News Desk
ISLAMABAD/NEW YORK: Dominion Voting Systems Corporation— a company that sells electronic voting hardware and software, including voting machines and tabulators, in the United States — has accused Fox News of repeatedly broadcasting lies and poll-rigging claims about the 2020 presidential elections.
The Dominion Voting Systems, as part of the electronic voting company’s $1.6 billion defamation lawsuit that was made public on Thursday, said that the channel knew the claims were “total bs (bullshit).”
“From the top down, Fox knew ‘the dominion stuff’ was ‘total bs,'” the election technology company wrote, citing a sealed exhibit.
It added that despite knowing the truth – or at minimum, recklessly disregarding that truth – Fox spread and endorsed these ‘outlandish voter fraud claims’ about Dominion even though it internally recognized the lies as ‘crazy,’ ‘absurd,’ and ‘shockingly reckless.'”
In its filing, Dominion sought summary judgment, a court ruling in its favour without needing a trial. It sued the media giant in March 2021 in Delaware state court, alleging the news network leveled false claims that Dominion voting machines were used to rig the 2020 US presidential poll against Republican Donald Trump and favor his Democratic rival Joe Biden, who won the election.
Fox terms Dominion’s suit ‘an assault on free press’
Fox has termed the lawsuit an assault on the free press and said Dominion could not prove its claims. The media network defended its election coverage in its own summary judgment motion unsealed on Thursday, saying Dominion’s lawsuit would stifle freedom of the press and that it had a right to report on election-fraud accusations by Trump and his lawyers.
“Dominion’s lawsuit is an assault on the First Amendment and the free press,” Fox stated in its filing. “The record shows Dominion’s central allegations are factually unfounded, legally unsound, or both.”
A five-week trial is scheduled to begin on April 17.
Dominion’s filing is full of references to emails and statements in which Fox Corp Chairman Rupert Murdoch and other top media network executives say the claims aired about Dominion were false.
The filing reflects the results of months of discovery from both sides. In January, Dominion questioned Murdoch under oath, the most high-profile figure to face questioning in the case.
Fox has said Dominion took them out of context.
In its filing, the cable TV network argued that Trump’s claims about the election were “undeniably newsworthy” and that viewers were aware that they were merely being reported as allegations.
Fox also argued that the voting firm’s suit advances comprehensive interpretations of the defamation law, includes quotes from its coverage out of context, and ignores its reporting of Dominion’s response to the false claims.
