NC's Mark Robinson sues CNN for defamation

The big picture: Robinson's lawsuit Tuesday has also been long-awaited by Republicans in North Carolina and beyond, who, in the days after the story published, called on Robinson to provide evidence backing his claims that the allegations are not true.

• U.S. Sen. Thom Tillis, a top Republican in North Carolina, went so far as to give Robinson a deadline to provide evidence refuting CNN's claims.
• Robinson's lawsuit comes more than two weeks after Tillis' deadline, yet provides little new information showing CNN's allegations were false.

Driving the news: In the lawsuit, filed in Wake County Superior Court Tuesday, Robinson accuses CNN and a former Greensboro porn store employee Louis Love Money of a "coordinated attack aimed at derailing his campaign for governor."

• The lawsuit is just the first step to "get to the truth," Binnall Law Group attorney Jesse Binnall told reporters Tuesday.
• "We will use every tool at our disposal now that a lawsuit has been filed, including subpoena power, in order to continue pursuing the facts," Binnall said.

Catch up quick: In early September, North Carolina magazine The Assembly quoted Money in a story about how Robinson frequented porn video stores in the 1990s and 2000s.

• Weeks later, CNN published a report that rocked the North Carolina governor's race, alleging that Robinson, under the username "minisoldr," called himself a "Black NAZI" and "perv" and said he supported the return of slavery and liked trans porn.
• Robinson's lawsuit calls the statements "lewd, sex-obsessed, racist and outrageous."

Zoom out: When it comes to public officials, successfully suing for defamation in the U.S. is intentionally difficult, as Axios' Dan Primack and Sara Fischer have reported.

• Prosecutors have to prove that media organizations not only made false statements but also either knew the defamatory statement was false or acted with reckless disregard for the truth.

Zoom in: Robinson used the "minisoldr" handle on numerous other websites, including Amazon, Pinterest and Youtube, where the "minisoldr" user's name was listed as "Mark Robinson."

• On Amazon, "minisoldr" reviewed products Robinson shared on his own Facebook page. On Youtube, "minisoldr" had a playlist with exclusive videos of Robinson himself, CNN reported.
• "Minisoldr" could be short for "mini soldering iron," also called a "mini solder," which is a "common tool used by model railroad enthusiasts," The Assembly reported last month. Robinson is a model train enthusiast, as detailed in his book.

• In comments made on the porn site, Nude Africa, Robinson said he lived in Greensboro, where he still resides, and had been married for the same amount of time he and his wife, Yolanda, have been married, per CNN.

What they're saying: Robinson's lawsuit notes that his data — including his name, birthday, passwords and email address linked to the Nude Africa profile — were compromised in multiple data breaches.

• "Any person could have purchased and/or used Lt. Gov. Robinson's data to create accounts all over the internet," the lawsuit notes. "People who create accounts on websites like NudeAfrica and AdultFriendFinder prefer not to use their own names and identities for obvious reasons."
• The lawsuit also points out that Nude Africa shut down the forum section of its website, "where these alleged posts were supposedly archived" and deleted all "minisoldr" messages, "thereby removing any evidence that could be investigated."
• In a statement, Robinson's campaign said "the owner of NudeAfrica refuses to answer phone calls, knocks at his door, or letters sent to him or his company."
• In Tuesday's press conference, Binnall, who also has worked for former President Donald Trump, said that more information is to come.
• "Once we have subpoena power, once we have discovery, there will be even more that will come forward," Binnall said.