this post was submitted on 15 Oct 2024
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CNN report said North Carolina candidate for governor made explicit posts on website’s message board

Mark Robinson, North Carolina’s lieutenant governor, announced a lawsuit Tuesday against CNN over its recent report alleging he made explicit racial and sexual posts on a pornography website’s message board, calling the reporting reckless and defamatory.

The lawsuit, filed in Wake county superior court, comes less than four weeks after a television report that led many fellow GOP elected officials and candidates, including Donald Trump, to distance themselves from Robinson’s gubernatorial campaign. Robinson announced the lawsuit at a news conference in Raleigh.

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[–] [email protected] 167 points 1 month ago (3 children)

Ooooh. Discovery, you say?

Bet that will unearth even more Nazi/Porn weirdness.

[–] MimicJar 81 points 1 month ago (3 children)

Sadly it won't ever get to that phase. This is just so he can claim it's a lie between now and election day. He'll quietly drop the lawsuit about a week after the election.

[–] TheDoozer 26 points 1 month ago (1 children)

I wish it were required that both parties agree to the lawsuit being dropped for it not to continue. I'd love to see this frivolous bullshit forced into a courtroom against the plaintiffs will by the defendants.

[–] [email protected] 18 points 1 month ago

You can counter sue, so we kind of have that system.

[–] [email protected] 13 points 1 month ago

His biggest problem is North Carolina has a big Dixiecrat/ Republican base. He was getting a pass due to having a R next to his name. Now, they will vote for a white guy.

[–] FlyingSquid 9 points 1 month ago

Possibly, but I could also see WB countersuing. They really don't have much to lose there.

[–] foggy 21 points 1 month ago

"Hi, Comcast? Yeah, as far back as you got em."

"Hey, Google? Yep, thanks bro."

"Hey pornhub. Yeah, everything these IPs ever touched. Thanks."

🍿

[–] rtxn 18 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago) (1 children)

I think it's more likely that he'll demand to settle or simply drop the lawsuit. Typical SLAPP behaviour.

CNN will likely try to have it dismissed because the legal fees will surely be astronomical.

[–] [email protected] 16 points 1 month ago

I assume a company like CNN has a law firm on retainer who is being paid whether or not they're needed.

[–] [email protected] 74 points 1 month ago (2 children)

Real news media doesn't make controversial statements about individuals unless they have proof. I am quite certain that before this story went to press, there were serious internal discussions at CNN about not only its validity, but about CNN's ability to demonstrate that validity in court.

[–] stoly 18 points 1 month ago

Yep. The truth is an absolute defense against defamation.

[–] [email protected] 6 points 1 month ago

Yeah, this won't be like the Hulk Hogan/Gawker case. CNN doesn't play.

[–] cybervseas 58 points 1 month ago (1 children)

Things have been so crazy I forgot about this. Thanks for the reminder, Mark Robinson.

[–] [email protected] 21 points 1 month ago (1 children)

Right, if he hadn't brought it up again we'd have all moved on to the next news item. Thanks Mark, and let's see how your case goes.

[–] [email protected] 6 points 1 month ago

Dropped right after the election you say?

[–] WrenFeathers 39 points 1 month ago (2 children)

Well… discovery should at least be entertaining.

[–] [email protected] 12 points 1 month ago

Seriously...does he not know that is part of the process? And to defend it they'll dig up everything and more to produce as evidence.

Problem is, it'll likely be silently settled and we'll never hear about it again and he can just lie and say he won or some shit.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 month ago

He's not planning to get that far... Just needs the optics a few weeks before the election and then, win or lose, will drop the case without going through discovery.

[–] dogslayeggs 37 points 1 month ago (3 children)

"Calling the report reckless and defamatory" but not incorrect.

[–] [email protected] 42 points 1 month ago (1 children)

Defamatory implies it's false

[–] [email protected] 16 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago) (1 children)

True. Though if you read the original CNN article, the circumstantial evidence is fairly damning. I don't think he has any chance of getting out from under this.

Also, in a legal context, I think there very well may be a distinction between claiming a report is defamatory versus claiming it is false. As per Wikipedia:

The precise legal definition of defamation varies from country to country. It is not necessarily restricted to making assertions that are falsifiable

[–] rtxn 12 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago) (2 children)

distinction between claiming a report is defamatory versus claiming it is false.

A statement is not defamatory if it's not false. It might be embarrassing and potentially damaging, but not defamation.

"There are five essential elements to defamation: (1) The accusation is false; and (2) it impeaches the subject's character; and (3) it is published to a third person; and (4) it damages the reputation of the subject; and (5) that the accusation is done intentionally or with fault such as wanton disregard of facts." - Ron Hankin, Navigating the Legal Minefield of Private Investigations: A Career-Saving Guide for Private Investigators, Detectives, And Security Police, Looseleaf Law Publications, 2008, p. 59.

[–] Archer 2 points 1 month ago (1 children)

Not in South Korea. Truth is not actually a defense to a defamation claim, wildly enough

[–] rtxn 2 points 1 month ago

Same in Japan. I remember a case where a convicted pedophile successfully sued Google into blocking news articles saying he had been convicted of pedophilia.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago) (2 children)

Sure, but you don't need to prove that it's false to claim defamation. As long as the defense is unable to prove that the accusation is definitively true, it could still be considered defamation. If he were to claim the report was false, then he'd have to provide evidence to that effect. By saying that it was defamatory, he only has to demonstrate that there is a lack of 100% certainty as to whether it is true or false, shifting the burden of proof onto CNN.

[–] [email protected] 7 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago) (4 children)

Maybe for other countries, but this was filed in the US where that's not the case at all. You need it to not only show it's false, but that the person making a false statement knew it was false be or acted with reckless disregard of whether it was false or not

The CNN report was pretty damning and with how extensively they laid out the evidence that tied Robinson was to it, it'd likely be extremely difficult to show 1) that it was false or 2) that they acted recklessly when they were pretty through

EDIT: and to clarify the "person making a false statement knew it was false be or acted with reckless disregard of whether it was false or not" is the standard for finding fault with the person making defamation when the actual malice is used (which is the case for government officials or public figures)

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[–] rtxn 2 points 1 month ago (1 children)
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[–] rtxn 17 points 1 month ago

Actually he is. Calling something defamatory implies that the statement is false. The inverse is also true: if a statement is true, then it's not defamation.

(source: I was hyperfixated on the Depp v. Heard trial)

[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 month ago

Yeah, IIRC the comment was deleted not long after the story came out about it, which is insanely odd timing if he's not the guy who left it.

[–] [email protected] 30 points 1 month ago

Wasn't CNN like crazy-careful about documentation, proof, and public records? Good luck, you weird racist MAGA pervert-freak...

[–] Late2TheParty 29 points 1 month ago

Can't wait for whatever comes out in discovery.

[–] [email protected] 25 points 1 month ago

It’s almost impossible to win a defamation lawsuit as a public person. This is just being used as a flimsy shield before the election to try to give his denials some credibility. The standard is so high that unless someone at CNN was recorded as admitting to making this up then this case won’t make it very far.

[–] barsquid 21 points 1 month ago

That's foolish of him, because as defendants they now have standing to subpoena. He will be proven to be a weird fucking pervert in civil court.

[–] [email protected] 14 points 1 month ago

His public comments are equally as disgusting.

[–] FlyingSquid 10 points 1 month ago

Ah, the old Trumpian tactic of suing someone for telling the truth.

I'm betting Warner Bros. has more money and better lawyers than you, Mark.

[–] [email protected] 9 points 1 month ago

Oh look, North Carolina just happens to be one of the states with no anti-SLAPP laws on the books.

[–] [email protected] 9 points 1 month ago

Bet, lets move on to discovery.

[–] andrewta 7 points 1 month ago (3 children)

This will be an interesting court case.

If cnn can prove what they reported then he's just digging a deeper hole.

If cnn can't prove it they are in deep doggy doo doo.

[–] [email protected] 17 points 1 month ago (2 children)

I'm going out on a limb, just a hunch really, and I think CNN will come out of this just fine. Robinson is the man with a shovel, and he's gonna dig.

[–] [email protected] 11 points 1 month ago (1 children)

i'd venture to guess they wouldn't publish something like this without some pretty ironclad "beyond a reasonable doubt" proof it was him

[–] Addv4 8 points 1 month ago

Its pretty obvious. They use the idea of reasonable doubt in the investigation, but then point out specific instances of him basically saying the same thing on both Twitter and Nude Africa, using terms of phrase that are very uncommon, generally on the same day. It was pretty damning.

[–] FlyingSquid 9 points 1 month ago (1 children)

Robinson's entire defense so far has been to claim this is a hoax and when asked how posts on pages going back years can be hoaxed, he gives a "trust me, bro" response.

[–] [email protected] 8 points 1 month ago (1 children)

Yeah, the dude got caught dead to rights. This is a poor attempt at damage control but an excellent example of the Streisand effect. Whether he wins or loses in November I expect the suit will be dropped after the election because he doesn’t have a leg to stand on.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 1 month ago (1 children)

Whether he wins or loses in November

NC went to trump in 2020, but had also reelected cooper (D) for governor. robinson's been polling at 40% or below against stein's >50%, so it's looking pretty grim for black nazi

[–] [email protected] 4 points 1 month ago

This is an unfortunate tradition of having a Democrat governor but Republican for NC Congress and higher. It's no indicator of any potential. However, I do think we have another chance to do 2008 again, despite all the work the GOP has put into preventing more voters.

[–] wjrii 2 points 1 month ago

If cnn can’t prove it they are in deep doggy doo doo.

Not really. They came with the receipts, showing time after time that the commenter shared personal details and used indiosyncratic turns of phrase that Robinson repeated on public accounts and forums. They had a very reasonable belief that it was true, and never claimed more than that. In the US, for a public figure, that's generally more than enough.

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[–] Azamandriel 2 points 1 month ago (1 children)
[–] FlyingSquid 2 points 1 month ago

Please, that's "Lt. Governor Black Nazi Dunderhead" to you.

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