Embattled Republican hires ex-Trump lawyer to probe 'false smears' after bombshell report

Mark Robinson, North Carolina's Republican nominee for governor, has reportedly retained a former attorney for Donald Trump to investigate "where and how" comments made on a pornographic website were connected to the candidate.

Robinson hired attorney Jesse Binnall, who worked for Trump's campaign in 2016, WUNC's Colin Campbell first reported Tuesday. The announcement comes following an explosive CNN report that an account linked to Robinson posted comments more than a decade ago on a porn site messaging board in which he defended slavery and called himself a "Black Nazi."

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Robinson said Binnall would "investigate where and how these false smears originated."

The candidate previously refused to allow tech experts to prove he did not make the online posts. He has also threatened to sue CNN.