Left inset: U.S. Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee speaks during a meeting between the ambassadors of Israel and Lebanon in the Oval Office at the White House, Thursday, April 23, 2026, in Washington (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein). Main: Then-former President Donald Trump sits in a courtroom next to his lawyer Emil Bove, left, before the start of the day's proceedings in the Manhattan Criminal Court, Tuesday, May 21, 2024, in New York. (Dave Sanders/The New York Times via AP, Pool).
One of President Donald Trump's former criminal defense lawyers and DOJ bigwigs has settled into his lifetime gig at the 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, where a panel will soon decide the fate of U.S. Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee's lawsuit against Meta over fake Facebook ads.
The appellate court's calendar for the week shows that Mike Huckabee v. Meta Platforms, Inc. is on the agenda Thursday, not for oral argument but for consideration on the briefs alone before U.S. Circuit Judges Emil Bove, Peter Phipps, and Arianna Freeman — two Trump appointees and one Joe Biden appointee.
A quick read of the underlying events in the case shows that Huckabee, the former Arkansas governor and father to the state's current Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders, has an extremely steep hill to climb.
Huckabee sued in Delaware in July 2024, claiming Facebook's parent company had to pay up for "false and deceptive advertisements that unlawfully appropriated the name, photograph, and image of Mike Huckabee — i.e., his intellectual property."
"Meta profited from these unlawful advertisements, and because of Meta's approval, these advertisements reached millions of Facebook users," the case said.
Huckabee was upset about the ads because they falsely linked the Christian host's resignation from the Trinity Broadcast Network (TBN) to his purportedly newfound "greater purpose" of endorsing Fortin CBD gummies.
The complaint included images of "faux" Fox News ads featuring made-up quotes from Huckabee, like "CBD cured me and can save American lives" and "As a God-fearing Christian, I would never in my life take drugs of any kind. CBD is completely safe, but the negative stigma around it meant there was still a problem with the CBD products on the market."
The complaint alleged the offending ads ran over a three-month period and that "numerous fans […] unfortunately, believed these advertisements were true and purchased the CBD products."
Just four months later, U.S. District Judge Gregory Williams threw out the case with prejudice, even though he found that Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act would not immunize Facebook from liability on the issue — had Huckabee plausibly alleged Meta was at fault.
Having failed to state a claim across the board, Huckabee tried adding in defamation and negligence claims. That only led Williams, also a Biden appointee, to "restore[]" the finality of his dismissal with prejudice.
Huckabee responded by seeking a reversal at the 3rd Circuit, raising the question of whether Arkansas' Frank Broyles Publicity Protection Act — a name, image and likeness protection law — really has a "scienter requirement," as Williams interpreted it.
Scienter means "intent or knowledge of wrongdoing," and here Huckabee insists the judge committed "error" by forcing him to make that showing.
"The Broyles Act does not contain any language requiring defendants to have an intent to deceive, manipulate, or defraud. Instead, the Broyles Act addresses whether the individual has given authorization for the commercial use of their name, image, or likeness, as well as whether the defendant was aware or should have been aware that consent had not been provided," Huckabee's brief said.
In reply, Facebook said the Broyles Act does, in fact, shield it from liability for third-party violations it doesn't know about.
"[A] network service provider does not violate the Act if the provider both lacked actual knowledge that the individual's likeness was used without authorization, and was not aware of facts or circumstances making unauthorized use apparent," the brief stated. "In this case, plaintiff alleged that the parent company of the social media service Facebook violated the Broyles Act when third parties placed certain advertisements on Facebook using his likeness without his authorization."
In a potential bad sign for Huckabee, the parties were formally notified on May 1 that there would be "no oral argument" and their "presence will not be required" on Thursday, when the panel considers the appeal on the briefs.
The 3rd Circuit cited a local rule, which explained the court "will allow oral argument in all cases unless the panel, after examination of the briefs and records or appendices, is unanimously of the opinion that oral argument is not needed."
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