A June 1 hearing has been set for John (Jack) Flynn and his wife Leslie in their $75 million defamation lawsuit against CNN.
Judge Gregory H. Woods will hear the case in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, The Hill reported.
Jack Flynn, the brother of Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn, is suing CNN for negligently propagating false claims about his family’s ties to QAnon.
CNN declined to comment to The Hill on the lawsuit, citing pending litigation.
“Plaintiffs are not followers or supporters of any extremist or terrorist groups, including QAnon,” the lawsuit filed by Jack and Leslie Flynn reads, The Hill reported. “CNN falsely attributed to Plaintiffs associations that never existed, actions Plaintiffs never took, including an oath of allegiance to QAnon, and views Plaintiffs never held.
“CNN’s false attributions exposed Plaintiffs to public scorn, ridicule and contempt, and lowered their esteem in the community, causing insult, embarrassment, humiliation and substantial injury to Plaintiffs’ reputations.”
The lawsuit cites a Feb. 4 CNN report for false accusations of the Flynns being followers and supporters of QAnon, a mysterious, online peddler of far-right conspiracy theories.
They claim CNN used an edited video which is “fraudulently making it appear and insinuating that [Jack and Leslie] pledged an oath of allegiance to QAnon,” according to The Hill.
Also, the lawsuit alleges, “the Jan. 6 storming of the Capitol, a chorus of left-wing media outlets began to spread false narratives about QAnon, including that Jack Flynn’s brother, retired Lt. General Michael T. Flynn (‘Gen. Flynn’), was the ‘founder’ of QAnon.”
Michael Flynn, the first national security adviser under former President Donald Trump, had pleaded guilty in December 2017 for making false statements to the FBI about contacts with Russian diplomats during the Trump transition in December 2016.
He eventually pulled that plea under discovery of potential FBI misconduct, and the Justice Department ultimately dropped the charges against him. Trump also preemptively pardoned him anyway last year before leaving the White House.
Now, the Biden administration’s Department of Defense is investigating Michael Flynn again for his international dealings, an Army spokesperson told The Hill.
Lt. Gen. Charles Flynn, the younger brother of Michael Flynn, was designated Jan. 27 of this year the new head of the U.S. Army Pacific forces under the Biden administration.
CNN had previously settled a lawsuit with a Covington Catholic High School student Nick Sandmann, who sought $275 million in damages.
Source: Newmax
