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20-04-2023
NEW YORK: Fox News has settled a defamation lawsuit from the voting machine company, Dominion, over its reporting of the 2020 presidential election.
In a last-minute settlement before trial, the network agreed to pay $787.5m (£634m) about half of the $1.6bn initially sought by Dominion.
Dominion argued its business was harmed by Fox spreading false claims the vote had been rigged against Donald Trump.
The deal spares Fox executives such as Rupert Murdoch from having to testify.
The judge in the case is not required to give his approval for the agreement.
Fox said Tuesday’s settlement in one of the most anticipated defamation trials in recent US history reflected its “commitment to the highest journalistic standards”.
The Fox statement added without elaborating that the network “acknowledges the court’s rulings finding certain claims about Dominion to be false”.
Dominion chief executive John Poulos told a press conference the deal included Fox “admitting to telling lies, causing enormous damage to my company”.
Justin Nelson, a Dominion attorney, told reporters that “the truth matters”.
“Lies have consequences,” he added. “Over two years ago a torrent of lies swept Dominion and election officials across America into an alternative universe of conspiracy theories, causing grievous harm to Dominion and the country.”
Nelson added that for “democracy to endure”, Americans must “share a commitment to facts”.
Opening arguments in the case had been due to start on Tuesday afternoon.
The announcement of a settlement came after an unexplained delay of several hours once jury selection had finished, prompting speculation that talks were under way behind the scenes.
On Monday, Delaware Superior Court Judge Eric Davis announced that the start of the trial would be delayed by 24 hours.
Although he gave no reason, US media reported that it was to give both sides an opportunity to reach a settlement.
On Tuesday morning, however, both sides appeared to be digging in for a lengthy trial.
Attorneys for Fox had repeatedly objected to the $1.6bn in damages sought by Colorado-based Dominion, characterizing the figure as massively inflated.
The “real cost” of the case, Fox had argued, would be the “cherished” rights to freedom of speech and of the press enshrined in the First Amendment of the US Constitution.
Dominion’s lawsuit argued that the conservative network had sullied the electronic voting company’s reputation by airing falsehoods about the 2020 vote being stolen from former President Trump. (Int’l Monitoring Desk)
