Donald Trump's campaign headquarters sued defamation court against CNN. The reason for the investigation was the material published on CNN's website in July 2019, which stated that Trump’s campaign headquarters was allegedly ready to seek Russian help in the 2020 presidential election in order to re-elect the current president for a new term.
This is the third such lawsuit filed by Trump headquarters against the American media in recent weeks - earlier, lawsuits were filed in court against the newspapers The Washington Post and The New York Times for publishing materials of similar content.
"Trump's campaign headquarters filed a lawsuit against CNN, and before that - against The New York Times and The Washington Post with the aim of holding the media accountable for irresponsible and false coverage of events, and in addition to ascertain the true state of affairs: according to the report of Robert Muller “Trump’s headquarters didn’t enter into any mutually beneficial agreements or conspiracies with Russia,” says Axios portal to Jenna Ellis, senior legal adviser to Donald Trump’s election headquarters.
The problem of libel
According to the American libel laws, a statement defaming dignity is accepted for consideration by the court only if it is established that the person or organization that distributed it acted with intent. Due to the high evidentiary threshold in the US judiciary, defamation claims are often rejected.
Donald Trump has repeatedly complained about the imperfection of legislation in this area. So, in 2018, after the release of the journalist Michael Wolf’s book “Fire and Fury: In the Halls of Trump’s White House,” the head of the White House announced that he plans to entrust his administration with a “more careful look” about libel laws.
“We will take firm hold of American libel laws so that people against whom there are obviously false and slanderous statements have a real opportunity to defend their interests in the judiciary. The current libel laws are simply deceit and shame, they do not express American values or American justice, ”Trump quoted The New York Times as saying.
The American media themselves call their actions legal and believe that they act in accordance with the provisions of the US Constitution on freedom of speech and the press, and Trump’s desire to hold them accountable is called "attacks" on these freedoms.
As noted by an expert at the International Institute for Humanitarian and Political Studies, Vladimir Bruter, many American media disseminate deliberately false information about their political opponents, hiding behind the provisions of the US constitution.
“The American defamation law stipulates that the plaintiff must prove that information that was untrue was disseminated with criminal intent in order to harm his reputation. In the American court, it is rarely possible to prove the fact of slander, so American publications feel comfortable spreading this kind of information, ”the expert explained in a conversation with RT.
However, Trump's lawyers emphasize that false allegations are not covered by the amendments to the US Constitution guaranteeing freedom of speech.
“The US Constitution does not protect false claims. Accordingly, these lawsuits will not have a chilling effect on media freedom, ”said Jenna Ellis in response to criticism of the violation of media freedom.
The legal adviser to Trump's campaign headquarters added that CNN "has taken a course towards systematic bias against the Headquarters in order to damage its reputation and ultimately ensure that its campaign fails."
- CNN Headquarters, Atlanta, Georgia
- Reuters
- © Chris Aluka Berry
In a conversation with RT, Vladimir Vasiliev, the chief researcher at the Institute of the USA and Canada of the Russian Academy of Sciences, explained that the Trump administration felt strong after the failure of the impeachment attempt of the president and now went on the offensive against hostile media.
"During the impeachment, the Trump administration went on the defensive, but after the culmination of this process went on the offensive, replacing the leadership of American intelligence, because the American intelligence community, which gave all its strength to discredit the president, was the source of pedaling the issue," the political scientist said .
Relations with Russia
Recall that Donald trump was accused of ties with Russia throughout the presidential campaign and the 2016 elections. A series of leaders of the US special services, who then represented the still unchanged administration of Barack Obama, said about the alleged Russian interference in the election.
At the same time, the so-called Steel dossier was circulated in the American media, which stated that the Kremlin had some compromising materials with which it controls Trump.
- Reuters
- © Tom Brenner
In 2017, an investigation was opened about the relations of the Donald Trump election headquarters with Russia, which was carried out by a commission of the US Department of Justice under the direction of Special Prosecutor Robert Mueller. The investigation ended in March 2019, and a report was released following its results, in which Muller noted that no ties were established between Trump's entourage and the Kremlin in two years of investigation.
But, despite the absence of any concrete evidence, the American media continues to circulate versions of Trump’s ties with Russia, as well as Moscow’s interference in US elections as established facts.
At the end of February 2020, The Washington Post and The New York Times again announced that Russia would intervene in the 2020 US presidential election to help re-elect Donald Trump. At the same time, both media referred to anonymous sources.
According to Vladimir Bruter, the Democrats will continue to use the story of ties with Russia against Trump to thwart his presidential campaign, despite the lack of evidence.
“These exchanges of charges are virtual in nature, because there can be no reliable facts in such a case. In this case, fake information becomes politically important, because the parties use it against each other. The story of ties to Russia will dominate the Democrats' accusation of Trump, who, in turn, will claim corruption if Joe Biden becomes a Democratic candidate. The parties will exchange such accusations without bothering themselves with evidence, ”the expert noted.
At the same time, Vladimir Vasiliev believes that the Trump administration wants to stop attempts by American media to revive this topic with their lawsuits.
“These are indicative claims, now the US administration will take active steps to stop this topic. It is possible that Trump will be able to achieve justice, given the current balance of power in the Supreme Court, and thereby be able to muffle to a large extent criticism or dissemination of ideas regarding foreign interference in the 2020 election campaign, ”the expert concluded.