reimbursement of legal costs, and all other available legal and equitable remedies, to the maximum extent permitted by law.”
Project Veritas has released three videos so far (as embedded below), which you can watch and draw your own conclusions. O’Keefe promises more revelations to follow.
Check back for updates.
