Kash Patel, chief of staff to Acting Secretary of Defense Christopher Miller, has filed a $5 million lawsuit against CNN and several reporters who work at the cable outlet for what he claims are false reports that defamed him.
The suit was filed on Friday in Virginia Circuit Court and named CNN reporters Barbara Starr, Zachary Cohen, Ryan Browne, Alex Marquardt, and Nicole Gaouette as defendants, in addition to the network itself.
The complaint said CNN “deliberately or recklessly conveyed a false message” to garner attention and embarrass Patel.
Fox News reported on the development:
Patel, who was previously a top aide to Rep. Devin Nunes (R-CA) ad a Trump advisor, claims CNN published a series of articles from Nov. 24 through Dec. 4 penned by the defendants that “contain a series of false and defamatory statements” about him, according to the complaint.
The complaint says defamatory statements in the articles include, “Trump loyalist connected to Biden conspiracy theories is leading Pentagon transition,” “Kash Patel, a Trump loyalist, … was connected to efforts to spread conspiracy theories about Joe Biden,” Kash “has also worked to discredit Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s probe into Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election,” “Pentagon blocked Biden’s intelligence transition team from meeting with agencies,” and “Defense Department transition office … is led by a Trump loyalist connected to efforts to spread conspiracy theories about the President-elect,” among other similar examples.
Patel’s legal team said CNN retaliated against him because he helped poke holes in the network’s narrative that the Trump campaign colluded with Russia before the 2016 election.
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