FBI Director Nominee Kash Patel Loses Libel Appeal Against CNN

Patel's amended complaint targets CNN generally, alleging, among other things, that CNN was biased and harbored ill will against him, CNN fabricated the challenged statements, CNN ignored its own reporting and reliable information contradicting the challenged statements, CNN abandoned journalistic integrity and violated its own code of ethics, CNN deliberately and recklessly conveyed a false message to sensationalize the news, CNN republished the statements after being informed that Patel contested them, and CNN purposefully avoided the truth. However, Patel's amended complaint not only alleges facts of bias and failure to investigate but also contains allegations of fabrication, "manufactur[ing] the [s]tatements out of whole cloth," failure to follow CNN's code of ethics, contrary prior reporting by CNN, CNN's agents reviewing public records and reports that contradicted the claims of their statements prior to making the statements, CNN having no factual basis for their statements, and CNN "purposefully misrepresent[ing] facts" and "omit[ing] facts … in a way that intentionally convey[ ] a false meaning." Though Patel includes numerous factual allegations of CNN having "multiple agents who were present during the House impeachment inquiry," seeing "transcripts of testimony and reports of the impeachment proceedings," and having no basis for the contested statements, the majority opinion incorrectly dismisses allegations in the amended complaint as having no weight, and further, improperly makes assumptions and inferences beyond a reasonable reading of the amended complaint and its accompanying documents, thus usurping the role of the factfinder at trial.

Author: Eugene Volokh

---