Dominion Voting Systems on Friday filed a $1.6 billion defamation lawsuit against Fox News, arguing the cable news giant, in an effort to boost faltering ratings, falsely claimed that the voting company had rigged the 2020 election, The Associated Press reports.
Dominion argues that Fox News, which amplified inaccurate assertions that Dominion altered votes, “sold a false story of election fraud in order to serve its own commercial purposes, severely injuring Dominion in the process,” according to a copy of the lawsuit obtained by AP.
“The truth matters. Lies have consequences,” the lawsuit said. “... If this case does not rise to the level of defamation by a broadcaster, then nothing does.”
Even before Dominion’s lawsuit on Friday, Fox News had already filed four motions to dismiss other legal action against its coverage, according to AP.
“Fox News Media is proud of our 2020 election coverage, which stands in the highest tradition of American journalism, and we will vigorously defend against this baseless lawsuit in court,” it said in a statement on Friday.
Dominion says in the lawsuit that it tried repeatedly to set the record straight but was ignored by Fox News.
The company argues that Fox News pushed the false claims to explain away Trump’s loss
Attorneys for Dominion said Fox News’ behavior differs greatly from that of other media outlets that reported on the claims.
“This was a conscious, knowing business decision to endorse and repeat and broadcast these lies in order to keep its viewership,” said attorney Justin Nelson.
Last month, Fox News started airing a point-by-point fact-check to election fraud claims made by some of the network’s hosts. The package began airing after another voting technology company, Smartmatic, sent the network a blistering legal threat that accused the network of participating in a "disinformation campaign" against it.
Fox Newslater canceled the show of Lou Dobbs, one of the most ardent supporters of former President Donald Trump, after Fox News and Dobbs were sued for defamation by Smartmatic.
(Arutz Sheva’s North American desk is keeping you updated until the start of Shabbat in New York. The time posted automatically on all Arutz Sheva articles, however, is Israeli time.)