Saying that "Fox took a small flame" of disinformation and "turned it into a forest fire," Dominion Voting Systems has filed a $1.6 billion defamation lawsuit against Fox News today. Via CNN:
The company alleged that the network "recklessly disregarded the truth" and participated in a disinformation campaign against it because "the lies were good for Fox's business."
In the immediate aftermath of the 2020 election, former President Donald Trump falsely asserted that the election had been rigged against him. His allies promoted outlandish conspiracy theories about Dominion to support Trump's false claims.
"The truth matters. Lies have consequences," Dominion's lawsuit added. "Fox sold a false story of election fraud in order to serve its own commercial purposes, severely injuring Dominion in the process. If this case does not rise to the level of defamation by a broadcaster, then nothing does."
Dominion is the second election tech company to file a suit against Fox. Smartmatic sued them for $2.7 billion in February. Fox says they will "vigorously defend" themselves in court.
I can't imagine that Fox can win either of these suits, so settlement seems likely -- or they'll fall back on that "Hey, everyone knows we make sh*t up!" defense used recently by Tucker Swanson McNear Tucker and Sidney Powell.
UPDATE: Meanwhile on Fox News last night.
After Trump begins to go deep on the Big Lie, Laura Ingraham desperately tries to steer him away:
"Speaking as a lawyer, we are not going to relitigate the past tonight..." pic.twitter.com/FU7k5TcPrh— Justin Baragona (@justinbaragona) March 26, 2021
