A defamation lawsuit against NBCUniversal is heading to trial after a Georgia judge ruled that journalists including Rachel Maddow, Nicolle Wallace and Chris Hayes published “verifiably false” claims about a doctor who allegedly performed “mass hysterectomies” on detainees at ICE centers.
MSNBC and NBC journalists are accused of publishing 39 false claims about doctors they called “uterus collectors,” based on a whistleblower who was a nurse at the facility named Dawn Wootton.
“NBC investigated the allegations in the whistleblower letter, but its investigation did not support the allegations and even undermined some of them. NBC nevertheless republished the allegations in the letter,” Judge Lisa Godbey Wood of the Southern District of Georgia wrote in her ruling. Summary on page 108 In June.
Dr. Mahendra Amin, a gynecologist who served three and a half years in the detention center and reportedly performed only two hysterectomies during that time, is seeking $30 million. Madow’s annual salary.
NBC journalists first reported on the incident through an article published on the NBC website in September 2020. MSNBC anchors have since covered the incident in multiple broadcast segments.
According to court documents, Maddow initially questioned the reporting and called it a “jump to conclusions,” but continued to cover the case on her weekly show.
NBC’s standards department reviewed and approved the report even though the nurses did not provide “evidence to support the allegations,” an NBC standards lieutenant said at the time, according to court documents.
Standards Deputy Director Christopher Scholl wasn’t sure whether to publish the NBCNews.com story.
“she [the whistleblower] “As we have no direct knowledge of her claims, and cannot reveal the names of the doctors involved (if I understand correctly), we cannot verify any of it and cannot determine if there is indeed a story here,” Scholl said in an email. “The bottom line is that this is being told to us by a single, well-intentioned source that we simply cannot believe to be true.”
And the reporters who wrote the piece, Jacob Soboroff and Julia Ainslie, shared those concerns.
“It seems you don’t have anything other than the complaint,” Soboroff texted Ainslie in September, according to court documents.
“Only two hysterectomies?” Ainsley reportedly replied.
And, according to court documents, an attorney for one of the ICE detainees told reporters that her client’s hysterectomy was necessary because of a cancer diagnosis.
But the reporters “Lawyer Alleges Migrant Women Abuse by Gynecologist in Georgia ICE Detention Center” the next day.
MSNBC did not respond to a request for comment.
After the MSNBC broadcast, dozens of Democratic senators called for an investigation into the practices of doctors at the ICE centers, and a Senate report said the Senate investigation found no evidence of “mass hysterectomies,” only two procedures deemed medically necessary.
Amin sued MSNBC for defamation in September 2021.
As the trial progresses, the toughest task for Amin’s lawyer, Scott Grubman (who previously worked as a law clerk for the judge who ruled in Amin’s favor), will be proving that the NBC journalists acted with bad faith.
“Dr. Amin is a beloved physician who has treated patients with the utmost care and compassion for decades,” his lawyers told The Washington Post. “Mr. Amin is himself an immigrant, and the allegation that he takes advantage of ICE detainers is absurd.”
This is not the first time MSNBC has faced a defamation lawsuit.
Nicholas Sandmann, a Kentucky high school student, sued MSNBC after reporters repeatedly covered a 2019 incident in which he was caught on video smiling as Native American activists banged drums and sang.
Media reports said Sandmann was seen smirking at the activist during the racist exchange. The lawsuit was settled in December 2021.
