After lunch break, the court resumed, with opening remarks expected to begin soon in the historic defamation lawsuit against Fox News by Election Technology.
Here is what you need to know about high-risk cases:
Why does the domination sue Fox News? Dominion repeatedly raised false claims about the company over the right-wing network in 2021, including its voting machine, thus causing repeated publicity for the 2020 election by flipping millions of votes from Donald Trump to Joe Biden. Most of the 20 defamation broadcasts mentioned in the lawsuit allegedly occurred in November and December 2020.
The company claims that when Fox News people acted with actual maliciousness, they “recklessly ignored the truth” because they spread false information about the Dominion. To prove “actual maliciousness,” Dominion must convince the jury, Fox News people to be responsible for the 20 broadcasts, knowing that Dominion’s claims are false or reckless false evidence, but will air them anyway.
According to Dominion’s case theory, Fox advocates conspiracy theories for these elections because “lie is good for Fox’s business.” Dominion’s suits are specially set to zero in on the show hosted by Lou Dobbs, Maria Bartiromo, Tucker Carlson, Sean Hannity and Jeanine Pirro. Dominion said Fox has suffered “tremendous and irreparable financial harm” due to its “well-planned slander campaign” and its employees have been threatened with death and harassment.
What is Fox’s defense? Fox said it did not slander anyone, and the case was a priceless attack on press freedom.
A Fox spokesman said the network was “proud of our 2020 election reports” and that its reporting “is the highest tradition in the U.S. press.” “Dominion’s lawsuit is a political crusade seeking financial windfalls, but the real cost will be a treasured First Amendment right,” the company said.
Fox also accused the rule of “noise and chaos” surrounding the case, noting that “the heart of this case remains at the heart of freedom of the press and freedom of speech, which is the fundamental right provided by the Constitution, especially the First Amendment.
Fox tries to abandon the lawsuit. But the judges overseeing the case allowed him to attend the trial in a major blow to the right-wing network last month. He also banned Fox from invoking some key First Amendment defenses, finding them unfounded.
What does Dominion require? Dominion is seeking $1.6 billion in damages. Fox’s aerial lies destroyed its reputation and led to election officials’ cancellation of its contract of domination, they said. CNN recently reported a distrust of the serious voting machines in Republican counties.
What is experimental logistics? The trial is expected to last five to six weeks and will be supervised by Delaware Superior Court Judge Eric M. Davis, who was appointed governor in 2012 by the Democratic governor. A team of 12 jurors and 12 substitutes are sitting down.
Camera is not allowed in court, nor will there be any videos of lawsuits. There will be no still photography in the court.
Who can testify? Expected witnesses include Fox executive Rupert Murdoch and his son Lachlan Murdoch; Fox News CEO Suzanne Scott and President Jay Wallace; well-known TV hosts Tucker Carlson, Sean Hannity, Maria Bartiromo, Lou Dobbs, Jeanine Pirro and Bret Baier, among others.
Dominion said it could also be called Viet Dinh, Fox’s chief legal officer, and former House Speaker Paul Ryan, and Fox’s board member Paul Ryan.
Both sides also hope to testify from experts who specialize in the areas of election statistics, the security of voting machines, news ethics, the impact of false information on public discourse, etc.
Read more about the situation here.
