WASHINGTON (AP) – Dominion Voting Systems filed a $ 1.6 billion defamation lawsuit against Fox News on Friday, arguing that the cable news giant has falsely claimed in an effort to increase faltering assessments that the voting company rigged the 2020 election.
It is the first defamation suit filed against a media outlet by the voting company, which has been the target of misleading, false and bizarre allegations spread by President Donald Trump and his allies in the aftermath of Trump’s election defeat to Joe Biden. These claims helped to stimulate protesters who invaded the United States Capitol on January 6. in a violent siege that left five people dead, including a police officer. The siege led to Trump’s second historic impeachment.
Dominion argues that Fox News, which extended inaccurate claims that Dominion altered votes, “sold a false history of electoral fraud to serve its own business purposes, seriously injuring Dominion in the process,” according to a copy of the case obtained by Associated Press.
“The truth matters. Lies have consequences, ”said the suit. “Fox sold a false history of electoral fraud to serve its own business objectives, seriously injuring Dominion in the process. If this case does not reach the level of defamation by a broadcaster, then nothing goes up. “
Some Fox News air reporting segments debunked some of the allegations that targeted Dominion. An email sent to Fox News early Friday morning seeking comment on the lawsuit was not immediately returned.
There was no widespread fraud in the 2020 election, a fact that a number of election officials across the country – and even Trump’s attorney general, William Barr – confirmed. Republican governors in Arizona and Georgia, key battleground states crucial to Biden’s victory, also ensured the integrity of elections in their states. Almost all legal challenges of Trump and his allies were dismissed by judges, including two launched by the Supreme Court, which has three judges appointed by Trump.
Still, some Fox News officials raised false accusations that Dominion had changed votes through algorithms in its electronic ballot boxes that were created in Venezuela to rig elections for the late dictator Hugo Chávez. Personalities on the air brought in Trump’s allies, Sidney Powell and Rudy Giuliani, who spread the claims and then amplified those claims on Fox News’ massive social media platforms.
Dominion said in the lawsuit that it tried several times to correct the problem, but was ignored by Fox News.
The company argues that Fox News, a network that features several pro-Trump personalities, has publicized the false allegations to explain the former president’s loss. The cable giant lost viewers after the election and was seen by some Trump supporters as not supporting the Republican enough.
Dominion’s lawyers said Fox News’ behavior differs greatly from that of other media outlets that reported the allegations.
“This was a conscious and conscious business decision to endorse, repeat and disclose these lies to maintain its audience,” said lawyer Justin Nelson, of Susman Godfrey.
Although Dominion serves 28 states, until the 2020 elections it was largely unknown outside the electoral community. It is now widely targeted in conservative circles, seen by millions of people as one of the main villains in a fictional tale in which Democrats across the country conspired to steal votes from Trump, the suit said.
Dominion employees, from its software engineers to its founder, were harassed. Some received death threats. And the company suffered “huge and irreparable economic damage,” said the lawyers.
Dominion also sued Giuliani, Powell and the Minnesota-based MyPillow CEO about the claims. A rival technology company, Smartmatic USA, also sued Fox News for election allegations. Unlike Dominion, Smartmatic’s participation in the 2020 elections was restricted to Los Angeles County.
Dominion’s lawyers said they have not yet filed lawsuits against specific media personalities on Fox News, but the door remains open. Some on Fox News knew the allegations were false, but their comments were muffled, lawyers said.
“The ball stops Fox on that,” said attorney Stephen Shackelford. “Fox chose to put this on all of its many platforms. They relayed, republished on social media and elsewhere. “
The lawsuit was filed in Delaware, where both companies are incorporated, although Fox News is headquartered in New York and Dominion in Denver.