| General
Flynn Brother Jack Fended Off CNN Motion
But Now Loses Summary Judgment
By Matthew
Russell Lee, Patreon
SDNY COURTHOUSE,
April 25 – General Michael
Flynn's brother Jack, general
manager of a seafood
processing business in Rhode
Island, was linked with Qanon
by CNN and
sued.
On October 22, 2021 U.S.
District Court for the
Southern District of New York
Magistrate Judge Sarah L.
Cave, whose work on criminal
cases in the SDNY Magistrages
Court Inner City Press covers
monthly issued a 43-page
Report and Recommendation,
dismissing the claims with
prejudice, but denying CNN's
request for attorneys' fees
and costs.
While some
report that Judge Cave ruled
that Jack Flynn and his wife
Leslie share the views of
Qanon, in the Order Judge Cave
seemingly equated following an
account on Twitter - as for
example Inner City Press
follows accounts of the
murderous governments of
Cameroon and Nigeria to report
on them - with being a
follower.
Judge Cave
wrote: " For the 'ordinary
sense' of a word, the Court
may consult its dictionary
definition. Id. The
Merriam-Webster Dictionary’s
definition of “follower”
includes, as is relevant here,
“one in the service of
another[,]” “one that follows
the opinions or teachings of
another[,]” “one that imitates
another[,]” or “one who
subscribes to a feed
especially on social
media[.]”6 The second and
third of these definitions are
most applicable
here."
On November 5,
2021 the Flynns filed their
objection to the report,
including that Judge Cave
"fails to accept the Flynns'
allegations as true and
improperly resolves virtually
all disputed facts in favor of
CNN... Leslie Flynn never
'liked Tweets' that express
support for QAnon."
Jump cut to
November 23, 2022, when Judge
Cave held a conference on
discovery disputes. Inner City
Press thread here:
Flynns' lawyer:
She [Leslie Flynn] didn't have
a Parler account --
CNN's lawyer: We
have seen a Parler acount.
Judge Cave: What
is the date of the Parler
account?
CNN's lawyer:
Parler is relatively new, I
don't know. But it has her
photo on it, we need the
handle
Jump cut to
February 8, 2024 when the
District Judge to whom the
case was transferred ruled:
"ORDER: After reviewing the
parties' summary-judgment
briefs, the Court would like
supplemental briefing on one
issue: whether Defendant's
alleged statement or
implication that Plaintiffs
were "QAnon followers" is a
non-actionable opinion for
purposes of both the First
Amendment and Rhode Island
law. In addition to conducting
their own research, counsel
should consider the following
authorities, as further set
forth herein. Defendant shall
submit a letter, not exceeding
three single-spaced pages, by
February 16, 2024, at 5:00
p.m. Plaintiff shall submit
its letter (of the same
length) by February 23, 2024,
at 5:00 p.m. SO ORDERED.
(Signed by Judge Arun
Subramanian on 2/8/2024)
On April 25, this
was docketed: "CLERK'S
JUDGMENT re: [226] Memorandum
& Opinion in favor of
Cable News Network, Inc.
against John P. "Jack" Flynn,
Leslie A. Flynn. It is hereby
ORDERED, ADJUDGED AND DECREED:
That for the reasons stated in
the Court's Opinion and Order
dated April 24, 2024, even
assuming that the CNN report
could imply that the Flynns
were QAnon followers, that
statement isn't actionable.
Defendant's motion for summary
judgment is GRANTED. The
motions to exclude and strike
are DENIED as moot because
granting any of those motions
would not change the outcome
of this one; accordingly, the
case is closed. (Signed by
Clerk of Court Ruby Krajick on
4/25/2024)."
The case is
Flynn, et al. v. Cable News
Network, Inc., 21-cv-2587 (Subramanian
/ Cave)
***
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