Dominion Voting Systems' $1.6 Billion Lawsuit Against Fox News Moves Closer to Trial

Dominion Voting Systems' $1.6 billion lawsuit against Fox News is progressing smoothly as Dominion Voting Systems accumulates documents, examines emails from years gone by and takes depositions in preparation for trial.

Dominion must demonstrate in its lawsuit against Fox that someone within their ranks knew its reporting was false or disregarded evidence showing its inaccuracy; Dominion can do this by showing jury messages from various times post-election.

John Poulos

Fox News' $1.6 billion defamation lawsuit with Dominion Voting Systems approaches its scheduled April date, but neither party has shown any indication they may enter settlement negotiations. While the matter still rests within Delaware courts' hands, media law experts and advocates have closely tracked it.

Dominion Voting Systems filed suit against Fox for its coverage of misleading claims about its voting machines, alleging this has cost them hundreds of millions in business while undermining credibility during elections.

Documents released as part of this case reveal that multiple individuals at Fox News knew many of the election-related claims were false but continued promoting them on airwaves despite this knowledge, such as CEO Suzanne Scott who will likely be deposed and other top editorial leaders, according to The New York Times.

Dominion has conducted multiple depositions with current and former Fox executives, reporters, producers, business managers and business managers - such as Scott. Additionally, Dominion has asked the courts to accept text messages and employment contracts as evidence in its case against Fox.

Dominion asserts that many of the texts it received from Fox employees were related to stories they believed to be false news and some were sent just hours before an employee took his or her deposition.

The court has stated its intent to review these texts, yet has made no definitive ruling on them. Dominion may file for summary judgment in this matter which could lead to an early ruling in its favor without the need for trial proceedings.

Legal battle over election is ongoing and unlikely to be resolved quickly. Even if Dominion can persuade a judge to let its case proceed, there's no guarantee it will win; more likely both sides will go through trial if it continues forward; both have much at stake for victory or defeat in any potential trial process.

Fox Has Admitted to Telling Lies

Fox News has experienced an eventful week as it faces a $1.6 billion defamation suit brought forth by Dominion Voting Systems. According to their claims, on-air talent and Fox Corp spread false allegations that rigged voting machines from Dominion Voting Systems caused President Trump's loss in 2020 election.

Dominion's argument in court hinges around its knowledge that many top employees at Fox knew the allegations were baseless yet chose to promote them anyway. A judge recently ordered Fox to make all deposition witnesses available for Dominion attorneys so their legal team can collect evidence showing how Fox used false claims of voter fraud as leverage against rival media outlets such as Newsmax and One America News.

Dominion Energy attorney Stephen Shackelford revealed to The New York Times that Fox executives, such as Sean Hannity, Lou Dobbs and Tucker Carlson among others, have testified under oath they never believed the fraudulent claims made against the corporation in court regarding voter fraud allegations.

Dominion achieved another major win last week when a Delaware judge ruled that Fox Corp, its parent corporation, must also participate in discovery for this lawsuit against them. This ruling means the case will now head directly to trial instead of being dismissed in June and then transferred to another court for consolidation purposes.

Dominion's case may initially seem limited to itself, but its effects can extend throughout Fox Media. Dominion's legal team is actively searching for communications from lower, mid, and higher level Fox personnel in an attempt to show that any were aware of or complicit with any false claims being spread about.

Dominion's attorney indicated that in addition to voter fraud allegations, numerous top-level people at Fox knew the allegations about January 6 and Covid-19 were false yet they continued airing them on air. Dominion is also pursuing action against Smartmatic and Newsmax media outlets.

Dominion’s Settlement Is a Win for Accountability

As we've seen, Dominion's $1.6 billion lawsuit against Fox News and its top executives has proven costly for them. According to their suit, Fox knowingly amplified far-right conspiracy theories linking their voting machines with voter fraud, leading them to lose billions in revenue while damaging their brand and compromising their reputation.

Dominion's attorneys allege that Fox leaders such as Rupert Murdoch knew or should have known that claims about Dominion machines broadcast by their network were false despite being informed they were lies by president and his advisers. Dominion believes such evidence will show Fox had "actual malice" when it propagated them.

U.S. Supreme Court rulings dictate that for a claim to succeed, plaintiffs must establish that a defendant lied or made statements with reckless disregard for truth, something Dominion's attorneys intend on doing through their latest briefing aimed at taking this litigation forward to trial.

Dominion's legal team have amassed evidence - including emails, text messages and other communications from Fox News executives who expressed displeasure over baseless allegations being spread by stars on their network. Dominion will use that evidence against Fox News leaders as evidence that they acted in bad faith by intentionally spreading false allegations to increase viewership and ratings.

Sean Hannity, Tucker Carlson and Maria Bartiromo will be among those deposed from Fox in the coming weeks by Dominion's lawyers to investigate their claim that Fox network executives knew allegations against their machines were false but continued pushing them regardless.

Dominion's lawyers have amassed evidence against Fox News executives as well, showing how they expressed disquiet over the baseless allegations made by Hannity and Carlson in 2020. This evidence will form an integral part of Dominion's lawsuit; it demonstrates their conduct acted in bad faith by intentionally pushing false claims in order to increase viewership and ratings.

Dominion's attorneys also gathered extensive evidence showing how these allegations had an adverse impact on its employees, such as harassment and threats from Fox News' statements against Dominion. That evidence will play a critical role in Dominion's court case as it can demonstrate just how detrimental these statements were for Dominion employees' livelihoods and employment situations.

Fox’s Future

Dominion Energy's lawsuit against Fox News has been an unsettling reminder of just how far media influence can reach. Dominion filed its suit in March 2021 claiming Fox News and other news outlets falsely blamed its voting machines for allegations of election fraud by various news sources.

Dominion claimed that Fox News' coverage of these claims damaged its business and undermined the concept of credible elections. They sought evidence that network stars knew they were spreading lies but continued their campaign nonetheless.

After the 2020 election, Fox hosts and guests, including Sean Hannity, repeatedly spread untruthful conspiracy theories about Dominion voting machines rigging votes to help Donald Trump win the presidency. Dominion alleges these false allegations caused irreparable damage to its reputation as well as harassment or threats against employees of Dominion.

Dominion has requested that Fox produce as many emails and texts from within its internal communications as possible in discovery; however, that effort has proven fruitless according to The New York Times.

Deposition battles have also been highly contentious, as Dominion attorneys attempted to force Fox personalities like Hannity and Jeanine Pirro back into testifying against their will under the First Amendment. Last month, Judge William Keller ordered Dominion lawyers to interrogate Hannity and Pirro again but limited its scope of questioning.

Multiple people at Fox have expressed surprise and concern at the court's ruling, not expecting that so open a dialogue would occur within its ranks. Furthermore, Fox employees expressed concern at what this case could potentially do to their company's brand name and business operations.

Dominion's lawsuit against Fox has seen considerable setback in Delaware state court and will likely continue until a verdict is rendered. This high-stakes case will reveal whether Fox and its executives were malicious in their reporting or purposely withheld evidence that could support their claims.