Nunes defamation lawsuit over Rachel Maddow comment dismissed
U.S. District Judge Kevin Castel ruled this week that Nunes failed to prove Maddow and her team at the network acted with actual malice during a discussion about a package Nunes received addressed to him from Andrii Derkach, a Ukrainian legislator with ties to Russian officials and intelligence services, while he was the ranking member of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence.
'The Court concludes that no reasonable jury could find that NBCU made the statement with constitutionally-defined actual malice,' Castel wrote.
MSNBC is owned by NBC Universal as part of the Comcast corporate umbrella.
Nunes, a longtime ally of President Trump, sued Maddow in 2021 alleging she and the network 'harbor an institutional hostility, hatred, extreme bias, spite and ill-will' toward the Republican.
The suit specifically took issue with statements made by Maddow during her show on March 18 of that year, during which she suggested that Nunes refused to turn over a package he had reportedly received from the suspected Russian agent to the FBI.
Castel in 2022 ruled Nunes' case could proceed, writing his attorneys had 'plausibly allege[d] actual malice' but did not make a determination about the merits of the former congressman's claim against the network.
Maddow has for years attacked Trump, who has blasted Comcast over NBC News coverage of his administration and suggested critics such as Maddow be taken off the air.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
NBC News
5 minutes ago
- NBC News
Nebraska Republican faces rowdy town hall with questions about Epstein files and fired BLS chief
Rep. Mike Flood, R-Neb., held a town hall Monday that started with boos from the crowd shortly after he took the stage and ended with chants of 'vote him out' when the event ended. In between, the Nebraska Republican was consistently heckled while responding to questions about releasing more information on Jeffrey Epstein, President Donald Trump's firing of the Bureau of Labor Statistics commissioner and cuts to Medicaid in the GOP's 'Big, Beautiful Bill.' Audience members began yelling at Flood and booing him when he talked about Medicaid and the impact of Trump's sweeping domestic policy law on hospitals in Nebraska. Flood argued that there's 'a lot of misinformation' about the 'One Big Beautiful Bill Act,' which no Democrats voted for when it made its way through Congress this summer. Later he faced a question that suggested he was covering up files related to Epstein. Flood responded by saying he supports releasing the files and will co-sponsor a non-binding House resolution calling for their publication. Flood added that he supports an effort led by House Oversight Committee Chair James Comer, R-Ky., to have Epstein co-conspirator Ghislaine Maxwell sit for a deposition. Comer last week postponed Maxwell's deposition, previously scheduled for Aug. 11, until at least October to let the Supreme Court decide in late September whether it will review her case. Flood also weighed in on the firing of BLS chief Erika McEntarfer, who Trump dismissed Friday shortly after the agency published figures showing that hiring in the U.S. had significantly slowed significantly in recent months. The congressman suggested he might have handled the situation differently, while adding that he does not know 'all the details' about McEntarfer's firing. 'I don't know what the situation was with the Department of Labor person. Neither do you. I don't know. I don't know,' Flood said. 'I can tell you I've been an employer for a lot of years, and there's always two sides to every story, and I don't know what that side was. I will say this, though, if all that person did was get the data out there, if all that, and I don't know that's the case, but if that's all they did, I would not have fired her.' Several Republican senators, as well as economists and statisticians, took issue with Trump terminating McEntarfer last week. Audience members yelled, jeered and booed throughout the event, with audible chants of 'free Palestine,' 'tax the rich,' and during the town hall's conclusion, calls to 'vote him out.' When Flood attempted to engage with audience members on those topics, he was largely met with more protests. Attendees asked at least three different questions about the Department of Homeland Security and Immigration and Customs Enforcement, specifically about Florida's 'Alligator Alcatraz,' which one attendee called 'Alligator Auschwitz.' Inquiring about the immigration detention facility in Florida, one attendee asked Flood, 'How much do taxpayers have to pay for a fascist country?' Flood responded to by saying the majority of Americans voted for Trump and not for Democratic nominee Kamala Harris. 'Americans voted for a, for a border that is secure, and I support the president enforcing our immigration laws, which, by the way, were written by Congress,' he added, prompting more boos. The Nebraska Democratic Party encouraged people to attend Flood's town hall, telling voters of Nebraska's 1st Congressional District in a social media post, 'you know what to do!' The party also encouraged attendance at Flood's last in-person town hall in the state, in May, when he was grilled by audience members and at one point conceded he had not read a bill in full before voting in favor of it.
Fox News
5 minutes ago
- Fox News
Jack Smith was 'racing against the clock' to get cases against Trump to a jury: Sen Tom Cotton
Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Ark., explains why he requested a special investigation into Jack Smith's actions to bring charges against President Donald Trump prior to the 2024 election on 'Hannity.'
New York Post
34 minutes ago
- New York Post
Far-left Rep. Jasmine Crockett calls Trump a ‘piece of s–t' in latest rant against the president
Rep. Jasmine Crockett (D-Texas), an outspoken critic of President Trump, called the commander in chief a 'piece of s–t' Sunday during a progressive rally in Arizona. The foul-mouthed congresswoman's latest jab adds to her running tally of crude insults aimed at Trump and other Republican pols. 'Listen, Donald Trump is a piece of s–t. OK, we know that,' Crockett said at the 'Won't Back Down Tour' in Phoenix, an event organized by progressive activist group MoveOn. Crockett has previously argued that Trump is a 'wannabe Hitler.' Getty Images 'He is, he is,' the Texas Democrat continued as the crowd cheered her on, 'but in a functioning democracy, he still would not be able to get away with this.' Crockett accused House and Senate Republicans and the entire judiciary – 'especially the Supreme Court' – of being 'complicit.' 'They refuse to put guardrails on themselves,' Crockett said of Supreme Court justices. 'So it's time for us to do it for them.' The 44-year-old congresswoman's appearance at the rally comes weeks after she criticized 'Squad' Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez's (D-NY) and Sen. Bernie Sanders' (I-Vt.) 'Fighting Oligarchy' tour for being self-promotional rather than about 'the team.' The nationwide rallies headlined by the lefty pair 'kind of makes people be like, Oh, it's about them, right? Instead of the team,' Crockett argued during a May meeting with Rep. Maxine Dexter (D-Ore.), as detailed in an Atlantic magazine profile of the Texas Democrat published last month. Trump has mocked Crockett as a 'low-IQ person.' via REUTERS Crockett referred to Trump, 79, as a 'wannabe Hitler' in an interview with MSNBC last month, where she also acknowledged that she's running out of insulting epithets to direct at the president. 'I don't even know what to call him. I've called him so many things,' she said. Crockett has previously referred to Trump as a 'dictator,' an 'enemy to the United States,' a 'buffoon,' and a 'mofo.' Crockett also raised eyebrows for referring to Texas Republican Gov. Greg Abbott, who uses a wheelchair, as 'Governor Hot Wheels.' Last month, Trump told The's Post's Miranda Devine, on her 'Pod Force One podcast, that Crockett is the 'new star' of the Democratic Party, while ripping her as 'a low-IQ person.'
