Posted on 04/18/2023 1:16:49 PM PDT by JSM_Liberty
Fox News and Dominion Voting Systems said Tuesday that they have reached a settlement agreement just moments before opening arguments were set to begin.
The deal ends a monthslong legal battle over whether the media company had defamed the voting machine maker when they broadcast election conspiracy theories in 2020.
The terms of the settlement were not immediately available.
Dominion sued Fox News in 2021, demanding $1.6 billion in damages. They said the network defamed it when it broadcast baseless claims that it was tied to the late Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez, that it paid kickbacks to politicians and that its machines “rigged” the 2020 presidential election by flipping millions of votes for Trump to Biden.
The settlement came on the day trial was scheduled to begin; late Sunday, the court delayed the conclusion of jury selection and opening arguments to Tuesday morning, leading to speculation that settlement talks could be taking place behind closed doors. The announcement follows a bruising week for Fox News. During pretrial conference hearings, Delaware Superior Court Judge Eric Davis sanctioned them for withholding evidence, admonished them for not being straightforward with him, and said he was considering appointing a special master to investigate possible legal misconduct by the attorneys. He said he would allow Dominion to conduct an additional deposition with Rupert Murdoch at Fox’s expense.
Davis also ruled that Fox lawyers could not use newsworthiness as a legal defense, limiting their possible trial strategies.
Few defamation suits make it this far, but legal experts say the case — and the extraordinary claims and evidence fueling it — was unique.
Legal filings made thousands of pages of emails, text messages, and other communications public, revealing that Fox News journalists, hosts, and executives knew the bogus claims about the election were false, even as the network continued to put them on air.
I’ve been involved in lawsuit settlements before- i’d be shocked if they are able to say anything about any amount received. Nick Sandmann was not able to say how much he received from the media outlets that defamed him.
I’d also be shocked if Fox settled for almost $800 million.
All the Pubbies need to do is pass a bill taking such, but we all know that they won’t even try.
The fact that Dominion are playing up the amount of money means that it is unlikely that they are going to get on-air admissions from Fox.
Prepare to be shocked. The judge had already ruled against Fox and the “trial” was coup de grace flogging. This way Fox can avoid have their personalties have to testify to their hatred of Trump, etc.
FOX was stupid not to fight.
Are you kidding??
Fox was IN ON the election steal.
NEITHER side wanted ANY discovery...as this would expose their collaboration.
Fox was in on the election theft; they have no interest now nor did they then in America or election integrity- they merely want their globalist de jure, currently Ron DeSantis, to emerge on top. A pox on all their houses.
Fox is a bunch of COWARDS!!!
... or was it settled so that discovery could be avoided?
How do we know FNC ever really intended to fight.
This looks like money laundering to me.
exactly
Fox just perpetrates the false narrative of free and fair elections when they could’ve uncovered the truth. Not impressed.
“... or was it settled so that discovery could be avoided?”
Which side was afraid of the trial, I am guessing it’s the one that just forked over $787 million.
It was an open and shut case.
If you claim my product is crap, and it hurts my business, you’d better be able to PROVE my product is crap- in *any* court and with *any* judge, or bend over and grab your ankles because because I’m going to take every cent I can get.
Even if my product *is* crap, once you make the accusation you’d better have incontrovertible proof, or else.
We need hand-counted paper ballots.
You may be right, but in Tucker’s case, I see his show nightly, and he never accused Dominion of rigging the election. No one knows if they played any part, but we KNOW now that bundling, no matching signatures and full-throttle media censorship and propaganda DID indeed steal America through this farcical “election”.
“Which side was afraid of the trial, I am guessing it’s the one that just forked over $787 million.”
That’s a whole lot of Reverse Mortgages to sell.
“From what I’ve gathered, he penetrated Dominon’s rear door and switched the data base recovery mode to read-only.”
And where exactly did you gather this?
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.