As NewsBusters was first to report, in April, the Associated Press was sued for defamation by U.S. Navy veteran Zachary Young with combined damages possibly reaching $453 million. In a Monday filing obtained by NewsBusters, the AP via their lawyer Charles Tobin (who also represented CNN during Young’s successful defamation trial against them) requested that the court dismiss the case.
Throughout the filing, the AP referred to Young’s accusations as “meritless defamation claims” and asked Judge William Scott Henry of Florida’s 14th Judicial Circuit (who also oversaw the CNN trial) to “dismiss this lawsuit with prejudice under Florida’s Anti-SLAPP statute, which protect ‘the rights of free speech in connection with public issues.’”
Arguing that “Florida courts have long favored early adjudication of meritless defamation claims in…
