Dominion Voting Systems filed a lawsuit against Fox News for $1.6 billion, alleging the cable news company made false claims and defamed the company to boost faltering ratings following the Nov. 3 election.
Dominion argued in its suit that Fox News “sold a false story of election fraud in order to serve its own commercial purposes, severely injuring Dominion in the process,” according to a copy of the lawsuit (pdf) that was filed Friday.
Previously, the company sued Trump attorney and former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani, pro-Trump lawyer Sidney Powell, and MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell.
“Fox, one of the most powerful media companies in the United States, gave life to a manufactured storyline,” the lawsuit stated, adding that when Fox was informed by Dominion’s law firm that legal action was pending, the continued to broadcast about the company.
Those claims were “embraced by Fox’s own on-air personalities—because the lies were good for Fox’s business,” Dominion’s lawyers also wrote, alleging that its employees received threats and harassment.
Another election technology company, Smartmatic, also filed a lawsuit against Fox News. Smartmatic has said that its 2020 election participation was relegated to Los Angeles County.
In December, former Fox News host Lou Dobbs and other hosts aired retractions.
“There are lots of opinions about the integrity of the election, the irregularities of mail-in voting, of election voting machines and voting software,” Dobbs said during a December segment in relation to claims about Smartmatic.
On Monday, Powell filed a motion to dismiss Dominion’s lawsuit and argued that “it was clear to reasonable persons that Powell’s claims were her opinions and legal theories on a matter of utmost public concern,” adding that her statements were protected under the First Amendment.
“Reasonable people would not accept such statements as fact but view them only as claims that await testing by the courts through the adversary process,” her lawyers said in the motion. “Sidney Powell disclosed the facts upon which her conclusions were based.” Dominion told Bloomberg News that her motion contradicts her previous claims.
Powell’s lawyers further argued that Powell’s claims about Dominion and election fraud post-Nov. 3, 2020, were “public announcements,” saying they served to disclose the “status of cases” that were filed in court. “Such announcements are routine by lawyers engaged in public interest litigation, including the U.S. Justice Department,” Powell’s lawyers said.
The Epoch Times has contacted Fox News for comment.
Dominion’s lawsuit was filed in Delaware, where both companies are incorporated.
From The Epoch Times
