Trump Camp Sues CNN Over ‘False and Defamatory’ Statements About Seeking Russia’s Help in 2020 Election

President Trump’s re-election campaign filed a libel lawsuit against CNN over ‘false and defamatory’ statements about seeking the Kremlin’s help in the 2020 election.

The article referenced in the complaint was written by CNN contributor Larry Noble and published on June 13, 2019.

The CNN story, headlined “Soliciting dirt on your opponents from a foreign government is a crime. Mueller should have charged Trump campaign officials with it,” was labeled as an “opinion piece.”

“The Defamatory Article claims, among other things, that the 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,’” the complaint said, according to Fox News. The Defamatory Article does not cite to any facts or reasoning in support of this claim. The Defamatory Article is false.”

Fox News reported:

“The complaint alleges CNN was aware of the falsity at the time it published them but did so for the intentional purpose of hurting the campaign while misleading its own readers in the process… the campaign filed this lawsuit against CNN and the preceding suits against The New York Times and The Washington Post to hold the publishers accountable for their reckless false reporting and also to establish the truth,” Senior Legal Adviser to Donald J. Trump for President, Inc. Jenna Ellis told Fox News.

Fox News obtained the complaint, filed in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Georgia where CNN is located. It states in part that CNN claimed Trump’s 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.”

The complaint said that CNN was well aware the statements were false “because there was an extensive record of statements from the Campaign and the administration expressly disavowing any intention to seek Russian assistance” but promoted the claim anyway.

“The Campaign therefore was left with no alternative but to file this lawsuit to: publicly establish the truth, properly inform CNN’s readers and audience (and the rest of the world) of the true facts, and seek appropriate remedies for the harm caused by CNN’s false reporting and failure to retract and apologize for it,” the complaint said.

The Trump campaign is seeking millions in damages.

Trump’s camp also filed libel lawsuits against The New York Times and The Washington Post over similar garbage Trump-Russia smears.