Dominion Defamation Suit Against Fox News (1 Viewer)

Optimus Prime said:

Guess this can go here
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Experts say conservative network Fox News could face a “a fairly strong” lawsuit from a man who Tucker Carlson repeatedly accused of working as a government agent and carrying out the January 6 insurrection.

Carlson, who was fired from the network in April, repeatedly alleged that Ray Epps was a secret government agent who coordinated the January 6 riots, the New York Times reported.

Epps, a Trump supporter and former marine, has been at the center of a far-right conspiracy theory after an article by a rightwing website argued that he was spared from criminal charges because of his covert role.

Carlson and other rightwing figures, including members of Congress, have latched onto the false theory that Epps was a government agent involved in whipping up the January 6 attack.

In almost 20 episodes of his talkshow, Carlson reiterated the conspiracy theory that Epps was an undercover operative who “helped stage-manage the insurrection”.

Carlson repeatedly argued that Epps was recorded on camera urging others to enter the Capitol, but never entered the building himself.

In one 10-minute video posted to YouTube, Carlson claimed that it was “highly strange” that Epps hadn’t been arrested and alluded that the Times’ coverage on Epps was attempting to “cover something up”.

Epps has been questioned by the January 6 committee, and could still face charges as the investigation continues, the Times reported. He and his wife have received death threats and fled from their home in Arizona, fearing for their safety, according to the Associated Press.……

Unlike Dominion, which is a business, Epps is a private individual who will have to meet a lower standard for defamation suits compared to a public figure or government official, said Lin.

“In a sense, it could be much easier for him to pursue a defamation claim against Fox News,” said Lin, adding that Epps needs to prove the statements made on Fox are false and caused damage to his reputation and financial damage.

Lin added that if a lawsuit moves forward, Fox News could argue that statements made about Epps were an opinion or that the claims would be regarded as obviously false to listeners.…..

Fox News may face lawsuit over Tucker Carlson’s January 6 conspiracy theory

Network could see ‘fairly strong’ suit from Ray Epps, who Carlson alleged was a secret government agent behind the attack

www.theguardian.com

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MT15 said:

Well, whaddya know? Someone said on Twitter that he has hired one of the Dominion lawyers.

Arizona man targeted by January 6 conspiracy theorists sues Fox News for defamation | CNN Business

Ray Epps, the Arizona man that conspiracy theorists falsely claim led an FBI plot to orchestrate the January 6 insurrection, filed a lawsuit on Wednesday against Fox News, accusing the right-wing channel and former host Tucker Carlson of defamation.

www.cnn.com

“In the aftermath of the January 6, 2021, attack on the US Capitol, conspiracy theorists baselessly suggested that the assault was a so-called “false flag” operation staged by the federal government to make supporters of then-President Donald Trump look bad.

As part of that conspiracy theory, some right-wing figures falsely claimed Epps was part of a secret FBI plot to orchestrate the attack.

Carlson repeatedly breathed life into those conspiracies by giving them attention on his highly rated program. On many occasions, Carlson specifically mentioned Epps on his show, and played footage from January 6 of Epps outside the Capitol.

“Fox’s lies about Epps reached hundreds of millions of people and caused enormous harm to Epps,” the lawsuit said, accusing the network of running a “years-long campaign spreading falsehoods” about him that “destroyed” his life.

“As Fox recently learned in its litigation against Dominion Voting Systems, its lies have consequences,” the lawsuit added.

Epps’ lawsuit said he was a “poorly cast villain” for Fox News and Carlson, describing him as a former Trump-voting Marine who “was an avid and loyal Fox viewer and fan of Mr. Carlson’s.” In fact, the lawsuit indicated Epps was at the US Capitol on January 6 because he was “persuaded by the lies broadcast by Fox asserting the election had been stolen.””

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zztop said:

Lambert had access to the Dominion files because she represents former Overstock CEO Patrick Byrne, who is being sued for defamation by the voting company over his 2020 election lies. As part of the case, they have access to “discovery” from Dominion, whose lawyers said they have already turned over more than a million documents.

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Optimus Prime said:

Guess this can go here
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The chief executive of Newsmax deleted text messages and the company allowed key employees to delete emails as part of an effort to conceal evidence the outlet knew it was broadcasting falsehoods about the 2020 election, lawyers for the voting machine company Smartmatic said in an acerbic court filing last weekobtained by the Guardian.

The allegations were made as part of a motion for sanctions in an ongoing defamation case Smartmatic filed against Newsmax for making false and outlandish claims about the company after the last presidential election. The case is planned to go to trial in September in Delaware superior court.

The motion, which contains significant redactions, says Newsmax’s chief executive, Christopher Ruddy, deleted text messages after the company was asked to preserve documents and communications as part of a lawsuit. Smartmatic also alleges that Newsmax allowed emails from Gary Kanofsky, its news director, who tried to warn other Newsmax staffers against broadcasting false claims about Smartmatic, to be deleted.


Smartmatic attorneys also claim that Newsmax allowed messages from the editorial director, David Perel, to be deleted even though he warned Ruddy about the credibility of a source and was responsible for drafting Newsmax’s journalistic practices.

Newsmax, which denies publishing libelous claims, did not immediately respond to a request for comment. NBC News first reported the court filing.

The messages are relevant to the case because Smartmatic needs to prove that Newsmax had “actual malice” and knew the statements were false or acted with reckless disregard to the truth and published them anyway.

“Newsmax destroyed the text messages and emails of key executives responsible for its defamatory campaign against Smartmatic. This was not a mistake,” Smartmatic lawyers wrote in the court papers. “Newsmax’s cover-up worked. Critical documents, including text messages and emails going directly to Newsmax’s actual malice and motive, were permanently deleted.”…….

Newsmax accused of deleting evidence that it was spreading 2020 election lies

In lawsuit, voting machine firm Smartmatic alleges the outlet destroyed documents that were ‘direct evidence of actual malice’

www.theguardian.com

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Smartmatic says evidence shows Fox execs didn’t believe election claims​

Optimus Prime said:

Fox News employees, up and down the corporate ladder, did not believe that the 2020 election was rigged, despite claims that were later broadcast on the network implicating voting technology company Smartmatic in a broader conspiracy to throw the election for Joe Biden, according to newly unsealed documents.

“This case presents unprecedented evidence of actual malice — admissions of disbelief from dozens of individuals across every level of Fox’s organization from the show runners to the Chairman himself,” lawyers for Smartmatic wrote in a filing as part of its $2.7 billion defamation lawsuit against Fox, citing company co-founder Rupert Murdoch. “No court has ever encountered such a mountain of confessions from those responsible for publishing defamatory statements.”

Hundreds of pages of legal documents — part of lengthy motions for summary judgment that ask a New York judge to decide aspects of the case in their favor — that were initially filed in late April were released Thursday. Their heavy redactions obscured the specific text messages and internal emails on which Smartmatic has based its arguments, pulled from many months of gathering evidence and deposing witnesses.

Still, there were glimpses of the case that Smartmatic is making: namely, that Fox executives and hosts knowingly broadcast false claims about the company in a bid to help win back viewers who had been distressed by the network’s coverage of the election, and in doing so damaged the voting technology company’s economic prospects.

“The Fox Defendants have acknowledged, at least internally, that they helped spread false claims about the 2020 election being stolen,” lawyers for Smartmatic wrote.

“From the Murdochs to the producers, dozens of Fox personnel knew the Fraud Lie and Other Lies were false. Yet not one person with authority stepped forward to stop the deliberate spread of disinformation. This was not one rogue show. It was a calculated corporate decision to prioritize viewership over accuracy. This was all done with not only apparent disregard for Fox’s standards of business conduct, but also the foreseeable harm to Smartmatic. Those at Fox simply did not care.”

The motions come as the case, which was originally filed in February 2021, slowly winds its way through the New York State Supreme Court system. Depending on how the judge in the case rules on the parties’ motions, a trial in the case would most likely start next year. Fox settled a similar case, filed by Dominion Voting Systems, in April 2023 for $787.5 million.

Smartmatic is asking the judge, David B. Cohen, to rule that the statements made about the company were false, injured its reputation, directly implicated it, and were done with prior knowledge of falsity — or likely falsity. A jury, the company’s lawyers argued, should be tasked only with determining how much money Smartmatic should be owed in compensation.

Among the Fox News hosts mentioned, Smartmatic singled out Jeanine Pirro — the pro-President Donald Trump talker who recently left the network to serve as interim U.S. attorney for D.C. — as someone who benefited from a company “pivot” to a more Trump-friendly approach to covering the election. “Pirro was a golden child after the pivot,” Smartmatic’s lawyers wrote.

Smartmatic also included examples of threatening emails and voicemails that were sent to the company’s executives. “Don’t try to run, accidents happen,” one said. “God sees what you are doing and in the end you will have to answer for your sins,” read another.

In its own filings, Fox News accused Smartmatic of drumming up the lawsuit in a desperate bid to save the company from financial ruin, calling it “a litigation lottery ticket.”

“Eleven million pages of discovery and over one-hundred depositions have shown this lawsuit to be nothing more than ploy to resuscitate an already failing company,” the network’s lawyers wrote, arguing that Smartmatic’s damages estimates are unfounded.

The network has also argued that Smartmatic’s reputation was already tarnished before the television segments at issue aired, lessening any impact they could have had. This week, an appeals court granted Fox the right to obtain additional discovery related to bribery and money laundering charges that were filed last year against three current and former executives from Smartmatic, related to elections in the Philippines. The network viewed the ruling as a major victory, though Smartmatic played down its significance.

Fox made a case to the judge that its hosts — and guests who appeared on their programs — had merely covered newsworthy allegations made by Trump’s legal representatives. The network also argued that its coverage featured a diversity of viewpoints, including some that opposed the president. And when Fox hosts — including Pirro and Maria Bartiromo — made comments about the election, they believed the claims of potential fraud they were discussing could have merit, the network’s lawyers argued. “The evidence uniformly shows that the hosts and their teams subjectively believed the President’s claims were plausible, and that is all that matters,” the network argued.

On Wednesday, Smartmatic accused Fox of deleting text message evidence from key executives, including Rupert and Lachlan Murdoch. The company wants the jury to be told that Fox deleted evidence that would have bolstered the case against it. In response, Fox accused Smartmatic of resurrecting “stale, baseless discovery issues that actually were disclosed by Fox and resolved two years ago.”

The parties could still choose to settle the case, as Smartmatic did with lawsuits against two other conservative media companies, Newsmax and One America News. Doing so would spare key Smartmatic and Fox executives, including the Murdochs, from having to take the stand.............

Smartmatic says evidence shows Fox execs didn’t believe election claims​

https://www.washingtonpost.com/style/media/2025/05/16/smartmatic-fox-lawsuit-filings/

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