The court reconvened after a lunch break, with opening statements expected to begin soon in the historic defamation lawsuit filed by election technology company Dominion Voting Systems against Fox News.
Here’s what you need to know about high-stakes cases:
Why is Dominion suing Fox News? Dominion sued Fox News in 2021, accusing the right-wing network of rigging the 2020 election by promoting repeated false claims about the company, including that its voting machines diverted millions of votes from Donald Trump to Joe Biden. Most of the 20 allegedly defamatory broadcasts mentioned in the lawsuit occurred in November and December 2020.
The company claims that Fox News personnel did have malicious intent and “regardless of the facts” when spreading false information about Dominion. To prove “actual malice,” Dominion must convince the jury that those at Fox News responsible for the 20 broadcasts knew Dominion’s statements were false or recklessly ignored false evidence but aired them anyway.
According to Dominion’s theory of the case, Fox promoted these election conspiracy theories because “these lies were good for Fox’s business.” Dominion’s lawsuit specifically targets shows hosted by Lou Dobbs, Maria Bartiromo, Tucker Carlson, Sean Hannity and Jeanine Pirro. Dominion said it had suffered “significant and irreparable financial harm” as a result of Fox’s “orchestrated smear campaign” and that its employees had received death threats and harassment.
What’s Fox’s defense? Fox said it was not defaming anyone and the case was a baseless attack on press freedom.
A Fox spokesperson said the network was “proud of our 2020 election coverage” and that its reporting “represented the highest traditions of American journalism.” “Dominion’s lawsuit is a political campaign seeking huge profits, but the real cost is cherishing First Amendment rights,” the company said.
Fox also accused Dominion of creating “noise and confusion” in the case and said, “The core of this case remains freedom of the press and freedom of speech, which are fundamental rights granted by the Constitution (especially the First Amendment).”
Fox sought to have the lawsuit dismissed. But last month, the judge overseeing the case allowed the case to proceed to trial, dealing a major blow to right-wing networks. He also barred Fox from invoking some key First Amendment defenses, calling them baseless.
What does dominance require? Dominion is seeking $1.6 billion in damages. They said lies on Fox’s broadcast damaged its reputation and led election officials to cancel contracts with Dominion. CNN recently reported on growing distrust of voting machines in heavily Republican counties.
What are the trial logistics? The trial is expected to last five to six weeks and will be overseen by Delaware Superior Court Judge Eric M. Davis, who was appointed to the state bench by the Democratic governor in 2012. The panel of 12 jurors and 12 alternates is being seated.
No cameras are allowed in the courtroom, and no videos of the proceedings will be shown. There will also be no static photography taking place in the courtroom.
Who is expected to testify? Expected witnesses include Fox executive Rupert Murdoch and his son Lachlan Murdoch; Fox News CEO Suzanne Scott and President Jay Wallace; Carlson, Sean Hannity, Maria Bartiromo, Lou Dobbs, Jeanne Pirro and Bret Baier, among others.
Dominion said it may also subpoena Fox chief legal officer Viet Dinh and Fox board member and former House Speaker Paul Ryan to testify.
Both sides also want to provide testimony from their own carefully selected experts who specialize in election statistics, voting machine security, journalistic ethics, the impact of disinformation in public discourse, and more.
Learn more about this case here.
