Dominion Voting Systems’ $1.6 Billion defamation suit against Fox News is producing lots of behind-the scenes news about what executives and personalities thought about Donald Trump

NEW YORK — New revelations from a major defamation suit shed light on Fox News’s activities after the 2020 presidential election. Here are some facts about the case.

THE CASE

Dominion Voting Systems sued Fox for $1.6 Billion. They claim that Fox repeatedly reported allegations that Dominion Voting Systems engaged in fraud that cost President Donald Trump his re-election bid, even though they knew these were false. Fox claims it was reporting newsworthy allegations made by supporters of President Trump and is legally supported by libel standards. The case will be tried next month.

ELECTION DISCONNECT

Dominion has presented evidence that Fox’s top executives knew the fraud allegations were false, even though they and their allies were given airtime. Fox’s Sean Hannity stated in a deposition that he didn’t believe the fraud claims “for a second”, but he wanted to allow accusers to present evidence. Rupert Murdoch, Fox founder, was questioned under oath and said that the 2020 presidential election was free-and-fair. Murdoch also stated that he knew that some Fox commentators, Lou Dobbs and Maria Bartiromo, Jeanine Pirro, and Hannity, had made false claims at times, but he did not stop them.

FOX’S FEAR

According to court papers, Fox is deeply concerned about the impact of its election night call claiming that Democrat Joe Biden had defeated Trump in Arizona’s battleground state. This call was correct. Fox beat its rivals on this call, but it angered Trump and many Fox viewers who began to tune in to rival conservative media outlets like Newsmax. The call made so many people uncomfortable at Fox, that Bret Baier, a Fox news anchor, suggested it be overturned and Arizona added to Trump’s column. The Washington executive responsible for the declaration stood firm and was proved right. He was then paid with his job two month later.

LIBEL LAW

Fox relied on a doctrine called libel law, which was in effect since a 1964 U.S. Supreme Court decision that made it difficult for plaintiffs prove defamation. Public figures like Dominion fit that standard in this case. They must prove that the information reported was inaccurate and that the news organization acted with “reckless disregard” as to whether it was true or false. Fox claims Dominion cannot prove its case. However, some First Amendment advocates believe the company has a strong argument. They fear that a long legal battle could give the Supreme Court the opportunity to alter libel laws that would reduce protection for all media.

TRUMP’S INTEREST

Trump seems to have taken an active interest in the case, as evident by his social media posts. He is always concerned about loyalty and has a long grudge over the Arizona call. He expressed anger at the revelations in the case that Fox employees not only didn’t support his fraud allegations, but also privately disregarded them. Some people believed they were involved in private conversations with Trump, including Tucker Carlson, who in January 2021 said that Trump was “a hateful person.”

THE ELECTION

After extensive reviews of multiple battleground states in which Trump lost, federal and state election officials conducted thorough reviews and Trump’s attorney General found no widespread fraud that could have affected the outcome of the 2020 elections. They also did not find any evidence that the vote had been tampered with. Many courts, including those he appointed, have rejected Trump’s claims of fraud.