Governor Candidate Sues CNN, Alleges Defamation

North Carolina Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson has filed a defamation suit against CNN over its report last month accusing him of making disturbing comments in an online pornography forum, reports WRAL. Robinson is running for governor as the GOP nominee, though he has lost much of his staff since the report emerged. Robinson called the report—among other things, it alleged that Robinson referred to himself as a "Black Nazi"—nothing but "salacious tabloid lies." Borrowing language used by Clarence Thomas decades ago, he described the report as a "high-tech lynching."

CNN "chose to publish despite knowing or recklessly disregarding that Lt. Gov. Robinson's data—including his name, date of birth, passwords, and the email address supposedly associated with the NudeAfrica account—were previously compromised by multiple data breaches," the lawsuit states, per the AP. A CNN spokesperson declined to comment. The Raleigh News & Observer notes that Robinson has a high bar to clear—he must prove that CNN knowingly published false information, despite much circumstantial evidence pointing to Robinson as the culprit. Politico separately reported that the account in question originated from an IP address close to Robinson's Greensboro residence. (More Mark Robinson stories.)