Donald Trump's election campaign sues news network for libel over opinion piece on Russia

United States President Donald Trump's re-election campaign on March 6 reportedly sued American media outlet, CNN, for libel over a piece that claimed that the campaign had left open the possibility of seeking Russia's help in the 2020 election. According to an international media outlet, the lawsuit was filed in US District Court for the Northern District of Georgia and cited a June opinion article written by Larry Noble, who is a former Federal Election Commission general counsel. Trump's campaign also filed a similar lawsuit against The New York Times and The Washington Post. 

In the article, Noble argued that the former special counsel Robert Mueller should have charged Trump for soliciting help from Russia in his 2016 campaign. He further also wrote 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. However, Trump's campaign reportedly said that CNN was well aware that the statement was untrue and piece reflected its 'systematic pattern of bias' against the campaign. 

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'False and defamatory'

Trump's campaign senior legal advisor Jenna Ellis, in a statement, also claimed that the article by Noble was '100 per cent false and defamatory'. The lawsuit reportedly also said that there is 'extensive evidence' of bias against the president from both Noble and CNN. Furthermore, the lawsuit claimed that the president's legal team asked CNN to retract the article in February, but CNN refused to do so. 

Trump campaign's lawsuit against all the three media outlets claim damages worth millions of dollars. While speaking to an international media outlet, Ellis said that the new lawsuits against the media companies were meant to hold the publishers accountable for their reckless false reporting. She further added that it is also to establish the truth that the campaign did not have an agreement, quid pro quo, or collusion with Russia, as the Mueller Report concluded. 

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