|
Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...
|
Mark Robinson’s defamation case against CNN and former Greensboro porn shop clerk Louis Money appears to have ended with a whimper on Friday. The former lieutenant governor conceded in a press release that “continuing to pursue retribution from CNN is a futile effort,” and his attorneys dismissed the lawsuit he’d filed in October.
Robinson filed suit after articles in The Assembly and CNN derailed his campaign for governor.
In early September, The Assembly reported that Money said that Robinson, a Republican who had fashioned himself a far-right culture warrior, was a regular in the Greensboro porn shops where he worked in the 1990s and early 2000s, watching videos several nights a week after his shifts at a nearby Papa Johns. Money first raised allegations about Robinson in a video for his band Trailer Park Ochestra’s song “The Lt. Gov. Owes Me Money,” in which he claimed Robinson failed to pay him for a bootleg hardcore porn tape in 2004. Five other men told The Assembly they also saw Robinson frequent these establishments.
At the time, Robinson’s spokesman denied the allegations and called Money a “freak-show grifter” and The Assembly’s reporters “degenerates.” Later, in court filings, Robinson admitted to entering the stores but denied consuming porn. (Robinson did not name The Assembly in his suit, though the complaint called The Assembly’s article a “ludicrous and dubiously sourced hit piece.”)
Two weeks later, CNN published an investigation into statements it linked to Robinson on the pornography website Nude Africa. Among other things, Robinson allegedly called himself a “black Nazi,” said he wanted to own slaves and enjoyed transgender pornography, and posted graphic descriptions of sex with his sister-in-law.
Robinson’s lawsuit accused Money and CNN of participating in a “coordinated attack,” but Money was not a source for CNN’s story. The Assembly was not involved in CNN’s reporting, either.
Robinson denied CNN’s claims, too. But in the aftermath of CNN’s article, most of his campaign team quit, and his fundraising evaporated. In his lawsuit, Robinson said the allegations had “inflicted immeasurable harm to his family, his reputation, and his good name.” He went on to lose to Gov. Josh Stein by 15 points, a landslide not seen in a North Carolina governor’s race since 1980.
Robinson initially sued the network for $50 million, violating a state rule that forbids plaintiffs from seeking headline-grabbing damage claims. CNN moved the case to federal court—because CNN is headquartered in a different state, federal courts have jurisdiction—where it soon became apparent that Robinson faced long odds.
To win a defamation suit as a public figure, Robinson had to show that Money and CNN had acted with “actual malice,” a legal term that means they knew the allegations were false or acted with “reckless disregard” for the truth. Robinson alleged that CNN was biased and ran the article despite his denials. CNN countered that its story painstakingly detailed how reporters connected Robinson to the Nude Africa posts, and said that because Robinson couldn’t meet the actual malice standard, the judge should toss the lawsuit.
Robinson’s lawyers, meanwhile, argued that the federal court should simply ignore New York Times Co. v. Sullivan, the Supreme Court precedent that established the actual malice standard. The standard “has been a disaster for public discourse in the United States,” they wrote. “… The Supreme Court should take notice of the mess it has created and reverse this error. It should recognize that the importance of criticizing public figures in the press demands equal, not less, accountability to criticisms of private figures.”
One of Robinson’s attorneys, Jesse Binnall, formerly represented President Donald Trump, who has said he wants to “open up” libel laws and has frequently threatened media outlets.
Before U.S. District Judge Louise Flanagan could rule on CNN’s motion to dismiss, Robinson voluntarily withdrew the case—though it was dismissed without prejudice, meaning he could refile it. In his press release, however, Robinson said he had asked his legal team “to terminate any continued attempt to litigate with CNN on my or my family’s behalf.”
“The price we have paid in entering the political arena will never be recognized,” Robinson continued. “There is no dollar amount high enough. While it has been the honor of a lifetime to serve the people of North Carolina, the continued political persecution of my family and loved ones is a cost I am unwilling to continue to bear.”
Robinson dismissed the lawsuit before he had to testify under oath.
Robinson said he would not seek office in 2026—apparently closing the door on a rumored primary challenge to U.S. Sen. Thom Tillis—and did not “have plans to seek elected office in the future.”
Money learned from The Assembly that the lawsuit had been dismissed.
“It was a pleasure for me and the Trailer Park Orchestra to write a song that will be a small part of this great state’s history,” Money told The Assembly. “Support local original music.”
Jeffrey Billman reports on politics and the law for The Assembly. Email him at jeffrey@theassemblync.com.