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One America News sues Rachel Maddow for $10 million for dubbing network 'Russian propaganda'
Conservative television network One America News is suing Rachel Maddow for more than $10 million for saying it “really literally is paid Russian propaganda.”
The network filed the federal defamation suit Monday in San Diego.
In the lawsuit obtained by USA TODAY, the network claims that Maddow’s comments on her July 22 MSNBC show were "utterly and completely false."
"OAN is wholly owned and financed by the Herrings, an American family. OAN has never been paid or received a penny from Russia or the Russian government," the lawsuit states.
The lawsuit also states that Maddow's comments were retaliation after OAN President Charles Herring accused cable television giant Comcast of censorship. The suit contends that Comcast refused to carry the channel because it “counters the liberal politics of Comcast’s own news channel, MSNBC.”
https://www.usatoday.com/story/entertainment/tv/2019/09/10/rachel-maddow-sued-one-america-news-russian-propaganda-remark/2272189001/
Carefully planned Russian intelligence tactics,
The war on our next election is turning hot,
10 replies
= new reply since forum marked as read
= new reply since forum marked as read
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/One_America_News_Network
<snip>
Content
OANN is known for its pro-Trump content, promotion of conspiracy theories and criticisms of the mainstream media.[18]
Pro-Trump content
Further information: Veracity of statements by Donald Trump
OANN is pro-Trump.[6][20][21][22][18] Robert Herring, Sr., founder and CEO of the network, has ordered producers to promote certain types of content, such as pro-Trump stories, anti-Clinton stories and anti-abortion stories, and minimize stories about Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election.[6] According to a number of former and current employees at the channel, as well as internal e-mails, the executives of the channel have "directed his channel to push Trump’s candidacy, scuttle stories about police shootings, encourage antiabortion stories, minimize coverage of Russian aggression, and steer away from the new president’s troubles."[6] During the 2016 presidential campaign, the channel ran a special titled "Betrayal at Benghazi: The Cost of Hillary Clinton’s Dereliction and Greed."[6] Herring, the owner of the channel, sent producers at the channel a report falsely claiming that Hillary Clinton had a brain tumor, and asked them to check up on it.[6] He also shared a report with producers that claimed that Planned Parenthood had promoted abortion, and ordered them to minimize coverage of Pope Francis's US visit due to the Pope's calls for action on global warming (see Laudato si').[6] Herring repeatedly ordered his producers not to cover stories pertaining to Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election.[6]
In October 2017, the channel said without any evidence that a "report" had been published which showed "U.K. Crime Rises 13% Annually Amid Spread of Radical Islamic Terror".[23] President Trump later repeated this falsehood, suggesting that he learned of it from OAN.[24][25]
In June 2017, One America News was granted a permanent seat in the White House's James Brady briefing room.[26] The network's Chief White House Correspondent, Trey Yingst, was one of the top five most called upon reporters covering the Trump Administration.[27] One America News has been repeatedly called on by President Trump during Presidential press conferences, including one in February 2017 when Yingst asked the President about his campaign's contacts with the Russian government.[28] Also in February 2017, One America News was invited to a network lunch with President Trump.[29] In August 2017, President Trump praised One America News, saying "It's a great network." In response, OANN CEO Robert Herring stated that One America News considers itself a tough but fair presence in the White House press corps.[30]
OAN supported the Trump administration's revoking of CNN reporter Jim Acosta's press credentials. Most major media outlets, including the conservative Fox News, opposed the Trump administration's decision. In a statement, OAN CEO Robert Herring attacked Fox News, saying he "can't believe Fox is on the other side."[31][32][33]
OANN broadcasts every Trump speech uninterrupted.[18]
Murder of Seth Rich conspiracy theories
OANN promoted conspiracy theories about the murder of Seth Rich.[7]
Roy Moore sexual misconduct report controversy
After The Washington Post reported allegations against Alabama Senate candidate Roy Moore that he had molested or made inappropriate sexual contact with a number of women under the age of 18 (including a 14-year old), One America News "became a source of both positive coverage and stories that could cast doubt on his accusers."[34] In November 2017, One America News aired a segment citing a false rumor by an anonymous Twitter account that The Washington Post had offered $1,000 to Roy Moore's accusers.[35][36][37] One America News described the tweet as a "report" and described the tweeter as a "former Secret Service agent and Navy veteran".[35][36] The Twitter account had a history of tweeting falsehoods and conspiracy theories; the Twitter account had also made repeated and inconsistent lies about its identity, including appropriating the identity of a Navy serviceman who died in 2007.[36] After it was revealed that the story was a hoax, One America News did not retract its report.[35]
During his Senate campaign, Roy Moore cited One America News when he defended himself against the accusations.[38] Moore cited a One America News story that alleged that his "Accusers Have Ties to Drug Dealers & Washington Post".[38][39][40]
During the night of the election, OANN announced that Moore had swept the election "by a large margin" when in actuality, Moore ended up losing the race.[41] In its announcement, the network cited "unofficial polling" and the news anchor then extended the OAN CEO Robert Herring's congratulations to Moore on having run a "fine campaign."[41] OAN's website also published an erroneous article claiming that Moore had won, writing that he won "despite attacks from Democrats about unverified allegations."[41] During election night, OAN also said that it had "reports that a number of people have been caught trying to sneak into voting booths and vote illegally"; however, Alabama Secretary of State’s office said that it had no credible reports of voter fraud.[42]
Conspiracy theory about David Hogg
In February 2018, one of the hosts on OAN tweeted a conspiracy theory that a 17-year old survivor in the Stoneman Douglas High School shooting had been coached to speak out against Trump by his retired FBI agent father and that Hogg was "running cover" for his FBI agent father.[43][44] Donald Trump Jr. liked the OAN host's tweet.[44] The 17-year old responded, describing the conspiracy theory as "immature, rude, and inhuman".[45]
Syria chemical attack
In April 2018, while on an al-Assad regime-led tour of the area of the Douma chemical attack, a OAN correspondent said that there was no evidence that a chemical attack had occurred.[46] The correspondent said, "Not one of the people that I spoke to in that neighborhood said that they had seen anything or heard anything about a chemical attack on that day" and that residents "loved Bashar al-Assad."[46]
In May 2019, OANN published a report claiming that the "terrorist-linked" White Helmets had admitted to staging fake chemical weapons attacks, which were intended to put blame on the Assad regime.[21] The Daily Beast characterized the story as a "smear" that could be traced directly as Russian disinformation.[21]
Hiring of Jack Posobiec
In 2018, OANN hired far-right conspiracy theorist Jack Posobiec as a political correspondent.[47][48][49][50] Posobiec was a prominent proponent of the Pizzagate conspiracy theory and Murder of Seth Rich conspiracy theories.[18][22]
False story about Bible ban
In April 2018, OANN ran a segment where it falsely claimed that a California bill would ban the sale of Bibles.[51] Within 24 hours, the OANN video was viewed 2.4 million times on Facebook.[51] Snopes found that the claim was false, and noted that the bill targeted gay conversion therapy.[51]
Unsubstantiated claims about Ammar Campa-Najjar
During the 2018 mid-term campaign, OANN ran a segment where it claimed that Democratic congressional candidate Ammar Campa-Najjar's "father praised the deaths of the Israelis, saying they deserved to die." The Washington Post fact-checker noted that there is no attribution to this statement in the OANN segment. An OANN commentator also claimed that groups connected to the Muslim Brotherhood donated to Campa-Najjar's campaign and that the FEC website showed this. The Washington Post fact-checker said it "couldn’t find evidence of this after searching Campa-Najjar’s filings with the Federal Election Commission." The OANN segment was used in attack ads by Campa-Najjar's Republican opponent Duncan Hunter where Campa-Najjar was falsely tied to terrorism.[52]
Interviewing subject with a fake name
In July 2019, the network interviewed a pro-Trump activist about allegations of anti-conservative bias on Reddit. OANN identified the man as Dennis F. Charles and said he was a "a conservative social media analyst."[22] However, that was not his name and OANN did not disclose that he was using a pseudonym.[22]
Russia probe
OANN is known for downplaying threats posed to the United States by Russia. According to a former OANN producer, on his first day at OANN he was told, "Yeah, we like Russia here."[18][53] One of OANN's reporters, Kristian Brunovich Rouz, simultaneously works for the Russian propaganda outlet Sputnik; when Rouz runs segments on OANN that relate to Russia, OANN does not disclose that he also works for a Russian state-owned media.[54]
Fabricating story about Hillary Clinton funding Antifa
OANN ran a wholly fabricated story alleging that Hillary Clinton's political action committee secretly gave $800,000 to Antifa.[54]
George Soros smears
OANN has run stories falsely claiming that George Soros, a Jewish-Hungarian philanthropist, collaborated with the Nazis when he was a 14-year old.[54] The network has also accused Soros of funding migrant caravans to the United States.[54]
<snip>
Content
OANN is known for its pro-Trump content, promotion of conspiracy theories and criticisms of the mainstream media.[18]
Pro-Trump content
Further information: Veracity of statements by Donald Trump
OANN is pro-Trump.[6][20][21][22][18] Robert Herring, Sr., founder and CEO of the network, has ordered producers to promote certain types of content, such as pro-Trump stories, anti-Clinton stories and anti-abortion stories, and minimize stories about Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election.[6] According to a number of former and current employees at the channel, as well as internal e-mails, the executives of the channel have "directed his channel to push Trump’s candidacy, scuttle stories about police shootings, encourage antiabortion stories, minimize coverage of Russian aggression, and steer away from the new president’s troubles."[6] During the 2016 presidential campaign, the channel ran a special titled "Betrayal at Benghazi: The Cost of Hillary Clinton’s Dereliction and Greed."[6] Herring, the owner of the channel, sent producers at the channel a report falsely claiming that Hillary Clinton had a brain tumor, and asked them to check up on it.[6] He also shared a report with producers that claimed that Planned Parenthood had promoted abortion, and ordered them to minimize coverage of Pope Francis's US visit due to the Pope's calls for action on global warming (see Laudato si').[6] Herring repeatedly ordered his producers not to cover stories pertaining to Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election.[6]
In October 2017, the channel said without any evidence that a "report" had been published which showed "U.K. Crime Rises 13% Annually Amid Spread of Radical Islamic Terror".[23] President Trump later repeated this falsehood, suggesting that he learned of it from OAN.[24][25]
In June 2017, One America News was granted a permanent seat in the White House's James Brady briefing room.[26] The network's Chief White House Correspondent, Trey Yingst, was one of the top five most called upon reporters covering the Trump Administration.[27] One America News has been repeatedly called on by President Trump during Presidential press conferences, including one in February 2017 when Yingst asked the President about his campaign's contacts with the Russian government.[28] Also in February 2017, One America News was invited to a network lunch with President Trump.[29] In August 2017, President Trump praised One America News, saying "It's a great network." In response, OANN CEO Robert Herring stated that One America News considers itself a tough but fair presence in the White House press corps.[30]
OAN supported the Trump administration's revoking of CNN reporter Jim Acosta's press credentials. Most major media outlets, including the conservative Fox News, opposed the Trump administration's decision. In a statement, OAN CEO Robert Herring attacked Fox News, saying he "can't believe Fox is on the other side."[31][32][33]
OANN broadcasts every Trump speech uninterrupted.[18]
Murder of Seth Rich conspiracy theories
OANN promoted conspiracy theories about the murder of Seth Rich.[7]
Roy Moore sexual misconduct report controversy
After The Washington Post reported allegations against Alabama Senate candidate Roy Moore that he had molested or made inappropriate sexual contact with a number of women under the age of 18 (including a 14-year old), One America News "became a source of both positive coverage and stories that could cast doubt on his accusers."[34] In November 2017, One America News aired a segment citing a false rumor by an anonymous Twitter account that The Washington Post had offered $1,000 to Roy Moore's accusers.[35][36][37] One America News described the tweet as a "report" and described the tweeter as a "former Secret Service agent and Navy veteran".[35][36] The Twitter account had a history of tweeting falsehoods and conspiracy theories; the Twitter account had also made repeated and inconsistent lies about its identity, including appropriating the identity of a Navy serviceman who died in 2007.[36] After it was revealed that the story was a hoax, One America News did not retract its report.[35]
During his Senate campaign, Roy Moore cited One America News when he defended himself against the accusations.[38] Moore cited a One America News story that alleged that his "Accusers Have Ties to Drug Dealers & Washington Post".[38][39][40]
During the night of the election, OANN announced that Moore had swept the election "by a large margin" when in actuality, Moore ended up losing the race.[41] In its announcement, the network cited "unofficial polling" and the news anchor then extended the OAN CEO Robert Herring's congratulations to Moore on having run a "fine campaign."[41] OAN's website also published an erroneous article claiming that Moore had won, writing that he won "despite attacks from Democrats about unverified allegations."[41] During election night, OAN also said that it had "reports that a number of people have been caught trying to sneak into voting booths and vote illegally"; however, Alabama Secretary of State’s office said that it had no credible reports of voter fraud.[42]
Conspiracy theory about David Hogg
In February 2018, one of the hosts on OAN tweeted a conspiracy theory that a 17-year old survivor in the Stoneman Douglas High School shooting had been coached to speak out against Trump by his retired FBI agent father and that Hogg was "running cover" for his FBI agent father.[43][44] Donald Trump Jr. liked the OAN host's tweet.[44] The 17-year old responded, describing the conspiracy theory as "immature, rude, and inhuman".[45]
Syria chemical attack
In April 2018, while on an al-Assad regime-led tour of the area of the Douma chemical attack, a OAN correspondent said that there was no evidence that a chemical attack had occurred.[46] The correspondent said, "Not one of the people that I spoke to in that neighborhood said that they had seen anything or heard anything about a chemical attack on that day" and that residents "loved Bashar al-Assad."[46]
In May 2019, OANN published a report claiming that the "terrorist-linked" White Helmets had admitted to staging fake chemical weapons attacks, which were intended to put blame on the Assad regime.[21] The Daily Beast characterized the story as a "smear" that could be traced directly as Russian disinformation.[21]
Hiring of Jack Posobiec
In 2018, OANN hired far-right conspiracy theorist Jack Posobiec as a political correspondent.[47][48][49][50] Posobiec was a prominent proponent of the Pizzagate conspiracy theory and Murder of Seth Rich conspiracy theories.[18][22]
False story about Bible ban
In April 2018, OANN ran a segment where it falsely claimed that a California bill would ban the sale of Bibles.[51] Within 24 hours, the OANN video was viewed 2.4 million times on Facebook.[51] Snopes found that the claim was false, and noted that the bill targeted gay conversion therapy.[51]
Unsubstantiated claims about Ammar Campa-Najjar
During the 2018 mid-term campaign, OANN ran a segment where it claimed that Democratic congressional candidate Ammar Campa-Najjar's "father praised the deaths of the Israelis, saying they deserved to die." The Washington Post fact-checker noted that there is no attribution to this statement in the OANN segment. An OANN commentator also claimed that groups connected to the Muslim Brotherhood donated to Campa-Najjar's campaign and that the FEC website showed this. The Washington Post fact-checker said it "couldn’t find evidence of this after searching Campa-Najjar’s filings with the Federal Election Commission." The OANN segment was used in attack ads by Campa-Najjar's Republican opponent Duncan Hunter where Campa-Najjar was falsely tied to terrorism.[52]
Interviewing subject with a fake name
In July 2019, the network interviewed a pro-Trump activist about allegations of anti-conservative bias on Reddit. OANN identified the man as Dennis F. Charles and said he was a "a conservative social media analyst."[22] However, that was not his name and OANN did not disclose that he was using a pseudonym.[22]
Russia probe
OANN is known for downplaying threats posed to the United States by Russia. According to a former OANN producer, on his first day at OANN he was told, "Yeah, we like Russia here."[18][53] One of OANN's reporters, Kristian Brunovich Rouz, simultaneously works for the Russian propaganda outlet Sputnik; when Rouz runs segments on OANN that relate to Russia, OANN does not disclose that he also works for a Russian state-owned media.[54]
Fabricating story about Hillary Clinton funding Antifa
OANN ran a wholly fabricated story alleging that Hillary Clinton's political action committee secretly gave $800,000 to Antifa.[54]
George Soros smears
OANN has run stories falsely claiming that George Soros, a Jewish-Hungarian philanthropist, collaborated with the Nazis when he was a 14-year old.[54] The network has also accused Soros of funding migrant caravans to the United States.[54]
They traffic in NOTHING but lies...
It had to be said. 
