North Carolina Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson (left) and his attorney Jesse Binnall hold a news conference to announce a lawsuit against CNN and Louis Money of Greensboro in Raleigh, North Carolina on Oct. 15, 2024. (Photo: Galen Bacharier/NC Newsline)
CNN moved to dismiss a defamation lawsuit by Lieutenant Governor Mark Robinson against the news network over its reporting of his incendiary comments on a pornographic message board, calling the suit a work of “political theatre.”
In a memorandum supporting its motion to dismiss, CNN charged that Robinson’s claims fail to meet the legal standard for libel, alleging nothing that would indicate the outlet’s reporters acted without regard for the truth and did not believe their own reporting. Instead, the lawsuit makes broad claims of a politically motivated “journalistic hit job” that it fails to support with evidence, the network’s lawyers wrote.
“He has failed to plausibly allege a claim for defamation,” attorneys for CNN wrote. “The Amended Complaint does not include a single allegation demonstrating that CNN doubted the veracity of its reporting.”
Robinson sued the media outlet — as well as a former Greensboro porn store employee who alleged he was a frequent customer — after a CNN investigation unearthed years of inflammatory posts on the porn site “Nude Africa” under an account with the username “minisoldr,” which Robinson frequently employed elsewhere. The bombshell report found that Robinson called himself a “black NAZI!” and a “perv” and confessed to “peeping” on women’s locker rooms.
Separately, the former employee, Louis Money, spoke to The Assembly to allege that Robinson was a frequent customer of his store. He also took part in a music video entitled “The Lt. Governor Owes Me Money” in which he sings those same allegations. Money sought the case’s dismissal in state court, but it was subsequently removed to the federal court for the Eastern District of North Carolina.
To prove the reports defamatory, Robinson would have to produce evidence showing that the claims were false and that CNN and the porn store employee acted with “actual malice” — the standard for defamation against public figures, which encompasses elected officials like Robinson. That means that the claims must not only be false, but also that they be made with a “reckless disregard for the truth.”
CNN matched biographical details from the account, including Robinson’s name and email address, to verify it belonged to him. These steps demonstrate the outlet’s reporters “showing their work,” CNN’s memorandum notes, and demonstrate their “subjective belief” in the truth of the story, which alone would be enough to disprove a claim of actual malice.
Instead of providing evidence to suggest CNN reporters doubted the story, Robinson put forth “conclusory guesses, which are untethered from actual facts” that an unidentified individual framed him for making the posts and that CNN knew this when it published the story, the attorneys wrote. They note that the comments were made from 2008 to 2012, nearly a decade before Robinson entered the political stage.
“He alleges not a single shred of plausible evidence supporting that theory,” the filing reads. “Robinson’s hypothesis is implausible, to say the least.”
The article defined the final months of the lieutenant governor’s campaign, which he ultimately lost by more than 15 percent of the vote. On election night, campaign strategist Matt Hurley decried the “political ramifications” the CNN story had on the campaign.
In his concession speech, Robinson quoted former President Richard Nixon — who he called an “often demonized politician” — telling supporters that “only if you’ve been in the deepest valley can you ever know how magnificent it is to be on the highest mountain.”
Robinson will have the opportunity to respond to the motion to dismiss, at which point the federal judge in the case will rule on whether to dismiss the claims or allow them to proceed.