MSNBC set for high-stakes defamation trial in ‘uterus collector’ lawsuit

With CNN’s high-profile defamation loss in the rearview, attention shifts to MSNBC’s looming trial in the $30 million "uterus collector" lawsuit after Rachel Maddow, Nicolle Wallace, and Chris Hayes’ programs made "verifiably false" statements that a Georgia doctor performed unnecessary hysterectomies at an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) center. 

A jury trial is scheduled to kick off on April 22, in Waycross, Georgia. 

Plaintiff Dr. Mahendra Amin, an obstetrician gynecologist who provided medical care to women detained at the Irwin County Detention Center, was accused in 2020 of performing unnecessary hysterectomies by a nurse at the facility who made a whistleblower complaint. 

NBC published an article despite initial skepticism from the network’s standards department and MSNBC quickly followed with a series of on-air reports in which the doctor was often referred to as the "uterus collector" on September 15, 2020. 

However, the whistleblower’s claims were never proven to be true. 

JUDGE SAYS MADDOW, OTHER MSNBC HOSTS MADE ‘VERIFIABLY FALSE’ STATEMENTS ABOUT DOCTOR SUING FOR DEFAMATION

Rachel Maddow and Jacob Soboroff could be called as witnesses in a jury trial scheduled for April 22, 2025, in Waycross, Georgia.  (MSNBC/Screen grab)

Dr. Amin filed a lawsuit against parent company NBCUniversal alleging he was falsely portrayed as "an abusive, unethical, and dishonest physician who treated and operated on immigrant women in an abusive fashion, without consent, and motivated by profit instead of quality healthcare."

Judge Lisa Godbey Wood of the Southern District of Georgia ruled that a jury could reasonably find actual malice. 

"NBC investigated the whistleblower letter's accusations; that investigation did not corroborate the accusations and even undermined some; NBC republished the letter's accusations anyway," Judge Wood wrote last year in a 108-page summary. 

Amin believes "false and defamatory" statements published with actual malice that caused him significant damage were said six times on "Deadline: White House," seven times on "All in with Chris Hayes" and 10 times on "The Rachel Maddow Show." 

Maddow, Hayes and Wallace are among the potential witnesses for the upcoming trial, along with NBC News reporters Jacob Soboroff and Julia Ainsley, MSNBC producer Denis Horgan, senior director of stands and practices Mary Lockhart, deputy head of standards Chris Scholl and others. 

CNN DEFAMATION TRIAL: EDITOR WHO SAID STORY WAS ‘FULL OF HOLES LIKE SWISS CHEESE’ GRILLED ON WITNESS STAND

MSNBC’s "All In With Chris Hayes" covered the "uterus collector" story at the center of a high-stakes lawsuit. 

The center of the lawsuit was reported weeks before the 2020 presidential election and at the height of the COVID pandemic, when much of MSNBC’s programming was hostile to President Trump. 

Wallace made "multiple statements" that were defamatory when she was the first MSNBC host to discuss the story on-air on "Deadline: White House," the plaintiff claims. 

"We are following breaking news today. It’s about an alarming new whistleblower complaint that alleges, quote, high numbers of female detainees, detained immigrants, at an ICE detention center in Georgia received questionable hysterectomies while in ICE custody," Wallace said. 

Wallace told viewers the news about unwanted hysterectomies were "swirling around on social media" for several days but new reporting "confirmed" the story. She then invited Ainsley, an NBC News reporter, onto her program.

MADDOW ON WHAT SHE GOT WRONG IN 2024: I THOUGHT JD VANCE WOULD FRIGHTEN MORE PEOPLE

NBC News reporter Julia Ainsley appeared on MSNBC’s "Deadline: White House" to promote the report at the center of a defamation lawsuit.  (MSNBC/Screengrab)

NBC News reporter Jacob Soboroff amplified the story on MSNBC’s "The Rachel Maddow Show." 

"Our new reporting, Nicolle, is based on conversations with four lawyers who represented clients in this facility over the past three years, and they’re able to really broaden this story out and explain why the whistleblower Dawn Wooten heard what she did. The lawyers tell us that they knew of women who were afraid to go to this doctor, and they identified him," Ainsley said. 

"His name is Mahendra Amin," she continued. "These women would be taken from the facility to his practice, some said that they came back bruised, that he was overly harsh, they called him abusive… there were women that were told they needed a hysterectomy because they had cancer."

Ainsley called the allegations "alarming," and then MSNBC’s "Deadline: White House" played portions of an interview with the whistleblower, who was asked why she referred to Amin as the "uterus collector." 

"That’s how the detainees referred to this physician," Wooten said during the MSNBC interview. 

Wallace then said it sounded "unbelievably disturbing" and suggested it was "just the tip of the iceberg." 

JURY FINDS CNN COMMITTED DEFAMATION AGAINST NAVY VETERAN, SETTLEMENT REACHED ON PUNITIVE DAMAGES

Some of MSNBC’s biggest stars are caught up in a defamation lawsuit heading to trial this year.  (Left to right: (Photo by Scott Kowalchyk/CBS via Getty Images). (Photo by: Lloyd Bishop/NBC via Getty Images). (Photo by Steve Zak Photography/FilmMagic))

That same night, MSNBC’s "All In With Chris Hayes" also aired a lengthy interview with Wooten, who said "several" detained immigrant women complained about receiving unwanted hysterectomies from the "uterus collector." 

Hayes also reported that a lawyer told NBC News that two of his clients received hysterectomies at the facility that they believe "may have been unnecessary." Hayes added that a second lawyer told NBC News that as many "as 15 immigrant women were given full or partial hysterectomies, or other procedures, for which no medical indication existed." 

The whistleblower claims were amplified on "The Rachel Maddow Show," when MSNBC’s biggest star covered the story. 

"The allegation here is that this is a federal facility, and they have been sending immigrant women, in their care, in their custody, to a doctor who has removed their reproductive organs for no medical reason and without them consenting to it," Maddow told viewers before welcoming Soboroff onto her program to discuss the report. 

Amin "performed only two hysterectomies on women detained at the facility," according to court documents. Amin’s lawsuit states that "both were medically necessary" and "the patients were informed and consented to the procedures" in both cases. 

"MSNBC and its writers, reporters, and broadcasters abandoned journalistic integrity and negligently and recklessly published the false and defamatory broadcasts," the lawsuit alleges. 

According to the lawsuit, Maddow "initially questioned reporting on the allegations," and suggested there was a lot of "jumping to conclusions around the complaint," but proceeded to cover it anyway.

Throughout the coverage, MSNBC regularly informed viewers of an ICE statement that "accusations will be fully investigated by an independent office. However, ICE vehemently disputes the implication that detainees are used for experimental medical procedures." 

RACHEL MADDOW SLAMS PRESENCE OF TECH CEOS AT TRUMP’S INAUGURATION: ‘HOW IS THIS HAPPENING IN AMERICA?’

MSNBC informed viewers of an ICE statement throughout coverage of the story. 

Maddow, who has been deposed for the lawsuit, also included a statement from Amin, in which he vigorously denied the whistleblower’s claims. 

MSNBC aired additional segments about the "uterus collector" on subsequent programs. On September 17, Hayes’ program put a photo of Amin on the screen. Amin’s legal team suggested he "was not readily identifiable prior to the broadcasts" because he was not a public figure. 

The United States Senate investigated the whistleblower claims but failed to confirm the accusations. Amin later demanded that NBC retract the "false and defamatory" statements from MSNBC broadcasts to no avail.  

Judge Wood has ruled that multiple statements were proven false, noting "undisputed evidence has established" that "there were no mass hysterectomies or high numbers of hysterectomies at the facility," "Dr. Amin performed only two hysterectomies on female detainees from the ICDC," and the doctor is not a "uterus collector."

"The Court must look to each of the statements in the context of the entire broadcast or social media post to assess the construction placed upon it by the average viewer," the judge ruled last year. 

The court also ruled that MSNBC can’t blame the whistleblower for reporting inaccurate information. 

"Viewed in their entirety, the September 15, 2020 episodes of ‘Deadline: White House,’ ‘All In With Chris Hayes,’ and ‘The Rachel Maddow Show’ accuse Plaintiff of performing mass hysterectomies on detainee women. It does not matter that NBC did not make these accusations directly, but only republished the whistleblower letter’s allegations," the judge ruled.

"If accusations against a plaintiff are ‘based entirely on hearsay,’ ‘[t]he fact that the charges made were based upon hearsay in no manner relieves the defendant of liability," Judge Wood added. "Charges based upon hearsay are the equivalent in law to direct charges.’"

Amin is an "immigrant himself," and completed medical school in India after growing up "very poor" and living in homes with "dirt floors," according to the lawsuit. 

"Amin remembers his humble beginnings and the power of someone sacrificing so that others can have a better future. That is why he has practiced in underserved areas nearly his entire medical career," the lawsuit states. 

MSNBC did not immediately respond to a request for comment. 

Brian Flood is a media editor/reporter for FOX News Digital. Story tips can be sent to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. and on Twitter: @briansflood.