Fresh Air | By Terry Gross
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‘New York Times’ journalist Jeremy Peters explains Dominion Voting Systems’ $1.6 billion lawsuit against Fox News. Dominion claims that Fox’s hosts and commentators falsely stated that Dominion was part of a conspiracy to steal votes from Donald Trump with the larger goal of stealing the election. “Legal experts tell me that rarely have they seen a case this strong,” Peters says.
On Thursday, jury selection began in the $1.6 billion defamation trial brought by Dominion Voting Systems against Fox News for promoting false conspiracy theories about the 2020 presidential election. The process occurred in private, with Delaware Superior Court Judge Eric Davis questioning potential jurors. He reported making good progress and having enough jurors to begin the trial on Monday as scheduled. Around 300 prospective jurors will be narrowed down to 12 jurors and 12 alternates over the six-week trial. Questions were asked about their news consumption habits, including whether they watch Fox News, but the judge did not want jurors asked if they believed in the legitimacy of the 2020 election or if they had any connection to the January 6 insurrection.
The case centers on Fox’s decision to air false claims about Dominion’s involvement in the election. Dominion argues that Fox destroyed its reputation as a trusted voting technology company by repeatedly amplifying these false claims. Emails and texts unearthed during the litigation have shown that many Fox hosts, producers, and top executives privately believed the claims on their airwaves were preposterous and untrue.
The company needs to prove that Fox acted with “actual malice” and that the allegedly defamatory statements were knowingly broadcast despite the network’s knowledge of their falsehood. The judge has already rejected several First Amendment defenses that Fox hoped to invoke and constrained Fox further in pretrial rulings this week, stopping the right-wing network from arguing that the allegedly defamatory statements were “newsworthy.” In a recent twist, the judge sanctioned Fox for withholding evidence from Dominion and will appoint an outside attorney to investigate if Fox misled the court.
Fox News denies any defamation and claims that the trial is a political crusade aimed at securing a financial windfall. They maintain that they are still “proud” of their election coverage and that they withheld no evidence from Dominion. A Fox News spokesperson said that Dominion has pushed irrelevant and misleading information to generate headlines and that a verdict in their favor would have significant consequences for the entire journalism profession, endangering cherished First Amendment rights.
