Indian-Origin US Govt Official Kash Patel Files $50M Defamation Suit Against CNN

Washington: Top-ranking Indian-American in the Pentagon Kash Patel has filed a $50 million lawsuit against CNN and some of its reporters for allegedly defaming him by publishing a series of “false and defamatory statements.”

Patel, Chief of Staff to Acting Secretary of Defense Christopher Miller, has claimed in the lawsuit that the leading media network showed Patel as a pro-Donald Trump conspiracy theorist seeking to smear President-elect Joe Biden, yahoo!news reported.

CNN “deliberately or recklessly conveyed a false message” to sensationalise the news and humiliate Patel, the lawsuit says.

The suit includes defamatory statements made by CNN against Patel, like — ‘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;’ ‘Patel has also worked to discredit Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s probe into Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election;’ ‘Defense Department transition office … is led by a Trump loyalist connected to efforts to spread conspiracy theories about the President-elect.’

“Publication of the defamatory statements is part of a general pattern of retaliation and discrimination against Kash and a larger conspiracy undertaken between 2018 and the present to discredit Kash through the publication of false statements and the promotion of unfounded left-wing political narratives,” Patel’s attorney Steven Biss argued.

Patel is seeking presumed damages, actual damages, special damages and punitive damages as a result of the defendants’ statements and actions, according to the complaint.