Fox News has asked a federal judge to dismiss a Venezuelan businessman’s defamation claim against the network and one of its now-former hosts over statements made on the network linking him to baseless claims of voter fraud in the 2020 presidential election.
Majed Khalil sued Fox News, former Fox Business host Lou Dobbs, parent company Fox Corporation, and former Donald Trump “elite strike force team” leader Sidney Powell in December, claiming that they “xenophobically” linked him to allegations against voting technology companies Smartmatic and Dominion.
Khalil said that Dobbs and Powell said that Khalil was one of four people who worked with Dominion and Smartmatic to “rig or fix the results” of the election in favor of president Joe Biden. Khalil said that when Smartmatic and Dominion pushed back against claims from Dobbs and others, the defendants doubled down and “falsely identified Mr. Khalil, a Venezuelan businessman who … had no involvement in, or connection to, any United States election and no business dealings whatsoever with Dominion or Smartmatic[.]”
On Monday, Fox and Dobbs responded to Khalil’s complaint with a motion to dismiss, saying that statements made on-air and on Twitter about Trump’s efforts to reverse the election results were opinion and commentary protected by the First Amendment.
Trump’s “Unconventional Efforts” And Voter Fraud Claims Are “Inherently Newsworthy”
The motion describes the Trump team’s legal maneuvers as “unconventional efforts to...
The Alliance for a Safe Community chairman urges authorities to take uncompromising legal action against companies accused of submitting false claims under SOCSO's Daya Kerjaya 2.0 programme COMPAN...