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.
Murdoch just put the hammer down and told them -- SETTLE. It's not worth the headache and he can afford the payout. Fox News staff shot themselves in the foot with contradictory statements, emails, and backroom rumor-mongering. Tucker hasn't been stellar in this whole thing either.
I have no doubts about Dominion's activities in the recent election, but in the current environment, it's better to move forward and meet the next election's challenges head on...
Dominion is a crime spree. Sue me and let’s rumble!
“It is my understanding the trial was going to be in Manhattan.”
It was actually happening in Wilmington Delaware.
This was nothing but a money laundering scheme. Fox isn’t paying this, someone else is. Follow the Money!
Sounds like extortion.
“how did DeSantis win by 20 points on Dominion Systems?”
He got more votes than his opponent.
$787 million? Just dock Tuckers salary a couple weeks and everything’s cool.
Back around when Chavez rose to power (when Bush II was president), CNN had a report linking Dominion to the Venezuelan dictator’s winning the election. I found it on youtube awhile back. So, it is hardly “baseless”.
“But, it will also mean that Fox will be reluctant to report on any election fraud going forward. Apparently, we are supposed to just accept that our elections are clean (spoiler: they aren’t).”
The left controls every facet of the electoral system. Control of the media is just one of those facets.
You don’t know that at all. Could be quite the opposite. Sounds like Fox just didn’t want the circus and Dominion just wrestled a bunch of money from them.
This sends a clear message that a Dem victory must never be questioned again.
A company might settle a nuisance lawsuit for $100,000 just to avoid legal costs. No company is going to settle for hundreds of millions of dollars if they have proof to back up their claims. Takeaway - Fox had no proof to back up any of their claims.
Exactly right on both comments.
“Delaware Superior Court” says it all. Dominion forum shopped to put their lawsuit in a state that’s 100% in the tank for Joe Biden. The judge then makes rulings that deprive FoxNews of their ability to put up a fair defense.
The case stinks to high heaven. I just hope that it can be used as a precedence by Trump, and by MANY others, to sue the pants of the fake news mafia.
I think this Dominion/Fox legal “battle” has been a show sham from the get-go. These two giants are on the same team. My theory is that Dominion want to have won a lawsuit in order to “prove” there is nothing wrong with their machines, and FOX wants to have a perfect excuse for never reporting on election fraud. FOX also wants to help Dominion stay firmly ensconced in the election rigging, so that Paul Ryan the the Murdoch boys and wives can put their preferred people in power.
I bet there winds up being no exchange of money, and the whole thing now goes away, with Dominion and FOX both having what they want. A show trial. That’s all it was.
Not necessarily. Like 90% of these cases are settled.
Your take on this definitely crossed my mind.
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