NEW: Failed GOP Candidate Don Blankenship Files $12 Billion Defamation Lawsuit Against Major Media Outlets

While Blankenship, the former CEO of Massey Energy, spent a year in federal prison after a misdemeanor conviction for conspiring to violate safety regulations prior to a deadly mining disaster in 2010, he was acquitted of all felony charges.

Blankenship — whose campaign rose to national prominence after he ran an ad dubbing Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell “Cocaine Mitch” and called Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao‘s father a “wealthy Chinaperson” — is seeking over $12 billion in damages in the lawsuit filed in Mingo County, West Virginia Circuit Court.

https://www.mediaite.com/online/failed-gop-candidate-don-blankenship-files-12-billion-defamation-lawsuit-against-major-media-outlets/