CHARLOTTE, N.C. (WBTV) – The $50 million sought by North Carolina Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson in a defamation lawsuit filed against CNN was lowered to $25,000 earlier this month.

Robinson, who is also running for North Carolina governor in 2024, is suing the news network after an article brought disturbing allegations against the lt. governor. CNN published an article in mid-September that accused Robinson of making inappropriate, racist, and homophobic comments on a pornography website prior to his role in office.

Robinson has maintained that CNN’s reporting is false, and that he is not responsible for the comments featured in the article. After hiring Donald Trump-associated attorney Jesse Binnall in late September, Robinson filed the $50 million defamation lawsuit against CNN in mid-October — after vowing to go after the news network “full throttle.”

A few days later on Oct. 18, however, Robinson and his attorneys amended the lawsuit to say they‘re seeking damages
“in excess of $25,000,” and not the initial $50 million. This significant change was made to reflect state law requiring civil lawsuits to list punitive damages in a specific way.

“In all negligence actions, and in all claims for punitive damages in any civil action, wherein the matter in controversy exceeds the sum or value of [$25,000], the pleading shall not state the demand for monetary relief, but shall state that the relief demanded is for damages incurred or to be incurred in excess of [$25,000],” the state’s legislative website reads.

Robinson’s team still expects to be awarded far more than $25,000 in this case, his campaign posted on social media. Robinson campaign staffer Matt Hurley posted, “When the full set of facts are presented to a jury, they are likely to award Robinson far in excess of $50,000,000.”

Lawsuit filed against CNN

Robinson’s defamation lawsuit filed against CNN claims the network used “unverifiable” data to bring disturbing allegations against the Republican North Carolina governor candidate.

In the lawsuit filed on Oct. 15, Robinson and his attorneys accuse CNN — and North Carolina man Louis Money — of making defamatory statements about Robinson amid his 2024 bid for governor. The complaint alleges that the news outlet and man are part of a “coordinated attack aimed at derailing” Robinson’s campaign just ahead of the November election.

The lawsuit came about a month after CNN published an article reporting that Robinson made several “inflammatory comments” on a porn website NudeAfrica between 2008 and 2012, years before he took office. It’s alleged that Robinson called himself a “black NAZI,” said things like “slavery is not bad,” and used derogatory slurs toward Black, Jewish and Muslim people — among other things.

Lt. Gov. Robinson has maintained from the start that CNN’s report isn’t true, claiming at times that the comments were fabricated in an effort to make him look bad, or that they were part of an artificial intelligence deep fake campaign. Other than Robinson saying the claims are false, however, his campaign hasn’t offered much specific evidence supporting their claims against CNN.

Robinson and his attorneys argue that CNN failed to verify information before publishing the September article. Robinson also claims the software on the porn website’s message board had been hacked before.

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Lawsuit accuses CNN of using breached data

Robinson hired Donald Trump-associated attorney Binnall in late September to investigate CNN’s article after promising to go after the news outlet at “full throttle.” Binnall has worked for former President Donald Trump in recent years, and is known for helping to push election conspiracies, including the lie that Trump won the 2020 election over now-President Joe Biden.

State and election officials, including Trump’s then-attorney general, found no evidence of widespread election fraud in 2020.

Robinson’s legal team is now accusing CNN of publishing the article using “data from a dubious website, supposed corroboration from unverified — indeed, unverifiable — data, apparently sourced from hacked, data breach files, obtained from the dark web,” according to the lawsuit.

At a press conference earlier this month, Binnall pointed viewers to the complaint, which alleges that Robinson’s name, passwords, email address, and birth date associated with the porn site account were “previously compromised by multiple data breaches.”

“CNN had every reason to doubt the veracity of the data upon which it relied,” the complaint reads.

CNN’s article on Robinson culminates an investigation into several of Robinson’s online accounts — which allegedly includes an alias he used across multiple platforms, including the porn website in question. CNN said it was able to identify Robinson’s alleged porn account by matching a username to a “litany of biographical details and a shared email address between the two.”

The report claims Robinson wrote derogatory and racial slurs toward Black, Jewish and Muslim people, as well as homophobic comments, under the username “minisoldr.” Other comments were allegedly made about Robinson peeping on others, transgender porn, and more. Several screenshots of the accounts were included in the report.

The lawsuit alleges that CNN did not conduct a “serious investigation” into the online accounts or content before attributing them to Robinson.

“CNN did nothing to verify the posts from NudeAfrica,” the amended lawsuit claims. “Indeed, CNN did not even contact the owner of NudeAfrica prior to publishing the [article].”

Still, Binnall said he and his team had not seen any of CNN’s evidence supporting the allegations brought against Robinson, though his team had requested to.

Lawsuit claims motive is political

The lawsuit focuses heavily on CNN’s alleged politically-driven motivation to publish the article before the election.

When announcing the lawsuit at a press conference, Binnall and Robinson were questioned about their claims about CNN’s motive.

• Reporter: So you’re saying that a global news organization is conspiring with a third-party outfit to throw an election, which was already looking like this person was not going to win?
• Binnall: I’m saying that a left-wing media outlet is going to do everything they can to stop this man from being governor, because they know that this man has an ability to connect with voters in a way that, quite frankly, scares them … I think that’s what we’ve seen here.

When asked if the CNN article was believed to be an AI deep fake, Binnall said they hadn’t gotten any information to know that one way or another.

Robinson is running against Democrat and current state Attorney General Josh Stein in the race to replace current Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper. Recent polls have shown Stein with a double-digit lead over Robinson.

Millions of votes have already been cast in North Carolina ahead of Election Day due to absentee and early in-person voting.

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Robinson’s lawsuit also claims the North Carolina man being sued alongside CNN timed his remarks to “coincide with the election and cause Lt. Gov. Robinson maximum damage.”

Robinson told the press this his team still expects to win the election, despite what they’re calling a “journalistic hit job.”

In the wake of CNN’s article, current Gov. Cooper said, “I have said for years that [Robinson] should step down from his position because of extreme positions he has taken … I don’t think he’s qualified.”

Lawsuit takes aim at local band member

A significant portion of Robinson’s lawsuit against CNN actually focuses on the other defendant, Louis Money, who is not associated with CNN.

Money is instead known for his role in local band Trailer Park Orchestra, which released a song this year called “The Lt. Governor Owes Me Money.” The song is believed to be about Robinson, and apparently accuses the lt. gov. of failing to pay Money for a bootleg porn video that “defendant Money supposedly produced for [Robinson],” the lawsuit reads.

Money is accused of also making defamatory comments about Robinson in an interview in The Assembly that came after the song’s release. In that article, Money — a former employee at multiple pornography stores in Greensboro — said Robinson was a “frequent customer” in the 1990s and 2000s.

Though Money reportedly described this alleged situation as a “funny story” to The Assembly, Robinson and his attorneys claim Money is spinning a “fantasy” with “knowingly false” information in order to gain publicity.

Money filed a motion to dismiss the lawsuit. A hearing on that motion is scheduled for Nov. 18.

Read the full lawsuit

Read the entire lawsuit, amended on Oct. 18, below.

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