Ex-US President Trump sues CNN, seeks $475m in damages for alleged defamation

Former President of the United States, Donald Trump has sued American broadcaster, CNN, for alleged defamation, and is seeking $475 million in “punitive damages.”

In this lawsuit filed in a US District Court in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, Trump is accusing CNN of running a campaign of “libel and slander” against him in an effort to derail any future political efforts.

The lawsuit also claimed the network “intended to aggravate, scare and trigger people” against the ex-President.

As grounds for damages, Trump claims in the 29-page lawsuit that CNN had used the phrase “Big Lie,” which has Nazi connotations, more than 7,700 times in reference to him. He also claimed that the network’s use of the term was in reference to his claims that Biden “stole” the 2020 election from him.

“The ‘Big Lie’ is a direct reference to a tactic employed by Adolf Hitler and appearing in Hitler’s Mein Kampf,” Trump’s lawsuit said.

Read also:Donald Trump hints at lawsuit following FBI raid on mansion

“As a part of its concerted effort to tilt the political balance to the left, CNN has tried to taint the Plaintiff with a series of ever-more scandalous, false, and defamatory labels of ‘racist,’ ‘Russian lackey,’ ‘insurrectionist,’ and ultimately ‘Hitler’. It is intended to aggravate, scare and trigger people,” it added.

Trump’s close associates say he is planning to file similar lawsuits against other news organizations in the coming weeks and months.

“The former president said that he was also planning appropriate action against the House committee investigating the January 6, 2021 attack on the Capitol by his supporters,” one of his aides said on the condition of anonymity.

Trump’s lawsuit against the broadcaster is coming at a time he is being investigated by the US Justice Department for keeping sensitive government documents at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida after leaving office in January 2021.

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