Supreme Court declines to revive Dershowitz defamation case against CNN

The Supreme Court on Monday declined to take up Alan Dershowitz’s defamation case against CNN, leaving intact a lower-court ruling that threw out his $300 million lawsuit over the network’s coverage of his remarks during Donald Trump’s January 2020 Senate impeachment trial.

The dispute centered on CNN’s presentation of Dershowitz’s argument in the Senate chamber. Dershowitz said a president’s conduct should not be impeachable if it was taken with a genuine belief that it served the public interest and was not driven by personal financial gain. He accused CNN of stripping away that context and portraying him as saying a president could do anything to get reelected so long as he believed it helped the public.

Dershowitz filed suit in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida, naming CNN, which is owned by Warner Bros. Discovery, and seeking $300 million in damages. A federal judge initially allowed the case to move forward in 2021, but the court later granted summary judgment for CNN after finding that Dershowitz, as a public figure, had not shown actual malice. The 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, based in Atlanta, affirmed that ruling on August 29, 2025, finding that Dershowitz had not presented evidence that CNN reporters or commentators seriously doubted the truth of their reporting or recklessly disregarded falsity.

Dershowitz asked the Supreme Court to revive the case when he petitioned on December 29, 2025. He also urged the justices to revisit New York Times v. Sullivan, the 1964 precedent that requires public figures to prove actual malice in defamation cases. Justice Clarence Thomas granted an extension to file the petition in November 2025, CNN waived its right to respond on January 30, 2026, and the case was repeatedly relisted for conferences through June 25 before the court turned it away on June 29, 2026.

Thomas dissented from the denial of certiorari and was joined by Justice Neil Gorsuch.