A CBS in-house attorney and former Duke University classmate of Virginia Lt. Gov. Justin Fairfax had no involvement in a news segment that aired interviews of two women accusing Fairfax of sexual assault, according to new court filings in his defamation case against the network.

An exhibit in CBS's motion to dismiss Fairfax's $400 million defamation lawsuit counters a claim that the unidentified in-house attorney knew the network was airing allegedly false sexual assault allegations and failed to stop the segment. CBS' motion to dismiss, filed Friday evening, said the report was not defamatory, since it laid out both sides' claims, and that he has failed to prove actual malice as required to pursue a defamation lawsuit as a public figure.

"You go into great detail regarding Mr. Fairfax's friendship with this lawyer, whom you assert also knew Ms. Watson, and therefore should have known, you say, of her 'history of mental and emotional instability,'" according to a letter sent from CBS attorneys to Fairfax's legal team rejecting a request for a retraction, an on-air apology and a $300 million payment. "Although you state that the lawyer to whom you refer 'had detailed personal knowledge that her allegations were false prior to' the broadcast of the interview, your own allegations completely undercut this claim, as you allude only to what he was 'told' and not to what he actually saw or knows. Thus, anything he would have had to say about the encounter would be rank hearsay, of no probative value, and of no moment other than the in terrorem pressure you have attempted, unsuccessfully, to exert based on his long friendship with your client."

CBS also said the in-house lawyer left Duke a year before the alleged encounter with Watson occurred.

CBS is represented by Ballard Spahr partner Jay Ward Brown and associate Matthew E. Kelley in the lawsuit, which is before Judge Anthony Trenga of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia.

Brown separately represents The New York Times in a defamation case involving former Alaska governor and one-time vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin. That lawsuit involves a since-corrected editorial that incorrectly linked Palin's political action committee to a 2011 mass shooting that seriously injured a former congresswoman.

CBS' motion to dismiss also said Fairfax, a former Morrison & Foerster partner, is using his defamation lawsuit as an attempt to disparage the two women and to go after his political opponents.

The network called Fairfax's defamation claim a classic anti-SLAPP lawsuit and noted Fairfax declined to comment for the story. But reporters still included his defense by pulling in public statements and other reports, CBS said.

"He targets CBS, alone among the scores of national and local news outlets that had reported on the allegations for two months prior to the CBS broadcasts at issue, apparently because CBS chose to present interviews of the women themselves describing their allegations," CBS said in its filing. "And Fairfax has openly and deliberately used copies of his pleading in this case to encourage news reporting of his own allegations—allegations that disparage the accusers as well as his political opponents, and that tout the existence of a never identified 'eyewitness' to one of the incidents—with regard to which he enjoys the protection of the litigation and fair report privileges to prevent his targets from bringing claims against him."

Fairfax's lawsuit accuses the network of smearing his name and helping to cost him his partnership at Morrison & Foerster. Fairfax claims CBS's reporting on the alleged misconduct left him no choice but to withdraw from his partnership in July.

Morrison & Foerster's profits per partner last year were $1.982 million, according to ALM data.

The allegations against Fairfax surfaced in the wake of a separate scandal accusing Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam of wearing blackface in college, which prompted calls for his resignation.

Fairfax also claimed there was an eyewitness present during a sexual encounter he had with Watson when the pair were students together at Duke University and that the eyewitness vouched for the allegedly consensual nature of the encounter—including to a mutual friend who is now in-house counsel at CBS.

"As a result of CBS' reckless airing of false and defamatory statements, Justin Fairfax is now falsely labeled a 'rapist,' 'predator' and 'sexual abuser,'" his complaint said. "CBS' actions have exposed millions of people to lies that have done extraordinary damage to his reputation and his ability to earn a living. His once-promising career—a lawyer at top firms, former federal prosecutor, lieutenant governor of Virginia, candidate for governor of Virginia for 2021—has been severely damaged."

A spokeswoman for Fairfax said the lieutenant governor is considering litigation against Watson. Fairfax's response to CBS' motion to dismiss is expected by Nov. 15.

"It should not go unnoticed that CBS does not claim the allegations by Meredith Watson and Vanessa Tyson aired on April 1 and 2 are true," said Fairfax's spokeswoman. "Since July 9, when exculpatory evidence regarding Ms. Watson's false allegation were made public, neither her attorney Nancy Erika Smith or Ms. Watson have vouched for the truthfulness of her allegation against Mr. Fairfax. They have gone radio silent."

Smith of Smith Mullin said no one has exonerated Fairfax.

"Just as Fairfax refused a public hearing, and he refused to appear on CBS, his attempts to use the press to keep his victim-blaming narrative going are cowardly and pathetic," Smith said. "We look forward to everyone testifying under oath, now that this matter is in court."

Fairfax's lawsuit was filed by Sara Kropf of Kropf Moseley in D.C., Jane Reynolds in Virginia and Kiah Spinks in Virginia. Fairfax's legal team has also included Rakesh Kilaru, a partner at Wilkinson Walsh + Eskovitz, whom Fairfax retained in January 2018 as reporters dug into his background. In March, Fairfax brought in Barry Pollack, a partner at Robbins, Russell, Englert, Orseck, Untereiner & Sauber, to engage with law enforcement.

Read more: