CNN Attempting to Block Tapper Deposition — and Destroying Evidence?
22nd July 2024
Overshadowed by the Republican National Convention last week, CNN’s lawyers filed a motion for a protective order that aimed to block network host Jake Tapper from being deposed as part of the $1 billion defamation suit against the network. It was the second time Tapper was requested for deposition and the second time CNN put up resistance, this time more aggressively. CNN has also been accused of destroying evidence critical to the case.
“There is no basis to depose Tapper,” CNN counsel Deanna Shullman wrote in her motion as she argued against “re-opening fact discovery and deposing CNN employee Jake Tapper.”
Further in her motion, Shullman seemed to produce contradictory information about the plaintiff’s interest in having Tapper deposed (bold text added to highlight):