This isn’t the end of Fox’s legal headaches. Here’s what’s next
Fox News reached a last-second settlement with Dominion Voting Systems on Tuesday.
By Marshall Cohen, CNN
Dominion Voting Systems’ blockbuster defamation case against Fox News is over after the right-wing network cuts a check for a staggering $787 million, but there’s still an avalanche of pending lawsuits that are seeking accountability from the right-wing figures who championed false claims about the 2020 election.
After more than two years of legal wrangling, Fox reached a last-second settlement with Dominion on Tuesday as the case raced toward opening statements, agreeing to the biggest publicly known defamation payout by a US media company in history.
More lawsuits — and perhaps more settlements — might be coming. Here’s a breakdown of the related litigation that’s still pending.
What’s next for Fox?
In some ways, this isn’t the end of Fox News’ legal headaches. It’s only halftime.
While the right-wing network will avoid having to apologize or issuing an on-air retraction over the false Dominion claims that infected its air, Fox is still facing another major defamation lawsuit stemming from many of the same lies that were at the heart of the Dominion case.
Smartmatic, another voting technology company, sued Fox for defamation following the 2020 election and is seeking $2.7 billion in damages from Fox and other defendants.
That lawsuit was filed in New York state courts, and a trial isn’t expected anytime soon.
“Dominion’s litigation exposed some of the misconduct and damage caused by Fox’s disinformation campaign,” Smartmatic lawyer Erik Connolly said in a statement after the settlement. “Smartmatic will expose the rest. Smartmatic remains committed to clearing its name, recouping the significant damage done to the company, and holding Fox accountable for undermining democracy.”
After that lawsuit was filed in February 2021, a Fox spokesperson said, “We are proud of our 2020 election coverage and will vigorously defend this meritless lawsuit in court.” The network denies any wrongdoing.
Separately, with the Dominion lawsuit now settled, the judge in that case formally ended the brief special master probe that he launched to look for potential legal misconduct by Fox. The special master had been investigating whether the right-wing network intentionally withheld evidence from Dominion. Fox denied any wrongdoing.
What’s next for Dominion?
Dominion still has a bevy of pending lawsuits against 2020 election deniers.
They’re suing right-wing TV networks Newsmax and OAN, which went even further than Fox News in their promotion of unhinged and debunked conspiracy theories about supposed election-rigging.
Newsmax said Dominion’s case against it is different than its case against Fox.
“Newsmax believes that the facts at issue in Dominion’s case against it are materially different from those that may have driven Fox to settle and no conclusion about Newsmax should be drawn from that settlement,” a company spokesperson told CNN. “Newsmax stands by its coverage and analysis of the 2020 election and will continue to vigorously defend against the claim.”
The voting technology company also has ongoing lawsuits against former President Donald Trump’s allies, Rudy Giuliani, Sidney Powell and Mike Lindell, who were at the tip of the spear of concocting and spreading the lie that the election was stolen from Trump.
All of these people and companies deny wrongdoing and are fighting the lawsuits in court.
During their post-settlement victory lap Tuesday, Dominion’s lawyers said the outcome in the Fox case gave them new momentum in their other cases. That’s because Delaware Superior Court Judge Eric Davis issued a series of pretrial rulings in Dominion’s favor, rejecting Fox’s key First Amendment defenses.
“All of those decisions will have a huge bearing on those lawsuits as they play out,” Dominion lawyer Davida Brook told CNN Tuesday night.
Dominion lawyer Justin Nelson added in a CNN interview that the Fox News settlement “sends a message to the other seven lawsuits that accountability is coming.”
— CNN’s Oliver Darcy contributed to this report
The-CNN-Wire
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