<div style="text-align: justify; "><span style="font-size: 1rem;">Former U.S. president Donald Trump sued CNN for defamation on Monday, seeking $475 million in punitive damages and claiming the network had carried out a "campaign of libel and slander" against him.</span><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Trump claims in his lawsuit, filed in U.S. District Court in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, that CNN had used its considerable influence as a leading news organization to defeat him politically.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">CNN declined to comment on the case.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Trump, a Republican, claims in the 29-page lawsuit that CNN had a long track record of criticizing him but had ramped up its attacks in recent months because the network feared that he would run again for president in 2024.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">"As a part of its concerted effort to tilt the political balance to the left, CNN has tried to taint the Plaintiff with a series of ever-more scandalous, false, and defamatory labels of 'racist,' 'Russian lackey,' 'insurrectionist,' and ultimately 'Hitler,'" the lawsuit claims.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The lawsuit lists several instances in which CNN appeared to compare Trump to Hitler, including a January 2022 special report by host Fareed Zakaria that included footage of the German dictator.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Trump, who in 2020 lost a re-election bid to Democrat Joe Biden, has not said whether he would seek re-election.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">In a statement, the former president said he would be filing lawsuits against other major media companies "in the coming weeks and months," and that he could even take action against a congressional committee probing the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol by his supporters.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The lawsuit comes as the 76-year-old former president faces considerable legal woes, including a criminal investigation by the U.S. Justice Department for retaining government records at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida after leaving office in January 2021.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Trump was sued last month by New York state Attorney General Leticia James, who has accused him of lying to banks and insurers over the value of his assets.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Reporting by Dan Whitcomb; Additional reporting by Kanishka Singh and Tim Ahmann; Editing by Jonathan Oatis and Chris Reese. Source: Reuters</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify; ">bnbd24/kh</div>