MSNBC asked Friday for more than $330,000 in legal costs after winning a defamation suit it faced over its reporting about another TV outlet, the One America News Network, or OAN.
Scott A. Edelman, a lawyer for MSNBC, requested the sum after a federal court judge ruled last month to dismiss a defamation suit filed against his client by OAN’s parent company.
Lawyers for Herring Networks sued for $10 million in September 2019 after MSNBC host Rachel Maddow referred to OAN during her TV program as being “literally … paid Russian propaganda” while discussing an article published The Daily Beast that identified an OAN reporter as simultaneously working for a media outlet owned by the Russian government.
Ruling for MSNBC, U.S. District Court Judge Cynthia Bashant said Ms. Maddow’s remarks were protected under the First Amendment and dismissed the claim pursuant to California’s anti-SLAPP statute, which prohibits strategic lawsuits against public participation and allows defendants in such cases to seek legal fees from the other side.
“Defendants seek $323,965 in attorneys’ fees and $9,706.28 in costs for a total of $333,671.28, plus any additional fees and costs incurred in connection with preparing a Reply and attending a hearing on this Motion,” Mr. Edelman wrote for MSNBC in the latest filing Friday.
A spokesperson for Herring Networks did not immediately return a request for comment.
Herring Networks launched OAN in 2013, and they are both headquartered in San Diego where the failed defamation suit was filed. Lawyers for Herring previously said they disagreed with the district judge’s ruling and would challenge the decision in the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals.
Although paling in popularity compared to other cable news outlets, the right-leaning OAN and its unabashed support of the Trump administration has recently made it among the president’s favorites. He has praised OAN repeatedly on Twitter recently and amplified its reporting, and his administration has allowed a correspondent for the network to remain at White House press briefings despite being disciplined for violating rules applied to journalists who attend them.
• Andrew Blake can be reached at ablake@washingtontimes.com.
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