FOX NEWS PAYS $787.5 MILLION

TO AVOID A DEFAMATION SUIT

Announced at the last minute, the deal calls for $787.5 million to be paid by Fox News to Dominion, according to Justin Nelson, one of the election technology company's attorneys.

“The truth is important. Lies have consequences,” the attorney told reporters outside the courthouse in Wilmington, Delaware, where the trial was to take place. “More than two years ago, a torrent of lies swept Dominion election officials across America into an alternate universe of conspiracy theories, causing serious harm to Dominion and the country. »

Dominion boss John Poulos hailed a "historic" settlement, the largest in US history on defamation.

"Fox admitted to lying about Dominion," he said.

Fox vicariously admitted wrongdoing in a written statement: “We note the Court's rulings that have found certain Dominion assertions to be false. »

But the conservative channel won't have to admit its lies or apologize on the air.

Dominion accused Fox News of misleading viewers into believing its voting machines were used to rig the results of the 2020 presidential election and deprive Donald Trump of the victory he was due. However, the technological company was ready to present to the jury documents and testimonies intended to prove that the leaders and the animators of the chain knew that the theories propagated by allies of the ex-president were false.

According to the evidence available to Dominion, these lies had only one purpose: to stem the flight of Fox News viewers to Newsmax and OAN, its more Trumpist competitors.

Until settling the lawsuit out of court, the 1996-founded channel defended itself by arguing that it had merely reported newsworthy allegations made by Donald Trump's allies and was protected by the First Amendment, which guarantees freedom of the press.

Fox News is not at the end of its troubles. Smartmatic, another election tech company, filed a $2.7 billion defamation lawsuit against the channel in February 2021.

“Dominion's lawsuit exposed some of the misconduct and damage caused by Fox's disinformation campaign. Smartmatic will expose the rest,” the company promised in a statement.

"With this settlement, everyone wins," Martin Garbus, a lawyer specializing in First Amendment issues to the Constitution, told the New York Times. "Fox is on his way. Dominion is taking the money."