A Trump administration official has filed a lawsuit against media outlet CNN alleging the network sought to slander him by purposefully publishing false statements about him. The $50 million lawsuit against CNN was filed by Kash Patel, the chief of staff to the Secretary of Defense, was filed in Virginia’s circuit court on Friday. CNN reporters Barbara Starr, Zachary Cohen, and Ryan Browne were among some named in the lawsuit.

The Daily Caller reports:

“CNN attacked Kash and published defamatory falsehoods about him because CNN was deeply invested in promoting the Russia collusion hoax and the fraudulent ‘dossier’ manufactured by Fusion GPS for the Hillary Clinton campaign and the Democratic National Committee,” Steven Bliss, Patel’s attorney, wrote in the complaint, according to Fox News.

The complaint allegedly targets articles published between Nov. 24 and Dec. 4 against Patel that “contain a series of false and defamatory statements.”

The lawsuit also reportedly cited multiple articles that were considered to be defamatory, including one that allegedly said that the “Defense Department transition office … is led by a Trump loyalist connected to efforts to spread conspiracy theories about the President-elect.”

Patel is seeking presumed, actual, special and punitive damages stemming from the publication of the articles, according to Fox News, on top of a permanent injunction that would prevent CNN’s reporters from repeating the articles.

This is not the first time Patel has gone after the media in court. In 2019, Patel filed a defamation suit against Politico.