The Trump administration is threatening to sue CNN for what it alleges are “unfair, unfounded, unethical and unlawful attacks” against the White House, saying they’re seeking “a substantial payment of damages.”
In the four-page letter sent by Trump attorney Charles Harder to CNN, its president, Jeff Zucker, and Executive Vice President David Vigilante, Harder cites a recent Project Veritas video in which multiple high-level CNN employees appear to admit the network and many of its top officials and hosts have a standing bias against President Donald Trump, including audio of Zucker himself instructing his employees to push the impeachment narrative.
“Recently released video footage of individuals alleged to be your employees indicates that your reporting relating to President Trump is contrary to your own mission and the aforementioned Code of Ethics. Your own employees appear to state that CNN is focused on trying to ‘take down President Trump,’ driven by a ‘personal vendetta’ that Mr. Zucker purportedly has against him, rather than reporting the news in an objective manner," Harder writes. “In the Footage, your employees appear to state that CNN attempts to make its reporting appear neutral and unbiased, when in fact its reporting is far from neutral and highly biased against the President."
He goes on to accuse the network of being “in violation of the Lanham Act (15 U.S.C. § 1051 et seq.), among other applicable laws, by constituting misrepresentations to the public, to your advertisers, and others.”
“Accordingly, my clients intend to file legal action against you, to seek compensatory damages, treble damages, punitive damages, injunctive relief, reimbursement of legal costs, and all other available legal and equitable remedies, to the maximum extent permitted by law,” the letter added.
While CNN hasn't yet commented on the White House's threat of legal action, the news network did begin running a promo campaign this week centered around Democrats' call for impeachment, stating, "The impeachment inquiry: there's only one place for it" on Twitter alongside a graphic emblazoned with the website link "cnn.com/impeachment."
Read the full text of Harder's letter here:
(Cover Photo: Gage Skidmore)