February 17, 2023 12:18 PM UTC

Dominion Lawsuit: Fox Knews it Peddled Crap

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• by: Colorado Pols

Following endless and largely fact-free claims of widespread voter fraud in the 2020 Presidential election, Denver-based Dominion Voting Systems filed a $1.6 BILLION defamation lawsuit against Fox News and parent company Fox Corporation. As the case winds its way through the American legal system, it has regularly revealed information demonstrating the fallacy of election fraud claims perpetuated by former President Donald Trump and his minions.

One of the key points in any successful defamation claim is proving that there was an intention to defame the victim. Dominion has long claimed that Fox News employees deliberately amplified false claims and provided a platform for guests to make similar accusations. A new batch of internal communications made public on Thursday reveals that attorneys for Dominion seem to have pretty strong evidence that Fox News personalities knew damn well that their election fraud claims were complete and utter horse excrement.

As The Associated Press reports:

“Sidney Powell is lying,” about having evidence for election fraud, Tucker Carlson told a producer about the attorney on Nov. 16, 2020, according to an excerpt from an exhibit that remains under seal…

…Carlson also referred to Powell in a text as an “unguided missile,” and “dangerous as hell.” Fellow host Laura Ingraham, meanwhile, told Carlson that Powell is “a complete nut. No one will work with her. Ditto with Rudy,” referring to former New York mayor and Trump supporter Rudy Giuliani.

Sean Hannity, meanwhile, said in a deposition “that whole narrative that Sidney was pushing, I did not believe it for one second,” according to Dominion’s filing.

Attorneys for Fox News are trying to wrap themselves in the First Amendment in their defense. The Fox attorneys filed a counterclaim that continues the same dumb narrative that we’ve seen in Colorado from failed candidates such as Heidi Ganahl (Governor 2022) and Joe O’Dea (U.S. Senate 2022). That narrative basically goes like this: We’re just talking here and asking questions. What’s wrong with talking and asking questions?

“Dominion brought this lawsuit to punish FNN for reporting on one of the biggest stories of the day— allegations by the sitting President of the United States and his surrogates that the 2020 election was affected by fraud,” the counterclaim states. “The very fact of those allegations was newsworthy.”

The very fact that some people said there was fraud in the 2020 election is news? If you break this “argument” down to its fundamental pieces, you’re essentially arguing that “words = news,” which is just plain stupid. Under this theory, we hereby demand that Fox News run a feature story this evening about what we had for lunch. We’ll even sit down for an interview about our meal!

Attorneys for Fox are also arguing that the network has no obligation to fact-check anything it reports, which is a depressing admission that speaks volumes about the Fox News business model in general. The AP reports on a related argument that doesn’t seem to be as compelling as Fox attorneys might think:

Fox attorneys warn that threatening the company with a $1.6 billion judgment will cause other media outlets to think twice about what they report.

My stars! This lawsuit might push other news outlets to try harder at being factually accurate? That would absolutely not be a bad thing, especially when you consider the results of a new Gallup poll showing that half of Americans believe news organizations are deliberately misleading.  

It is basically impossible to root for Fox News in this case when they are openly saying that they should have the right to do and say whatever they want, regardless of the harm it causes. How many people participated in the Jan. 6, 2021 insurrection based primarily on what they heard from Fox News? More than a few.

The right to free speech, just like every other constitutional right, is not absolute. If Fox News chooses to operate without boundaries, it’s up to others to put some guardrails in place.

[Click here to read more details about Dominion’s motion for summary judgment]