Judge Hears Arguments In OAN-Rachel Maddow Lawsuit

SAN DIEGO, CA — A San Diego judge heard arguments Tuesday on whether to toss a $10 million defamation lawsuit filed by the owners and operators of the One America News Network against MSNBC and political commentator Rachel Maddow for telling her viewers last summer that the conservative network "really literally is paid Russian propaganda."

U.S. District Judge Cynthia Bashant took the matter under submission and will issue a ruling later on whether to dismiss the suit against Maddow, who was represented in court by famed media law attorney Theodore J. "Ted" Boutrous Jr.

OAN owners Herring Networks Inc. alleges in the lawsuit filed last fall that Maddow made "utterly and completely false" statements because OAN "is wholly financed by the Herrings, an American family" and "has never been paid or received a penny from Russia or the Russian government."

Maddow made the statements during a July 22 segment of her show, in which she cited a Daily Beast article stating that an OAN on-air reporter was "on the payroll for the Kremlin."

Herring Networks' court papers say the reporter, Kristian Rouz, is originally from the Ukraine and started his journalism career by writing articles for Sputnik News, which is affiliated with the Russian government. According to Herring Networks, Rouz was merely a freelancer for Sputnik who selected his own article topics for submission, and his work there had no significance toward his work for OAN.

OAN demanded a retraction of Maddow's statement, according to the suit, which says that an attorney for NBC Universal refuted that Maddow's use of the word "literally" was not simply a figure of speech.

In a motion to dismiss the case, Maddow's attorneys allege her comments were fully protected by the First Amendment, while also stating that her comments were "an opinion based on fully disclosed facts."

Maddow's attorneys said Herrings Networks was not objecting to anything from the Daily Beast article, and conceded that Rouz worked for an organization affiliated with the Russian government.

Maddow's comments during the segment were opinions based entirely on the Daily Beast story, her attorneys allege, and "she nowhere indicates that she has separate knowledge about Mr. Rouz or the funding of OAN other than from that article."

OAN's lawsuit also accused Comcast, which owns MSNBC, of refusing to carry OAN on its cable service "because it counters the liberal message of MSNBC," an act the plaintiffs call "blatant censorship."

— City News Service