Quick Hit:

North Carolina Republican Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson has filed a $50 million defamation lawsuit against CNN, claiming the outlet's report accusing Robinson of making explicit posts on a pornography site was reckless and defamatory. Robinson, who is running for governor, denies the allegations and asserts that the report was based on compromised data.

Key Details:

• Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson filed the lawsuit on Tuesday in Wake County Superior Court. He has denied authoring the explicit messages, claiming CNN acted recklessly in its reporting.

• CNN’s report, which dropped on September 19th, attempted to link Robinson’s personal details to a decade-old account on a pornography site message board, claiming he made explicit racial and sexual comments.

• Robinson, speaking at a Raleigh news conference, characterized the report as a “high-tech lynching” targeting his political aspirations. The lawsuit suggests CNN disregarded evidence of previous data breaches compromising his personal information.

Diving Deeper:

According to a report by the New York Post, North Carolina’s Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson filed a defamation lawsuit against CNN, accusing the network of publishing a damaging and inaccurate report. The report alleged that Robinson posted explicit racial and sexual comments on a pornography website’s message board over a decade ago. 

The lieutenant governor, who would be the state’s first Black governor if elected, denounced the report at a news conference in Raleigh, framing it as a politically motivated attack. He described the effort against him as a “high-tech lynching” aimed at destroying his campaign.

CNN’s report claimed to have matched the details of the account to Robinson’s personal information, including his full name, known email address, and other biographical details like marriage length and age. The network also compared phrases used on the message board to speech patterns found in Robinson’s public social media posts. 

The lawsuit also targets Greensboro musician Louis Love Money, who claimed in a video and an interview that Robinson frequented a pornographic store he worked at in the 1990s and early 2000s. Robinson has denied these allegations, which the lawsuit labeled as false, asserting that he never engaged in the activities described by Money. Money defended his statements, insisting his story is truthful.

The lawsuit seeks $50 million in damages and claims that these accusations are a coordinated effort to derail Robinson’s campaign. Although Robinson’s legal team provided no evidence linking CNN and Money to any coordinated attacks, his attorney, Jesse Binnall, vowed to pursue further information through subpoenas. Binnall, who has represented former President Donald Trump in the past, expressed confidence in uncovering additional "bad actors" involved in the campaign against Robinson.

Robinson’s gubernatorial campaign has faced severe backlash since the CNN report. High-level staffers have resigned, and the Republican Governors Association ceased its financial support. Prominent Democrats, including Vice President Kamala Harris, have also attempted to link their Republican opponents to Robinson in campaign advertisements.

Despite the controversy, Robinson remains on the campaign trail, opting for in-person events rather than TV ads. Meanwhile, his Democratic opponent, Attorney General Josh Stein, continues to emphasize Robinson's past inflammatory remarks. Stein's campaign has used these points to criticize Robinson's fitness for office.

As North Carolinians prepare for early voting, which begins Thursday, the controversy surrounding Robinson may impact his bid for governor. Despite Hurricane Helene briefly shifting media focus away from the scandal, Robinson remains a key figure in the state’s relief efforts, working alongside local sheriffs and criticizing Democratic Governor Roy Cooper’s response.