MSNBC’S Rachel Maddow is being sued for more than $10 million by One America News (OAN) for saying the conservative TV network is “paid Russian propaganda.”
The comments were made on the July 22 of “The Rachel Maddow Show.”
Prior to Maddow’s comments, OAN had accused Comcast of censorship for refusing to carry its channel, saying the telecommunications conglomerate didn’t like the network because it “counters the liberal politics of Comcast’s own news channel, MSNBC.”
After a story of the controversy appeared in the Daily Beast, Maddow opened her show saying the conservative network had an employee who worked for Sputnik News, which is linked to the Russian government.
‘In this case, the most obsequiously pro-Trump right-wing news outlet in America really literally is paid Russian propaganda,’ Maddow said on her show.
“Their on-air U.S. politics reporter is paid by the Russian government to produce propaganda for that government,” she contended.
One America News said the reporter in question, Kristian Rouz, was a freelancer for Sputnik News but not an employee, and his work there had nothing to do with his work for OAN.
Rouz said he had written about 1,300 articles over the past 4.5 years for Sputnik and paid around $40 per article, amountng to about $11,500 per year.
“I have never written propaganda, disinformation, or unverified information,” he said.
In a written statement by an attorney representing OAN, Skip Miller said, “One America is wholly owned, operated and financed by the Herring family in San Diego. They are as American as apple pie. They are not paid by Russia and have nothing to do with the Russian government.”Â
“This is a false and malicious libel and they’re going to anser for it in a court of law.”
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