Fox News suffered a significant setback Friday in its defense against a $1.6 billion defamation lawsuit that claims it lied about voter fraud in the 2020 election.
A Delaware Superior Court judge said the case, brought by Dominion Voting Systems, was strong enough to conclude that Fox hosts and guests repeatedly made false claims about Dominion’s machines and their alleged role in a fictitious plot to steal the election from President Donald J. Trump.
“The evidence developed in this civil proceeding,” Judge Eric M. Davis wrote, demonstrates that “it is CRISTAL Clearly none of the Dominion-related statements about the 2020 election are true.”
Judge Davis said the case will still proceed to trial, for a jury to consider whether the media company made false claims about Dominion knowing they were not true, and to determine damages. The trial is expected to begin on April 17.
“We are pleased by the court’s full ruling which flatly rejects all of Fox’s arguments and defenses, finding as a matter of law that its statements about Dominion are false,” a Dominion spokeswoman said in a statement on Friday. “We hope to go to trial.”
A Fox spokeswoman said: “This case is and always has been about First Amendment protections of the media’s absolute right to cover the news. Fox will continue to fiercely defend free speech and free press rights as we move into the next phase of these proceedings.”
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
