Trump Nominee Jeffrey Kuntz Takes Over Defamation Case Against BBC
Jeffrey Kuntz, a federal judge recently nominated by President Trump and confirmed by the Senate, has been assigned to President Trump's $10 billion defamation lawsuit against the BBC. Kuntz replaces Judge Roy Altman, who was also a Trump nominee. Kuntz's appointment in April by President Trump had previously drawn accusations of a conflict of interest from opponents. These concerns arose because Kuntz was reportedly in discussions for a federal court appointment at the same time he ruled in President Trump's favor in a separate lawsuit against the Pulitzer Prize board. Kuntz, who was previously an appeals court judge in Florida, stated that Florida judicial ethics rules did not require him to recuse himself from the Pulitzer case, and he was only contacted by the White House regarding his federal appointment after he had issued his legal opinion in that matter. The BBC has requested the defamation case be dismissed, arguing that the program in question did not meet the legal criteria for defamation and th... 
