- Fox News has settled a defamation lawsuit from the voting machine company, Dominion, over its reporting of the 2020 presidential election.
- Dominion argued its business was harmed by Fox spreading false claims the vote had been rigged against Donald Trump.
- The network agreed to pay $787.5m (£634m) – about half of the $1.6bn initially sought by Dominion.
- Justin Nelson, a Dominion attorney, told reporters that “the truth matters, Lies have consequences.”
- Fox still faces a second, similar defamation lawsuit from another election technology firm, Smartmatic, which is seeking $2.7bn.
- Dominion still has litigation pending against two conservative news networks, OAN and Newsmax. It has also sued Trump allies such as Rudy Giuliani, Sidney Powell and Mike Lindell.
Fox News has settled a defamation lawsuit from the voting machine company, Dominion, over its reporting of the 2020 presidential election. Dominion argued its business was harmed by Fox spreading false claims the vote had been rigged against Donald Trump. In a last-minute settlement before trial, the network agreed to pay $787.5m (£634m) – about half of the $1.6bn initially sought by Dominion.
Fox said Tuesday’s settlement in one of the most anticipated defamation trials in recent US history reflected its “commitment to the highest journalistic standards”. The Fox statement added without elaborating that the network “acknowledges the court’s rulings finding certain claims about Dominion to be false”.
Dominion chief executive John Poulos told a press conference the deal included Fox “admitting to telling lies, causing enormous damage to my company”. Justin Nelson, a Dominion attorney, told reporters that “the truth matters”. “Lies have consequences,” he added. “Over two years ago a torrent of lies swept Dominion and election officials across America into an alternative universe of conspiracy theories, causing grievous harm to Dominion and the country.”
Mr Nelson added that for “democracy to endure”, Americans must “share a commitment to facts”. The announcement of a settlement came after an unexplained delay of several hours once jury selection had finished, prompting speculation that talks were under way behind the scenes.
Attorneys for Fox had repeatedly objected to the $1.6bn in damages sought by Colorado-based Dominion, characterising the figure as massively inflated. The “real cost” of the case, Fox had argued, would be the “cherished” rights to freedom of speech and of the press enshrined in the First Amendment of the US Constitution.
Dominion’s lawsuit argued that the conservative network had damaged the electronic voting company’s reputation by airing falsehoods about the 2020 vote being stolen from former President Trump. The lawsuit said that the false claims were partly an effort to win over viewers who were angered by Fox’s decision on election night to – correctly – declare that Mr Trump’s then-challenger, Joe Biden, had won the crucial state of Arizona.
Legal findings released ahead of the trial suggested that a number of Fox executives and journalists privately questioned and dismissed conspiracy claims that the 2020 presidential election was stolen, but still put them on air.
Despite the mammoth pay-out, some legal experts believe the settlement was overall a positive outcome for the network. Fox still faces a second, similar defamation lawsuit from another election technology firm, Smartmatic, which is seeking $2.7bn.
Dominion still has litigation pending against two conservative news networks, OAN and Newsmax. The company has also sued Trump allies such as Rudy Giuliani, Sidney Powell and Mike Lindell.
