Former President Donald Trump announced his intent to sue CNN and other cable networks on Wednesday that have “defamed [him] and defrauded the public” about the 2020 election.
Since losing the White House to President Joe Biden, Trump has made unsubstantiated claims that he would have won the 2020 election if not for widespread election fraud. Media hosts on networks such as CNN and others have baselessly suggested that Trump is a Russian agent, or suggested that Trump won the 2016 election because of Russian interference.
“I have notified CNN of my intent to file a lawsuit over their repeated defamatory statements against me,” Trump said in a statement. “I will also be commencing actions against other media outlets who have defamed me and defrauded the public regarding the overwhelming evidence of fraud throughout the 2020 Election. I will never stop fighting for the truth and for the future of our Country!”
Ifrah Law, a Washington-based law firm, sent a Notice of Intent to the network. The notice included a 26-page letter laying out the basis for the lawsuit as well as hundreds of pages of exhibits.
“After the 2016 election, various members of the Democratic party gave numerous televised statements claiming the 2016 election was illegitimate. This included suggestions about Russian interference causing President Trump to win the election and regular referrals to President Trump being an ‘illegitimate’ President,” the notice says. “CNN repeatedly allowed for assertions that President Trump was illegitimately elected to go largely unchallenged, including statements made by Hillary Clinton, Kamala Harris, Joe Biden, Jimmy Carter, Jerry Nadler, John Lewis, Dianne Feinstein, Marcia Fudge, and Debbie Wasserman Schultz.”
The notice goes on to address the 2020 election, claiming that the network’s use of referring to Trump’s claims about the election as “the big lie” are also defamatory, as it suggests that the former president is willfully misleading the public, rather than stating what he believes to be true.
“In this instance, President Trump’s comments are not lies: He subjectively believes that the results of the 2020 presidential election turned on fraudulent voting activity in several key states. Furthermore, the repeated characterization of President Trump lying was distinctly at odds with CNN’s treatment of individuals claiming President Trump’s 2016 was ‘illegitimate’ or based upon ‘Russian interference,’” the notice states.