Court has resumed after a lunch break and opening statements are expected to begin soon in the landmark defamation lawsuit filed by election technology company Dominion Voting Systems against Fox News.
Here’s what you need to know about the top case:
Why is Dominion suing Fox News? Dominion sued Fox News in 2021 over the right-wing network’s repeated promotion of false claims about the company, including that its voting machines rigged the 2020 election by throwing millions of votes from Donald Trump to Joe Biden. Most of the 20 allegedly defamatory broadcasts mentioned in the lawsuit occurred in November and December 2020.
The company alleges that the people at Fox News have done real wrong and “recklessly disregarded the truth” when they spread this disinformation about Dominion. To prove “actual malice,” Dominion must convince a judge that the people at Fox News who were responsible for these 20 broadcasts knew that Dominion’s claims were false or ignored false evidence – but put them on the air.
According to Dominion’s view of the case, Fox promoted these election conspiracy theories because “lies were good for Fox’s business.” The Dominion suit was released exclusively on shows hosted by Lou Dobbs, Maria Bartiromo, Tucker Carlson, Sean Hannity, and Jeanine Pirro. Dominion said that as a result of Fox’s “organized smear campaign” it had suffered “great irreparable economic harm” and that its employees had been subjected to death threats and harassment.
What is Fox’s defense? Fox said he did not defame anyone and that the case is a gratuitous attack on press freedom.
A Fox spokesperson said the network is “proud of our 2020 election” and that its coverage “stands in the highest tradition of American journalism.” The company said, “Dominion’s lawsuit is a political campaign to seek financial relief, but the real costs will be respected by First Amendment rights.”
Fox also accused Dominion of creating “noise and confusion” in the case, saying, “the heart of this case remains about freedom of the press and freedom of speech, which are fundamental rights granted by the Constitution,” particularly the First Amendment.
Fox tried to have the case thrown out. But what really struck the right field last month, the judge presiding over the case allowed it to go to trial. He also barred Fox from invoking certain important First Amendment protections, finding it to be without merit.
What is Dominion asking for? Dominion is seeking $1.6 billion in damages. They say Fox’s on-air lies destroyed his reputation and caused election officials to withdraw their Dominion contracts. CNN recently reported on growing distrust of voting machines in heavily Republican states.
What are the trial applications? The trial is expected to last five to six weeks and will be presided over by Delaware Superior Court Judge Eric M. Davis, who was appointed to the state bench in 2012 by the Democratic governor. A panel of 12 judges and 12 alternates is seated.
Cameras are not allowed in court and there will be no video of the proceedings. There will also be no photographs taken inside the court.
Who is expected to testify? Expected witnesses include Fox Corporation executives Rupert Murdoch and his son Lachlan Murdoch; Fox News CEO Suzanne Scott and president Jay Wallace; Notable TV hosts Tucker Carlson, Sean Hannity, Maria Bartiromo, Lou Dobbs, Jeanine Pirro, and Bret Baier, among others.
Dominion said it may also call Viet Dinh, Fox’s chief legal officer, and former House Speaker Paul Ryan, a Fox board member, to the witness stand.
Both sides hope to testify from their hand-picked experts who specialize in election statistics, voting machine security, journalistic ethics, the impact of disrespect on public debate, and more.
Read more about the case here.
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