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

[branmuffin]

Fox Corp. just released a statement: “We are pleased to have reached a settlement of our dispute with Dominion Voting Systems. We acknowledge the court’s rulings finding certain claims about Dominion to be false. This settlement reflects Fox’s continued commitment to the highest journalistic standards. We are hopeful that our decision to resolve this dispute with Dominion amicably, instead of the acrimony of a divisive trial, allows the country to move forward from these issues.”

Dominion-Fox News Trial: Fox News Settles Defamation Suit for $787.5 Million, Dominion Says (Published 2023)

Fox News reached a last-minute settlement with Dominion Voting Systems, which accused Fox News of pushing conspiracies that harmed the company.

www.nytimes.com

High journalist standards....Bwwaaa! They just can't help it, can they?

 

[sds71]

Special master investigation into Fox News ends after Dominion settlement

In a filing before the settlement, Judge Eric Davis said he tapped Delaware litigator John Elzufon to look into whether Fox complied with its discovery obligations.

www.nbcnews.com

 

[branmuffin]

It sounds like all Fox has to admit is in that tepid statement they gave. "We acknowledge the Court’s rulings finding certain claims about Dominion to be false"

I'm sure Dominion is happy with the money they got, several times more than the company's worth, but I don't see Fox News changing their behavior much if at all. We shall see.

I believe their company is worth that much. It's a Canadian company, hence the name Dominion. Their tabulating machines have been used in Canada, obviously, and the US. They've been around for twenty years without any issues other than one a couple of years ago in Sudbury ON.

Whether they had a trial or not, there will be a lingering suspicion for some users of the technology. They've probably lost potential customers in the long run, rightly or wrongly.

The payout is substantial $787.5 million. I hope that's in USD! It's over $1.055 billion dollars in CAD. If the momentum remains for the Smartmatic defamation suit and the same format follows they'll probably end up paying nearly $2 billion dollars. That could effectively eviscerate the Fox coffers. At least, I hope so.
I suppose they could set up some G....F...M.. and grovel for a few bucks. It's happened before! There's a lot of dupes out there.

 

[Smelly Squirrel]

More than Fox though I wanted the lawyer (Sidney Powell) who originated the claims to pay. Obviously I wouldn’t expect her to be able to pay much monetarily but she should maybe lose her license to practice after peddling lies.

Dominion and Smartmatic both have separate lawsuits against Powell. Dominion also has suits against Newsmax, OAN, Mike Lindell, Patrick Byrne, and Rudy Giuliani. Smartmatic has suits against Fox News (and naming Jeanine Pirro, Maria Bartiromo, and Lou Dobbs), Newsmax, Mike Lindell, and Rudy Giuliani.

I hope they're all sleeping well after today.

From Mike Lindell to OAN, here's everyone Dominion and Smartmatic are suing over election conspiracy theories so far

Dominion and Smartmatic have filed defamation lawsuits against people who spread baseless claims that their voting machines "stole" votes for Biden.

www.businessinsider.com

 

[MyBelle]

Dominion and Smartmatic both have separate lawsuits against Powell. Dominion also has suits against Newsmax, OAN, Mike Lindell, Patrick Byrne, and Rudy Giuliani. Smartmatic has suits against Fox News (and naming Jeanine Pirro, Maria Bartiromo, and Lou Dobbs), Newsmax, Mike Lindell, and Rudy Giuliani.

I hope they're all sleeping well after today.

From Mike Lindell to OAN, here's everyone Dominion and Smartmatic are suing over election conspiracy theories so far

Dominion and Smartmatic have filed defamation lawsuits against people who spread baseless claims that their voting machines "stole" votes for Biden.

www.businessinsider.com

There was a weird conspiracy theory pushed by a woman name Maria Zack that was dubbed, "Italygate." It supposedly involved voting machine votes being switch overseas and involved the Vatican. I'm surprised a lawsuit hasn't been filed against her.

Donald Trump’s final White House chief of staff, Mark Meadows, pressured the acting attorney general to help push the lie of electoral fraud in Trump’s defeat by Joe Biden – even asking him to investigate a conspiracy theory which said people in Italy used military satellites to make US voting machines switch votes for Biden.

Trump aide asked DoJ to investigate bizarre ‘Italygate’ claim votes were changed by satellite

Conspiracy theory says people in Italy used military satellites to make US voting machines switch votes for Biden

www.theguardian.com

 

[Niner]

Well, the one good thing, IMO, is that @JerseyGirl and @Niner don't have to find the time to cover this trial after all. If it had proceeded, it could have been time-consuming to keep up. Thanks to all who have been posting here. Now I'm bracing for more trials!

Well darn - I was looking forward to this trial... NOT! LOL! It would have taken up a lot of time to post...

There is a status conference hearing on 7/;11/23 for U.S. Dominion, Inc. vs Sidney Powell, Rudolph W. Guiliani, My Pillow, Inc. / Defendants/Counter & third Party plaintiffs vs. Smartmatic USA Corp

and this one
NY - Smartmatic v. Rudy Guiliani, Sidney Powell, Fox News & hosts Jeanine Pirro, Maria Bartiromo & Lou Dobbs - $2.7B defamation suit.

Smartamatic's trial doesn't start until the fall of 2024.

 

[Niner]

And since I already had this typed up - I might as well share it...

Update!
Tuesday, April 18th:
*Trial was set to begin-SETTLED! (@ 9am ET) – DE – U.S. Dominion, Inc. vs Fox News Network, LLC is seeking $1.6 billion from Fox in a defamation suit over false allegations on the network that the company committed election fraud. Delaware Supreme Court (Wilmington)/ New Castle County
Jury Selection began on 4/13/23 & ended on 4/18/23. 12 jurors & 12 alternates. (6 women & 6 men). The jury: What appeared to be five Black men, two Black women, three white women, a white man & a Latino woman. The white guy is older & sort of looks like the actor who played Bob Vance on The Office. Two of the Black guys look middle-aged, as do two of the white women & everyone else appears to be in their 20s or 30s. The two Black women were both wearing blazers; one of them was the only juror to wear a mask.
Trial was set to begin on 4/18/23. Closed courtroom. Judge Eric Davis presiding.
Case info from 10/6/22 thru 4/16/23 reference post #175 here:
https://www.websleuths.com/forums/t...for-2020-election-lies-apr-2023.672547/page-9
4/18/23 Tuesday, Final Jury Selection: Jury selection is done. Have 12 jurors & 12 alternates.
Judge Davis has reportedly removed Fox News’ senior vice president of media relations Caley Cronin from the courtroom for taking a photo. According to the Washington Post’s Erik Wemple, Ms Cronin was “summoned from Davis’s courtroom & directed to the overflow room for having taken a photograph in the courtroom before the day’s proceedings”. The judge last week banned audio & video recordings during the trial.
Judge Davis has issued an order that all of Fox’s statements about the 2020 election were false, according to former US attorney and legal analyst Harry Litman. Judge Davis has ruled, and will instruct the jury, that all of Fox’s statements were false. But Dominion still has the right to make its case. So they are going to present the statements, from their first opening, in all their lurid detail. Fox has to just sit there and take it.”
Judge instructed the jurors.
For more info see posts #190 & 193 (article) & 200 (article) here:
https://www.websleuths.com/forums/t...2020-election-lies-17-apr-2023.672547/page-10
Judge Davis tells the court: “The parties have resolved the case.” Fox and Dominion have settled. Judge excuses the jury.
Fox Corp. just released a statement: “We are pleased to have reached a settlement of our dispute with Dominion Voting Systems. We acknowledge the court’s rulings finding certain claims about Dominion to be false. This settlement reflects Fox’s continued commitment to the highest journalistic standards. We are hopeful that our decision to resolve this dispute with Dominion amicably, instead of the acrimony of a divisive trial, allows the country to move forward from these issues.”
Dominion Voting Systems CEO John Poulos calls settlement with Fox News "historic," adding: "Fox has admitted to telling lies about Dominion that caused enormous damage to my company... nothing can ever make up for that."
Dominion legal team leaving the courtroom says FOX settlement was more than $787.5 million. Says “lies matter.”

 

[RANCH]

Actually, as settlement agreements go, they usually contain a clause that the settlement is in no way an admission of guilt or responsibility, so in a way I'm a bit surprised that it even contained that degree of admission by Fox. Also, the dollar amount is usually confidential, so there was some really good lawyering happening for not only the watered down acknowledgement / admission by Fox AND the dollar figure being released.

The public good that came of this is to let folks know they can't trust FOX, and to those who still hold firmly to the "stolen election" theory to reconsider that some of their beliefs were based on lies.

JMO

I think that Fox made a mistake in this case and payed a price for that mistake.

That doesn't mean people shouldn't trust Fox News. Rather it shows that people can mistakes and still be good overall. JMO.

 

[MrsWatson]

Fox's Prime-Time Hosts Completely Ignored the Dominion Settlement

Fox News agreed to pay Dominion Voting Systems $787.5 million in a settlement that spared the network the humiliation of a publicized defamation trial

www.rollingstone.com

BBM
Over the course of pre-trial discovery, internal Fox News communications released to the public revealed the extent to which anchors and executives knew that the conspiracies about Dominion’s role in carrying out fraud in the 2020 election were false.

 

[Lilibet]

I think that Fox made a mistake in this case and payed a price for that mistake.

That doesn't mean people shouldn't trust Fox News. Rather it shows that people can mistakes and still be good overall. JMO.

With all due respect @RANCH, it is not a “mistake” to deliberately promote falsehoods as Fox did about Dominion facilitating a “stolen election.” These “overall good people,” Tucker Carlson and the rest that were quoted, chose lies over truth because doing so catered to their viewers and to Fox’s bottom line. That was not a “mistake.” It was not “good.” It was unethical, cynical and dishonest no matter how you slice and dice it. Surely you read the behind-the-scenes texts admitting they knew the “stolen election” was all a Big Lie. So IMO people should seriously question how trustworthy Fox is. But they won’t because they want to believe the lies IMO.

And just for the record, I would say the same thing no matter which news organization a lawsuit had been brought against if they had been spewing deliberate falsehoods causing harm to others. We have to be discerning about what we are taking in…is it news or is it propaganda? Are we gullible or are we willing to make an effort to find out if what we are being told (sold) is the truth or lies.
JMO

 

[Snoopster]

Actually, as settlement agreements go, they usually contain a clause that the settlement is in no way an admission of guilt or responsibility, so in a way I'm a bit surprised that it even contained that degree of admission by Fox. Also, the dollar amount is usually confidential, so there was some really good lawyering happening for not only the watered down acknowledgement / admission by Fox AND the dollar figure being released.

The public good that came of this is to let folks know they can't trust FOX, and to those who still hold firmly to the "stolen election" theory to reconsider that some of their beliefs were based on lies.

JMO

I agree that the details of most of these type of settlements are hidden and there is no public admittance of wrong-doing. BUT, FOX Corporation (Fox News' parent company) is a public company. Public companies have to disclose all "material" financial information and a $800 million hit to a key subsidiary's bottom line (plus legal costs) would be considered "material" for FOX Corporation. Most other lawsuits are small enough that they wouldn't have to be reported.

As for Fox's tepid statement ....that some of their statements about Dominion were not factual...that totally gets them off the hook in their viewers' minds. Even though they lied about almost everything. e.g. if they said that Dominion Voting systems were used in Michigan, that would have been a fact. But of course the malicious lies that they told with the intention of trying to undermine a democratic election is unforgivable. I hope Smartmatic holds them to a higher standard in their negotiations.

 

[meanmaryjean]

With all due respect @RANCH, it is not a “mistake” to deliberately promote falsehoods as Fox did about Dominion facilitating a “stolen election.” These “overall good people,” Tucker Carlson and the rest that were quoted, chose lies over truth because doing so catered to their viewers and to Fox’s bottom line. That was not a “mistake.” It was not “good.” It was unethical, cynical and dishonest no matter how you slice and dice it. Surely you read the behind-the-scenes texts admitting they knew the “stolen election” was all a Big Lie. So IMO people should seriously question how trustworthy Fox is. But they won’t because they want to believe the lies IMO.

And just for the record, I would say the same thing no matter which news organization a lawsuit had been brought against if they had been spewing deliberate falsehoods causing harm to others. We have to be discerning about what we are taking in…is it news or is it propaganda? Are we gullible or are we willing to make an effort to find out if what we are being told (sold) is the truth or lies.
JMO

Amen!

 

[meanmaryjean]

I think that Fox made a mistake in this case and payed a price for that mistake.

That doesn't mean people shouldn't trust Fox News. Rather it shows that people can mistakes and still be good overall. JMO.

There was no innocent 'mistake'. There were deliberate lies undermining our very democracy. It 100% DOES mean people should not trust Fox 'News'. It is EXACTLY what it means.

 

[Elliot_Alderson]

I think that Fox made a mistake in this case and payed a price for that mistake.

That doesn't mean people shouldn't trust Fox News. Rather it shows that people can mistakes and still be good overall. JMO.

C'mon, RANCH. Your post is wrong. Multiple people/anchors lied. Lets not act like it's some "little mistake".

 

[Elliot_Alderson]

With all due respect @RANCH, it is not a “mistake” to deliberately promote falsehoods as Fox did about Dominion facilitating a “stolen election.” These “overall good people,” Tucker Carlson and the rest that were quoted, chose lies over truth because doing so catered to their viewers and to Fox’s bottom line. That was not a “mistake.” It was not “good.” It was unethical, cynical and dishonest no matter how you slice and dice it. Surely you read the behind-the-scenes texts admitting they knew the “stolen election” was all a Big Lie. So IMO people should seriously question how trustworthy Fox is. But they won’t because they want to believe the lies IMO.

And just for the record, I would say the same thing no matter which news organization a lawsuit had been brought against if they had been spewing deliberate falsehoods causing harm to others. We have to be discerning about what we are taking in…is it news or is it propaganda? Are we gullible or are we willing to make an effort to find out if what we are being told (sold) is the truth or lies.
JMO

Beautifully stated. <modsnip>

 

[nhmemorymaker]

I think that Fox made a mistake in this case and payed a price for that mistake.

That doesn't mean people shouldn't trust Fox News. Rather it shows that people can mistakes and still be good overall. JMO.

I truly assume you are not naive to this. The texting information shows that the very public hosts knew full well they were hearing garbage. But so so so many viewers absorbed this stuff and BELIEVED it.

These are not "mistakes". This is legitimate fraud.

 

[JerseyGirl]

NPR's Michel Martin talks to Justin Nelson, co-lead counsel for Dominion Voting Systems, about its $787 million settlement with Fox News over the falsehoods it aired about the 2020 election.

https://www.npr.org/2023/04/19/1170802305/the-trial-over-fox-news-false-election-fraud-claims-is-settled-at-the-last-minut

Good interview, starts at about the 1 minute mark.

 

[SouthAussie]

The shareholders want answers. Possibly opening the door to them suing the Fox Corp directors. They may not want the cost of the defamation suits to affect their share holdings.
Possibly following the lead of the suit filed by Robert Schwarz, investor. imo


This week, Reuters reported that Fox Corp shareholders were demanding company records in an effort to ascertain whether directors and executives properly oversaw Fox News coverage of Trump’s election-rigging claims. Reuters said it could be a prelude to lawsuits seeking to make directors liable for costs.

Sources told Reuters that investors were demanding internal records to investigate how Fox’s leaders acted as its network aired segments on Trump’s false claims.

Analysts say that the shareholders could use these records as well as evidence presented in other lawsuits to build a case for Fox leaders to be held personally liable for costs from defamation cases.

A spokesperson for Fox did not reply to a request for comment from Reuters.

The legal problems still overshadowing Fox News after its Dominion settlement

After its $787.5m settlement, Fox News faces lawsuits from a former employee and another voting technology company

www.theguardian.com

 

[bestill]

I find this interesting. I do wonder how this is going to play out with other news organizations, I am not a fan of MSNBC personally and they have certainly reported some pretty outrageous things in the past too.

 

[RANCH]

I find this interesting. I do wonder how this is going to play out with other news organizations, I am not a fan of MSNBC personally and they have certainly reported some pretty outrageous things in the past too.

I don't think that it will affect other news organizations at all.

And I think that Fox will continue to provide viewers with quality programs that I personally love to watch. JMO.