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.
Because he got a lot of votes?
Discovery is over. Trial was scheduled for today.
Discovery is done before a trial.
Very entrenched and powerful? The net worth of the company is less that 90 million.
Wilmington, Delaware.
Dominion does the bidding of a guy who died 10 years ago? How does that work?
Now Dominion will feel comfortable doubling down on the cheating in 2024.
Even if guests made the claims, a media entity that broadcasts or publishes the claims—knowing the the claims are false—are liable.
I don’t know what kind of circus you were looking for. I imagine it would have been interesting to see the execs and on-air personalities testify.
Before the trial started, judge gave parial summary judgment on “falsity.” There was going to be no argument made in the courtroom that the claims regarding Dominion Machines were true.
The only thing left for the jury to decide was “actual malice” (whether or not Fox was aware that the claims were untrue), and damages.
This isn’t over for Fox yet. They still have to deal with a similar case from Smartmatic.
That was my thought when news of this bs dominion suit first hit the headlines.
He’s got a helluva case. Biding his time, I’m sure.
They are cowards. And obviously corrupt.
He’d better hurry. Whatever statute of limitations exists is running out fast.
I’m wondering if the settlement requires Fox to say that on their network a few times.
Here's a question: Why does Microsoft Word have drawing capabilities...after all I don't use them?
Who has the algorithm?
They were past the discovery stage.
And a slew of shareholder lawsuits.
Fox, in all of its filings, never once made any arguments that the defamatory claims being made (about Dominion machines, algorithms, connections to Venezuela, connections to another voting machine company—Smartmatic) were TRUE.
FOX does not have such evidence and the embarrassing reality is the those FOX personalities pushing the stolen election narrative are on record as poo poohing that story in private and admitting they did it for ratings.
The rumors about Kraken were setup for people like you. All legitimate questions about election integrity is just the Kracken to you.
Good luck with that.
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