Rachel Maddow Lawsuit: Donald Trump-Cited Network Faces New Hurdle In $10M Defamation Case

Since 2008, Rachel Maddow has been sharing her political opinions on her MSNBC program. During that time, "The Rachel Maddow Show" host has covered a variety of topics, including One America News, the "conservative network frequently cited by President Donald Trump." Due to a certain comment that was made by the political commentator, OAN opted to move forward with a $10M defamation lawsuit. However, Maddow's lawyer has now struck back and made their own request.

According to Variety, Maddow's attorney asked a San Diego judge on Tuesday to throw out the defamation suit. Herring Networks, the corporate parent of OAN, originally filed the suit in September 2019 after the MSNBC personality said that the network "really literally is paid Russian propaganda."

As a result of the lawsuit, both Comcast and Maddow are "seeking to strike the complaint under the California anti-SLAPP statute."

Attorney Theodore Boutrous has asked Judge Cynthia Bashant to look at "The Rachel Maddow Show" host's comments in totality. "She’s giving her take in [an] entertaining way,” Boutrous said, adding, "She’s chuckling — she’s mocking the whole situation for its absurdity."

Furthermore, Boutrous stated that Maddow was simply giving her opinion based on the facts that had been reported in a July 2019 report in The Daily Beast. They then pointed out that her comments should also be protected under the First Amendment.

However, Amnon Siegel, who is arguing for Herring Networks, said that her use of the words "really" and "literally" seemingly conveyed that what she was saying was factual and not opinion-based. As a result, they are requesting that the case be decided upon by a jury.

Subsequently, Herring Networks submitted a 20-page report that argued that it was "very unlikely that an average or reasonable/ordinary viewer would consider the sentence in question to be a statement of opinion," but Bashant called the report "largely irrelevant."

The judge then issued a few comments that may indicate where the case is headed. "It’s clearly her show,” Bashant said, adding, "She’s stating facts. She kinda laughs through it. It’s a sparkly story."

At this time, it remains unclear when a final ruling will be made. However, as reported by Times of San Diego, OAN founder Robert Herring believes that the judge may be "leaning towards the defendant." Bashant also reportedly shared that she will be making an official ruling in the "not too distant future."