DE - Dominion Voting Systems vs. Fox News, $1.6B Defamation Trial for 2020 election lies, 17 Apr 2023 *Settled $787m* + add’l trials

[sds71]

Court rejects Fox News bid to toss Dominion lawsuit. "[T]he evidence does not support that [Fox News] conducted good-faith, disinterested reporting." https://s3.documentcloud.org/documents/23737039/dominionrlg033123.pdf


"The evidence developed in this civil proceeding demonstrates that is CRYSTAL clear that none of the Statements relating to Dominion about the 2020 election are true.” The judge's emphasis. Developing. https://lawandcrime.com/2020-election/dominion-wins-rare-judgment-against-fox-news-on-every-legal-issue-but-actual-malice-before-blockbuster-trial/

 

[JerseyGirl]

Dominion’s historic defamation case against Fox News will go to trial, judge rules, in major decision dismantling key Fox defenses | CNN Business

Dominion Voting Systems’ historic defamation case against Fox News will proceed to a high-stakes jury trial in mid-April, a Delaware judge ruled Friday, in a major decision that dismantled several of the right-wing network’s key defenses.

amp.cnn.com

Dominion Voting Systems' historic defamation case against Fox News will proceed to a high-stakes jury trial in mid-April, a Delaware judge ruled Friday, in a major decision that dismantled several of the right-wing network's key defenses.

The judge's decision is a painful setback for Fox News and sets the stage for an agonizing, weekslong trial, where the network's highest-ranking executives and most prominent hosts could be called to the stand to testify about the 2020 election lies that were promoted on its air.

 

[musicaljoke]

Dominion’s historic defamation case against Fox News will go to trial, judge rules, in major decision dismantling key Fox defenses | CNN Business

Dominion Voting Systems’ historic defamation case against Fox News will proceed to a high-stakes jury trial in mid-April, a Delaware judge ruled Friday, in a major decision that dismantled several of the right-wing network’s key defenses.

amp.cnn.com

Dominion Voting Systems' historic defamation case against Fox News will proceed to a high-stakes jury trial in mid-April, a Delaware judge ruled Friday, in a major decision that dismantled several of the right-wing network's key defenses.

The judge's decision is a painful setback for Fox News and sets the stage for an agonizing, weekslong trial, where the network's highest-ranking executives and most prominent hosts could be called to the stand to testify about the 2020 election lies that were promoted on its air.

I hope they are charged with treason.

 

[PommyMommy]

MAR 31, 2023

In a loss for Fox News, judge allows Dominion's defamation case to go to trial

The ruling is a blow to Fox News, which wanted to stop the trial from moving forward.

www.nbcnews.com

[...]

Dominion alleges Fox damaged its reputation by promoting phony claims that it was tied to the late Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez, paid kickbacks to politicians and “rigged” the presidential election by flipping millions of votes for Donald Trump to Joe Biden.

Jurors will be instructed that those claims are not true — a position Fox News did not challenge in the otherwise hotly contested case.

Dominion argued the claims are defamatory because they accuse the company of “a serious crime” and damaged its reputation, turning it into “one of the most demonized brands in the United States or the world.”

It also contended the claims were made with “actual malice,” which is defined as being made with “knowledge that it was false or with reckless disregard of whether it was false or not.”

[...]

In his ruling, the judge rejected Fox's arguments. "Accusations of criminal activity, even in the form of opinion, are not constitutionally protected," Davis wrote.

The trial is scheduled to begin April 17.

 

[TootsieFootsie]

Rupert Murdoch took direct role in Fox News 2020 election call, filings reveal

Messages newly released in Dominion Voting Systems defamation case show media mogul discussed when to call Trump’s defeat

www.theguardian.com

Messages newly released in Dominion Voting Systems defamation case show media mogul discussed when to call Trump’s defeat

Rupert Murdoch took a direct role in how Fox News finally called the 2020 US election for Joe Biden over Donald Trump, newly unredacted messages in Dominion Voting Systems’ $1.6bn defamation case showed on Friday.

“It would be great if we call it for Biden as soon as he gets over, say, 35,000 ahead in Pennsylvania,” Murdoch, the now 92-year-old Fox News owner, wrote to the network’s chief executive, Suzanne Scott, on 6 November 2020, three days after election day but a day before Pennsylvania put Biden over the top.

“Whenever we do it, it will all be over. Regardless of Arizona.”

Fox News’ election night call of Arizona for Biden took most observers by surprise and enraged Trump and his followers.

 

[SouthAussie]

I saw this article today about personal Fox staff messages to each other ... while Fox were publicly reinforcing the election Big Lie. These messages form part of Dominion's lawsuit.


"Documents released in recent weeks as part of a $1.6 billion defamation suit against Fox News by Dominion Voting Systems have revealed extraordinary private communications and depositions from the network’s star hosts and executives."

(A few examples, more in the article, which can be viewed by signing up for a free account)

Alex Pfeiffer: Trump has a pretty low rate at success in his business ventures.
Tucker Carlson: That’s for sure. All of them fail. What he’s good at is destroying things. He’s the undisputed world champion of that.

Two days before the insurrection at the Capitol building.

Carlson: We are very, very close to being able to ignore Trump most nights. I truly can’t wait.
Carlson: I hate him passionately.

Two weeks before the inauguration of President Biden.

Carlson: Trump has two weeks left. Once he’s out, he becomes incalculably less powerful, even in the minds of his supporters.
Carlson: He’s a demonic force, a destroyer. But he’s not going to destroy us. I’ve been thinking about this every day for four years.
Pfeiffer: You’re right. I don’t want to let him destroy me either. [REDACTED]. The Trump anger spiral is vicious.
Carlson: That’s for sure. Deadly. It almost consumed me in November when Sidney Powell attacked us. It was very difficult to regain emotional control, but I knew I had to. We’ve got two weeks left. We can do this.

5 Times Tucker Carlson Privately Reviled Trump: ‘I Hate Him’ (Published 2023)

The Fox host’s private comments, revealed recently in court documents, contrast sharply with his support of conservatives on his show.

www.nytimes.com

 

[JerseyGirl]

Judge: Dominion defamation case against Fox will go to trial

A Delaware judge's ruling Friday set the stage for a dramatic springtime trial on whether Fox News bears financial responsibility for airing false allegations that a voting machine company rigged the 2020 presidential election against former President Donald Trump. Superior Court Judge Eric...

news.yahoo.com

Superior Court Judge Eric Davis ruled that it was “CRYSTAL clear” that none of the allegations made by Trump allies on Fox in the weeks after the election were true.

Davis said it was up to a jury to decide whether Fox acted with actual malice in airing the claims and, if so, how much money Dominion is entitled to in damages. Dominion has sued Fox for $1.6 billion.

“The statements at issue were dramatically different than the truth,” Davis said in a summary judgment ruling. “In fact, although it cannot be attributed directly to Fox's statements, it is noteworthy that some Americans still believe the election was rigged.”

Fox's failure to reveal extensive evidence contradicting the fraud claims “indicates that its reporting was not disinterested,” the judge wrote.

The ruling sets the stage for a trial in which Fox News stars such as Tucker Carlson, Sean Hannity and Maria Bartiromo, as well as network founder Rupert Murdoch, could be called to the stand.

Even before the judge's ruling, thousands of pages of evidence presented in the case showed Fox executives and stars privately ridiculing the accusations and bluntly expressing opinions, like Carlson saying he hated Trump “passionately.”

During a deposition, Murdoch testified that he believed the 2020 election was fair and had not been stolen from the former president.

“Fox knew the truth,” Dominion argued in court papers. “It knew the allegations against Dominion were ‘outlandish’ and ‘crazy’ and ‘ludicrous’ and ‘nuts.’ Yet it used the power and influence of its platform to promote that false story.”

Fox aired the allegations despite the doubts of its hosts and executives, and the coverage helped feed an ecosystem of misinformation surrounding Trump’s loss in 2020 that has persisted ever since.

The documents also showed Fox feared losing viewers angered by the network's election night call of Arizona for Democrat Joe Biden, and how it didn't want to alienate viewers who backed Trump.

 

[MyBelle]

Judge: Dominion defamation case against Fox will go to trial

A Delaware judge's ruling Friday set the stage for a dramatic springtime trial on whether Fox News bears financial responsibility for airing false allegations that a voting machine company rigged the 2020 presidential election against former President Donald Trump. Superior Court Judge Eric...

news.yahoo.com

Superior Court Judge Eric Davis ruled that it was “CRYSTAL clear” that none of the allegations made by Trump allies on Fox in the weeks after the election were true.

Davis said it was up to a jury to decide whether Fox acted with actual malice in airing the claims and, if so, how much money Dominion is entitled to in damages. Dominion has sued Fox for $1.6 billion.

“The statements at issue were dramatically different than the truth,” Davis said in a summary judgment ruling. “In fact, although it cannot be attributed directly to Fox's statements, it is noteworthy that some Americans still believe the election was rigged.”

Fox's failure to reveal extensive evidence contradicting the fraud claims “indicates that its reporting was not disinterested,” the judge wrote.

The ruling sets the stage for a trial in which Fox News stars such as Tucker Carlson, Sean Hannity and Maria Bartiromo, as well as network founder Rupert Murdoch, could be called to the stand.

Even before the judge's ruling, thousands of pages of evidence presented in the case showed Fox executives and stars privately ridiculing the accusations and bluntly expressing opinions, like Carlson saying he hated Trump “passionately.”

During a deposition, Murdoch testified that he believed the 2020 election was fair and had not been stolen from the former president.

“Fox knew the truth,” Dominion argued in court papers. “It knew the allegations against Dominion were ‘outlandish’ and ‘crazy’ and ‘ludicrous’ and ‘nuts.’ Yet it used the power and influence of its platform to promote that false story.”

Fox aired the allegations despite the doubts of its hosts and executives, and the coverage helped feed an ecosystem of misinformation surrounding Trump’s loss in 2020 that has persisted ever since.

The documents also showed Fox feared losing viewers angered by the network's election night call of Arizona for Democrat Joe Biden, and how it didn't want to alienate viewers who backed Trump.

A big thanks to the Judge! If that trial is televised, I'd sure like to watch it. They call themselves a news network and then flat-out lie to the public and they knew it was all lies. Because they aren't just a cable channel and can be picked up over the Internet, I hope the FCC steps in and either smacks them with a huge fine or revokes their license altogether.

 

[Smelly Squirrel]

It would be interesting to see the Fox News hosts in the witness stand.

 

[JerseyGirl]

Jury will decide Dominion defamation case against Fox News

Despite what appeared on air, Fox News executives and hosts privately criticized the Trump camp for pushing claims of election fraud. Hannity said Rudy Giuliani, Trump’s then-lawyer, was &#82…

www.mercurynews.com

Fox News and its parent company, Fox Corporation, deny all wrongdoing and have argued that their conspiracy theory-filled broadcasts after the 2020 election were protected by the First Amendment, because they were merely reporting on “newsworthy allegations.”

Their legal liability will be decided at trial. But the case has already battered Fox’s reputation.

Incriminating texts and emails have shown how Fox executives, hosts and producers didn’t believe the claims the network was peddling about Dominion. These revelations drove a dagger through the idea that Fox News is anything but a partisan GOP operation focused on ratings — not journalism.

The case has elicited a mountain of evidenceexposing Fox News as a right-wing profit machine lacking the most basic journalistic ethics — and willing to promote unhinged election conspiracy theories to preserve its lucrative business.

Rupert Murdoch, the Fox Corporation chairman, conceded in his sworn deposition that several of his top hosts endorsed election lies on the air that he knew were false. And after the 2020 election, its most prominent stars and highest-ranking executives privately trashed the conspiracy theories that were being spread on-air, according to internal text messages and email exchanges that became public as part of the lawsuit.

The legal filings showed how worried Fox News executives and hosts were of losing viewership to Newsmax, a smaller right-wing talk channel that was saturating its airwaves with election denialism.

After the election, a furious Donald Trump attacked Fox News and encouraged his followers to switch to Newsmax. And, in the days and weeks after the presidential contest had been called, they did just that. Fox News shed a chunk of its audience while Newsmax gained significant viewership, leading to panic inside the building and prompting network leadership to embrace the election denialism that enveloped a large part of the Republican Party.

 

[Smelly Squirrel]

Here's the judge's ruling on summary judgment.

Fox's motions were denied.

Dominion won on every one except as to publication by Fox Corporation and as to actual malice.

Dominion's motions were that "the statements were (1) false; (2) 'of and concerning' Dominion; (3) published by Fox; (4) defamatory per se; and (5) made with actual malice."

The defendants are Fox News Network (FNN) and Fox Corporation (FC). The ruling said,

"For the foregoing reasons, the FC Motion and the FNN are DENIED. The Dominion Motion is DENIED as to the element of Actual Malice and whether FC published the Statements. The Dominion Motion is GRANTED, in part, and DENIED, in part, as set out in this decision."

"Publication" basically means communication of a statement to a third party, it's about whether you did say it somebody else. And here there is a distinction on the publication issue between the entity of Fox News and the entity of Fox Corporation.

So at trial they will only be deciding the issues of publication by FC and actual malice, Dominion has already won on whether the statements were false, about Dominion, published by FNN, and were defamatory per se.

More here.

Dominion wins rare judgment against Fox News on every legal issue but actual malice before blockbuster trial

In a "rare" ruling, Dominion Voting Systems scored blockbuster victories against Fox News on multiple issues before their blockbuster trial next month.

lawandcrime.com

In a “rare” ruling, Dominion Voting Systems scored blockbuster victories against Fox News on multiple issues before their upcoming blockbuster trial next month.

The remarkable, 130-page ruling from Delaware Superior Court Judge Eric M. Davis found that there was no need for a jury to establish that the broadcasts at issue were false.

“While the Court must view the record in the light most favorable to Fox, the record does not show a genuine issue of material fact as to falsity,” Davis wrote in his ruling. “Through its extensive proof, Dominion has met its burden of showing there is no genuine issue of material fact as to falsity. Fox therefore had the burden to show an issue of material fact existed in turn. Fox failed to meet its burden. The evidence developed in this civil proceeding demonstrates that is CRYSTAL clear that none of the Statements relating to Dominion about the 2020 election are true.” (emphasis in original)

Dominion heralded that aspect of the opinion in a statement.”

“We are gratified by the Court’s thorough ruling soundly rejecting all of Fox’s arguments and defenses, and finding as a matter of law that their statements about Dominion are false,” the company wrote in a statement. “We look forward to going to trial.”

He also removed multiple other defenses from Fox’s arsenal, except for actual malice.

“This is very very rare,” First Amendment expert Jeff Kosseff told Law&Crime.

In essence, Kosseff added: “Actual malice is Fox’s only hope.

 

[JerseyGirl]

Dominion Wants Tucker, Hannity, and Bartiromo to Take Stand in Fox News Trial

The voting software firm has also listed Rupert Murdoch and Fox News CEO Suzanne Scott as potential witnesses in next month’s trial.

www.thedailybeast.com

The voting software firm’s lengthy witness list includes primetime hosts Tucker Carlson, Sean Hannity, and Laura Ingraham, along with Maria Bartiromo, Jeanine Pirro, and former host Lou Dobbs.

Dominion, which alleges Fox News knowingly peddled election lies about the company to boost sagging ratings following the 2020 election, has also requested Rupert Murdoch, chief political anchor Bret Baier, network chief Suzanne Scott, Fox News president Jay Wallace, and former producer Abby Grossberg, among others.

Grossberg recently sued Fox for discrimination, harassment, and retaliation, and has indicated that she would testify on Dominion’s behalf but not as a Fox News witness.

 

[JerseyGirl]

Fox News says Tucker Carlson and Sean Hannity will testify at defamation trial

Attorneys named other hosts and executives as witnesses in the case brought by Dominion Voting Systems

www.theguardian.com

Fox News has named the primetime hosts Tucker Carlson and Sean Hannity among witnesses it intends to make available at trial as it defends a $1.6bn defamation suit from Dominion Voting Systems, over the broadcast of Donald Trump’s lie about election fraud in his 2020 defeat by Joe Biden.

In a Tuesday letter to the Delaware judge in the case, Eric M Davis, attorneys for Fox News and Fox Corporation said they also intended to make available hosts and executives including Suzanne Scott, the Fox News chief executive, and the hosts Maria Bartiromo, Lou Dobbs and Jeanine Pirro.

News anchors Bret Baier and Dana Perino were also named.

Rupert Murdoch, the 92-year-old chairman of Fox Corporation, and his son, Lachlan Murdoch, were not named.

Attorneys for Dominion have said they want to call the two Murdochs. Davis has suggested he could compel Rupert Murdoch to appear.

Lawyers for Dominion have also said they want to question Abby Grossberg, a fired Fox News producer now suing the network.

 

[JerseyGirl]

https://www.cnn.com/2023/04/05/media/dominion-fox-murdoch-testify/index.html

Dominion Voting Systems can force Fox Corporation executives Rupert and Lachlan Murdoch to testify on the witness stand at this month's scheduled defamation trial, a Delaware judge said Wednesday.

Delaware Superior Court Judge Eric Davis said at a hearing that if Dominion subpoenas the Murdochs to testify in-person, he would not quash those subpoenas, and the Murdochs would need to show up to the courthouse. Dominion has sued Fox News for defamation, and says it was defamed by the right-wing network when Fox hosts and guests claimed in 2020 that its voting systems illegally rigged the election

 

[JerseyGirl]

Jury in defamation suit against Fox won't hear about Jan. 6

A judge says the upcoming trial in a voting machine company’s defamation lawsuit against Fox News for airing false allegations of vote fraud in the 2020 presidential election will not include testimony about the Jan. 6 uprising at the U.S. Capitol

www.independent.co.uk

“I don’t see Jan. 6 as relevant in this case,” Superior Court Judge Eric Davis said during a hearing Wednesday. “I know that probably shocks everyone.”

Dominion has specifically alleged that it was defamed by comments made on 17 programs that aired between Nov. 8, 2020, and Jan. 26, 2021, and in three tweets from former Fox Business Network host Lou Dobbs.

Davis noted that only one of the challenged programs aired after Jan. 6, and that it contained no mention of the uprising. That show was a Jan. 26 Tucker Carlson program in which My Pillow CEO Mike Lindellcomplained that he was the victim of “cancel culture” and asserted that he had found evidence of “machine fraud.”

“What parties were thinking in January is not very relevant, if at all, to what happened in November and December,” the judge said, adding that allowing any testimony about Jan. 6 could result in unfair prejudice to Fox.
“Fox is not the cause of Jan. 6 in its relation to Dominion,” Davis added. “I do think that’s a really big issue that has to be stayed away from.”

 

[sds71]

Smartmatic is pursuing a $2.7 billion defamation lawsuit against Fox in New York Supreme Court. Allies of former President Donald Trump — like Giuliani — alleged on Fox News that Dominion and Smartmatic were linked and involved in potential election fraud, even though they are two separate companies with no partnerships.

Allegations against Dominion and Smartmatic have been repeatedly debunked and shown to be without basis in fact. Smartmatic’s only involvement in the 2020 presidential election was to provide voting technology and software to Los Angeles County.

Ex-Fox producer Grossberg subpoenaed by Smartmatic in suit against Fox

The voting machine company has filed a $2.7 billion defamation lawsuit against Fox for its coverage of baseless election fraud charges in the 2020 election.

www.nbcnews.com

 

[MyBelle]

Smartmatic is pursuing a $2.7 billion defamation lawsuit against Fox in New York Supreme Court. Allies of former President Donald Trump — like Giuliani — alleged on Fox News that Dominion and Smartmatic were linked and involved in potential election fraud, even though they are two separate companies with no partnerships.

Allegations against Dominion and Smartmatic have been repeatedly debunked and shown to be without basis in fact. Smartmatic’s only involvement in the 2020 presidential election was to provide voting technology and software to Los Angeles County.

Ex-Fox producer Grossberg subpoenaed by Smartmatic in suit against Fox

The voting machine company has filed a $2.7 billion defamation lawsuit against Fox for its coverage of baseless election fraud charges in the 2020 election.

www.nbcnews.com

This is like watching a train wreck in slow motion. I can't believe a news organization is so corrupt, it willingly lied to viewers. smh.

From your link:

On March 31, the judge in the Dominion lawsuit, which was filed in Delaware, ordered that the case go to trial and ruled that claims about election fraud aired on Fox were false. “The evidence developed in this civil proceeding” establishes that it “is CRYSTAL clear that none of the statements relating to Dominion about the 2020 election are true.” The bolding, capitalization and italics were in the ruling.

 

[vls12345]

This is like watching a train wreck in slow motion. I can't believe a news organization is so corrupt, it willingly lied to viewers. smh.

From your link:

On March 31, the judge in the Dominion lawsuit, which was filed in Delaware, ordered that the case go to trial and ruled that claims about election fraud aired on Fox were false. “The evidence developed in this civil proceeding” establishes that it “is CRYSTAL clear that none of the statements relating to Dominion about the 2020 election are true.” The bolding, capitalization and italics were in the ruling.

Of course they did. And they do. "Fox News" is an oxymoron. (IMO.)

They've used the fact that they lie as an actual defense in at least one previous lawsuit, btw. (A lawsuit they won.)

https://www.npr.org/2020/09/29/917747123/you-literally-cant-believe-the-facts-tucker-carlson-tells-you-so-say-fox-s-lawye

[snip]

Just read U.S. District Judge Mary Kay Vyskocil's opinion, leaning heavily on the arguments of Fox's lawyers: The "'general tenor' of the show should then inform a viewer that [Carlson] is not 'stating actual facts' about the topics he discusses and is instead engaging in 'exaggeration' and 'non-literal commentary.' "

She wrote: "Fox persuasively argues, that given Mr. Carlson's reputation, any reasonable viewer 'arrive with an appropriate amount of skepticism' about the statement he makes."

[snip]

 

[TootsieFootsie]

I can't believe a news organization is so corrupt, it willingly lied to viewers. smh.

I can.

 

[MyBelle]

I can.

I can't because the FCC is supposed to regulate them. There are also codes of journalism ethics. I'll never trust anything they report.

It's obvious they lied and thought they could get away with it.