Alan Dershowitz, a legal scholar and ally to President Donald Trump, sued CNN over comments made during the 2020 impeachment of Trump during his first term. According to Dershowitz, CNN defamed him to the tune of $300 million. The case has been ongoing since 2021.
On Friday, however, the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled against Dershowitz.
Justin Baragona, senior reporter at The Independent, mocked Dershowitz for the ruling, noting that the appellate judge was "smacking [him] around like a little cat toy."
"Dershowitz, who no one disputes as a public figure, has presented no evidence that CNN's commentators or producers acted with actual malice. To begin, CNN has offered unrefuted evidence that its commentators believed in the truth of their statements about Dershowitz; all of the journalists testified that they believed their statements were fair and accurate," the ruling said.
One of those comments includes the accusation that Dershowitz is "Dershow-nuts.”
"And Dershowitz did not counter that evidence. Instead, he repeated a boilerplate objection that the testimony was 'scripted and self-serving.' Probably so. But that does not render it non-provative, and in the absence of contrary evidence, questioning the witnesses' credibility is not enough to create a factual dispute," the ruling continued.
The ruling goes on to say at one point that Dershowitz referenced a series of internal emails and phone calls from CNN, "arguing that these show the network and its commentators collaborating to deceive their viewers and damage his reputation." The judge explained that they do nothing of the sort.
"For one, right after Dershowitz's statement, a CNN correspondent emailed then CNN President Jeff Zucker that Dershowitz had 'gone crazy.' 'Yup,' Zucker replied, 'Him and Lindsay [sic] Graham,'" the ruling continued. "And later that afternoon, Zucker held a conference call with several producers, executives and 'news gatherers.' One producer summarized that the 'very brief' meeting's takeaway as 'Trump legal team making arguments that a President is King & can do whatever he wants.' Another producer echoed that characterization."
The judge explained that "these communications suggest not conspiracy but sincerity..." The judge noted none of the people cited as those who defamed him were even on the call with Zucker and the other executives. The emails don't support his assertion that the network was given "marching orders about how the story should be spun." In fact, the communications Dershowitz cited "tend to support CNN's position that the relevant speakers believed in the truth of their reporting."
Dershowitz is currently fighting another battle over pierogies. He indicated that he plans to litigate that incident as well, Axios reported.
See the ruling below, uploaded by Josh Gerstein from Politico.