Nicholas Sandmann lawyer joins Kyle Rittenhouse's legal team, says there are up to 15 'solid' defamation cases against 'large defendants' like Facebook and Mark Zuckerberg



One of the lawyers who successfully represented Covington Catholic student Nicholas Sandmann during his defamation cases has joined the legal team of Kyle Rittenhouse. The high-profile lawyer proclaimed that he believes there are as many as 15 "solid" defamation cases against "large defendants" like Facebook and its CEO Mark Zuckerberg.

Numerous influential media outlets painted Sandmann as an aggressor in a 2019 confrontation with Native American activist Nathan Phillips following the March for Life near the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C.

Lawyer Todd McMurty was part of the legal team that represented Sandmann in their defamation lawsuits against some of the biggest and most powerful media corporations in the world. Sandmann's legal team was able to force settlements with CNN, NBC, and the Washington Post.

"I’ve been hired to head the effort to determine whom to sue, when to sue, where to sue," Todd McMurtry told Fox News. "We're going to look at everything that's been said, determine which of those comments are legally actionable and proceed from there."

McMurty declared that there are "probably 10 to 15 solid" cases against "large defendants."

McMurty hinted that Facebook and Zuckerberg could be potential targets of defamation lawsuits.

"Let's just use for an example what Facebook and Mark Zuckerberg said about [Rittenhouse]. They said that he was involved in a mass murder incident," McMurtry said. "This was not a mass murder incident. It was clearly factually false."

"To call somebody a mass murderer is seriously defamatory," he added. "And then to use the power of social media to basically … censor any views that would take opposition to that mass murderer statement is a serious effort to destroy his character. And it was seriously mistaken and seriously defamatory."

In August 2020, Rittenhouse fatally shot two men and wounded another during the Kenosha riot in Wisconsin. Rittenhouse's legal team argued that he fired his weapon in self-defense. Rittenhouse was acquitted of two counts of homicide and one count of attempted homicide.

Before the trial began, Facebook deemed Rittenhouse to be involved in a "mass murder," and removed all social media posts mentioning the then-17-year-old.

McMurty noted that Zuckerberg is "certainly going to be at the top" of his list "because he has an outsized voice."

"Facebook has an outsized voice, they can do a lot of damage, as compared to somebody maybe who has a small blog with 100 subscribers," he explained. "But we're going to look at everything that we have access to and that's been published, and decide which ones are actionable."

McMurty said the media's coverage of Rittenhouse will cause "perpetual reputational harm, which means that Kyle is never going to have an interaction with anybody where they don't know who he is."

"And this is going to follow him around for the rest of his life," he continued. "Everybody's going to prejudge him in every new interaction that he has with everybody for the rest of his life, and that's called perpetual reputational harm."

In February, Rittenhouse named some potential individuals who could be sued for defamation.

"Well, right now, we're looking at quite a few politicians, celebrities, athletes, Whoopi Goldberg's on the list," Rittenhouse said during a "Tucker Carlson Tonight" appearance. "She called me a 'murderer' after I was acquitted by a jury of my peers. She went on to still say that."

In November 2021, Goldberg declared that Rittenhouse committed "murder" despite him being acquitted.

Last year, Sandmann commented on Rittenhouse's situation, and how the media labeled the teenager.

"Kyle was almost immediately labeled a 'white supremacist' and a 'domestic terrorist,'" Sandmann wrote in an op-ed for the Daily Mail. "They came quickly, without hesitation, because Kyle was an easy target that they could paint in the way they wanted to."

"This is the problem with liberal media outlets in the United States," Sandmann continued. "They want to get the story first, get the most views, make the most money, and advance the agenda from liberal patrons."

"I am here for you, and if you ever would like to reach out to me, I am about the only person our age to have an idea of how the media is treating you," Sandmann noted. "The way the media has treated you is terrible, and you don't have to face it alone."

Nick Sandmann reaches settlement with NBC in Covington Catholic controversy



Former Covington Catholic student Nick Sandmann announced on Friday that he had reached a settlement with NBCUniversal. This is Sandmann's third settlement with a major news outlet stemming from media coverage over a confrontation at the Lincoln Memorial in January 2019.

Sandman, now 19 years old, announced the settlement with NBC on Twitter.

"At this time I would like to release that NBC and I have reached a settlement. The terms are confidential," Sandmann tweeted.

At this time I would like to release that NBC and I have reached a settlement. The terms are confidential.
— Nicholas Sandmann (@Nicholas Sandmann) 1639778759

"Documents filed Friday in U.S. District Court in the Eastern District of Kentucky show both parties agreed to dismiss the case without a judgment from the court," the Cincinnati Enquirer reported.

Sandmann's attorneys slapped a $275 million defamation lawsuit against NBCUniversal in May 2019. The lawsuit claimed that NBC "unleashed its vast corporate wealth, influence, and power against Nicholas to falsely attack him despite the fact that at the time, he was a 16-year-old high school student."

"NBCUniversal’s attacks on Nicholas included at least fifteen defamatory television broadcasts, six defamatory online articles, and many tweets falsely accusing Nicholas and his Covington Catholic High School ('CovCath') classmates of racists acts," the lawsuit contended. "NBCUniversal created a false narrative by portraying the 'confrontation' as a 'hate crime' committed by Nicholas."

The lawsuit argued that NBC's coverage was "relying heavily on biased and unreliable sources without conducting any reasonable investigation of the circumstances surrounding the January 18 incident."

In 2020, CNN and the Washington Post both settled defamation lawsuits from Sandmann for undisclosed amounts.

After the settlements, Sandmann said, "We have settled with WAPO and CNN. The fight isn't over. 2 down. 6 to go."

In March 2020, Sandmann's attorneys filed complaints against the New York Times, ABC News, CBS News, Rolling Stone, and Gannett over their reporting on the Covington Catholic high school student.

The former student from Kentucky was chastised by the media for allegedly "smirking" during a viral standoff with Native American elder Nathan Phillips in 2019 during the March for Life in Washington, D.C., when he was 16 years old.

"I see it as a smile, saying that this is the best you're going to get out of me," Sandmann said in a 2019 interview with NBC News anchor Savannah Guthrie. "You won't get any further reaction of aggression. And I'm willing to stand here as long as you want to hit this drum in my face."

Sandmann commented on the situation involving Kyle Rittenhouse, who was also thrust into the spotlight as a teenager and lambasted by the media.

"Kyle was almost immediately labeled a 'white supremacist' and a 'domestic terrorist,'" Sandmann wrote in an op-ed for the Daily Mail. "They came quickly, without hesitation, because Kyle was an easy target that they could paint in the way they wanted to."

"This is the problem with liberal media outlets in the United States," Sandmann wrote. "They want to get the story first, get the most views, make the most money, and advance the agenda from liberal patrons."

"I am here for you, and if you ever would like to reach out to me, I am about the only person our age to have an idea of how the media is treating you," Sandmann added. "The way the media has treated you is terrible, and you don't have to face it alone."

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Four major media companies asked the court to dismiss defamation lawsuits filed by Nicholas Sandmann. On Thursday, a federal judge in Kentucky denied the dismissal motions by the New York Times, Rolling Stone, ABC, and CBS.

The media companies argued that their stories written about the former Covington Catholic High School student didn't amount to defamation. The district court judge rejected those arguments, greenlighting Sandmann's defamation suits to continue.

The basis of Sandmann's lawsuit against theTimes is that the paper published a news article that stated Sandmann "blocked" activist Nathan Phillips at the Lincoln Memorial on Jan. 18, 2019. The Times claimed that Sandmann "prevented Phillips' retreat while Nicholas and a mass of other young white boys surrounded, taunted, jeered and physically intimidated Phillips."

Sandmann's legal team contend that Phillips' statements were false and defamatory. Sandmann's attorneys argue that the media companies "failed to engage in 'basic journalistic due diligence,' which would have revealed Phillips' lack of credibility." Attorneys for Sandmann also point out that the media outlets ignored all the available footage from the incident, which showed the full context of the confrontation and disproved Phillips' claims.

In the motion to dismiss, the Times argued that its article was "a standard piece of investigative journalism" and therefore not libelous.

CBS argued that the "statements at issue cannot be libelous because the publications in full included statements more favorable to Sandmann's view of the events."

Senior Judge William O. Bertelsman of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Kentucky rejected the dismissal motions, saying that the media outlets should have vetted for accuracy before publishing the articles.

"Under Kentucky law, a writing is defamatory 'if it tends to (1) bring a person into public hatred, contempt or ridicule; (2) cause him to be shunned or avoided; or (3) injure him in his business or occupation.' The allegations of the Complaint fit this definition precisely," Bertelsman wrote. "Defendant published a statement by Phillips that was made after Sandmann had departed for home, a statement to which Sandmann had no opportunity to reply in real time. While Sandmann had such an opportunity later, and such evidence might be admissible to show lack of malice, it is not a defense to the defamatory meaning of Phillips' original statement itself."

Sandmann stated that the "news media caused him to be harassed by the public, causing him great emotional distress." His legal team alleges that the Times article "is now forever a part of the historical Internet record and will haunt and taint Nicholas for the remainder of his natural life and impugn his reputation for generations to come."

On Thursday, Sandmann's attorney Lin Wood wrote on Twitter: "CNN & Washington Post previously settled defamation cases filed against them by @N1ckSandmann. 2 down, 6 to go."

"In light of media propaganda we have been experiencing on an increasing basis since January of 2019, DISCOVERY in the remaining cases should be extremely revealing," Wood tweeted. "Motions to Dismiss @N1ckSandmann defamation lawsuits filed in KY federal court against NY Times, Rolling Stone, ABC, & CBS were just DENIED. NBC motion has previously been DENIED. Gannett motion was briefed on different time schedule & a DENIAL is expected in next few weeks."

CNN & Washington Post previously settled defamation cases filed against them by @N1ckSandmann.2 down, 6 to go.I… https://t.co/eXL93dx3Id
— Lin Wood (@Lin Wood)1601586914.0

Sandmann agreed to settlements for undisclosed amounts with CNN in January, and with the Washington Post in July, which were originally filed in February 2019 and were seeking $250 million.

Sandmann, who is now a college freshman, recently began working for Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell's (R-Ky.) re-election campaign. In August, Sandmann delivered a speech at the Republican National Convention.

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