Fox News probably had enough information after the 2020 presidential election to know a conspiracy theory claiming Dominion Voting Systems Inc. rigged the contest was false, a judge said in denying the network’s request to dismiss a defamation lawsuit.
Delaware state court Judge Eric M. Davis on Thursday ruled Dominion had presented enough factual allegations against Fox for the $1.6 billion lawsuit to proceed.
“Fox possessed countervailing evidence of election fraud from the Department of Justice, election experts, and Dominion at the time it had been making its statements,” the judge wrote. “The fact that, despite this evidence, Fox continued to publish its allegations against Dominion, suggests Fox knew the allegations were probably false.”
Denver-based Dominion, which provided voting technology in more than two dozen states, has long alleged that Fox and other conservative news outlets trashed its reputation by falsely placing the company at the center of a vast conspiracy to flip votes away from former President Donald Trump. Trump’s false claims of vote rigging ultimately helped trigger the Jan. 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol by a mob of his supporters.
Davis noted that Fox continued to give air to the conspiracy without challenging it with known details debunking the lies.
“When Fox guests spread or reiterated disinformation about Dominion, Fox did not use the information Dominion provided to correct its guests or to reorient its viewers,” Davis wrote. “Instead, Fox and...
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