North Carolina’s former Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson (R) said he would terminate his lawsuit against CNN on Friday following their report released during his gubernatorial run last year about inflammatory comments he made on a pornographic website.
“The fact of the matter is this: the price we have paid in entering the political arena will never be recognized. There is no dollar amount high enough. While it has been the honor of a lifetime to serve the people of North Carolina, the continued political persecution of my family and loved ones is a cost I am unwilling to continue to bear,” Robinson wrote in a statement on X.
“I give great thanks to Jesse Binnall and his team of investigators for their countless hours of work, dedication, and compassion. The investigation of CNN and their ‘sources’ yielded tremendous results and brought closure to our family during what has been an unimaginably dark situation.”
Robinson faced pressure to drop out of the governor’s race after the CNN report. He filed a case against CNN in October seeking $50 million in damages but decided to drop the lawsuit after losing the governorship to Democrat Josh Stein.
Robinson said his political ambitions are now botched.
“I will continue to utilize my platform to promote and support many of the issues we are all so passionate about; however, at this time, I will do so from the sidelines. I will not run next year, nor do I have plans to seek elected office in the future,” he wrote on the social platform X.
“Until we change the hearts and souls of those inside the political arena, it is unlikely the political process itself will undergo any meaningful change.”
