"We Agree with Veritas." Eleventh Circuit Hands Project Veritas Victory in Ongoing Defamation Case Against CNN

[ATLANTA – November 7, 2024] The 11th US Circuit Court of Appeals in the Northern District of Georgia delivered a monumental victory for Project Veritas Thursday, deciding that its defamation case against CNN will move forward in a federal trial court in Atlanta.

In 2022, the district court initially granted CNN’s motion to dismiss, but Project Veritas appealed, and the court issued a major victory to Project Veritas, reversing its decision after a two year wait.

Read the Full Decision.

"We Agree with Veritas."

“After careful review and with the benefit of oral argument, we conclude that Veritas plausibly alleged a defamation claim under New York law,” Judge Elizabeth Branch wrote in an opinion issued on Thursday for a panel that included judges Andrew Brasher and Ed Carnes.

“We also hold that Veritas plausibly alleged that the statements were published with actual malice, an additional requirement imposed by the First Amendment in a defamation suit involving public figures. Accordingly, we reverse the court’s decision and remand for further proceedings.”

Circuit Judge Ed Carnes added concurring thoughts, "If you stay on the bench long enough, you see a lot of things. Still, I never thought I’d see a major news organization downplaying the importance of telling the truth in its broadcasts. But that is what CNN has done in this case."

Background

In February 2021, Former CNN Anchor Cabrera tweeted that the Project Veritas account on Twitter had been booted off the platform for supposed privacy violations regarding a failure to blur a house number during an interview with Facebook’s VP of Integrity, Guy Rosen. 

Days later, however, Cabrera appeared on CNN and stated the reasoning behind the ban had to do with a “crackdown” on the “spread of misinformation.” 

Project Veritas demanded a retraction and correction from CNN, asserting that Twitter had banned Veritas for violating Twitter’s “publication of private information,” or “doxing,” policy. But CNN did neither, prompting Veritas to file a lawsuit for defamation against CNN in April 2021.

CNN filed a Motion to Dismiss, which was granted by U.S. District Judge Steve Jones in March 2022, saying Cabrera's statements were substantially true under applicable New York law.

But in Thursday's decision, the Eleventh Circuit disagreed stating:

"We conclude that the district court misapplied New York law and improperly weighed reputational harm when it should have compared the facts and meaning of the defamatory statements with the purported truth... The relevant question is whether the 'gist' or 'substance' of being suspended for 'promoting misinformation' is the same as being suspended for 'publishing private information of another without their consent. It is not."

Libby Locke and Joe Oliveri, who represent Project Veritas, said in a joint statement the case will proceed toward a possible jury trial:

Today’s decision sends a strong message to the media: The truth matters. CNN’s false attack on Project Veritas is a prime example of why CNN has become The Most Distrusted Name in News. Now, three-and-a-half-years later, will CNN finally retract its lie? Project Veritas—and the jury CNN will soon face—want to know.

As Judge Ed Carnes pointed out in his ruling: “Truth is not an immaterial detail.” Project Veritas is now poised to enter discovery with CNN.

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