A Manhattan federal judge on Tuesday dismissed as “ridiculous” a defamation lawsuit over Planned Parenthood Federation of America’s response to the release of surreptitious recordings that landed an anti-abortion activist and his associate under criminal indictment in California.

The ruling, from U.S. District Judge Colleen McMahon of the Southern District of New York, found that Planned Parenthood’s statements, which criticized the activist, David Daleiden, and the Center for Medical Progress for a “false smear campaign,” were both “substantially true” and protected from suit by New York Civil Rights Law.