Lawyers for Dominion Voting Systems, simply after saying a lawsuit against Fox News for allegedly spreading defamatory lies about the company, signaled Friday that they may file extra fits towards particular Fox personalities.
“We haven’t dominated out any events, together with particular person brokers of Fox News that we referenced in the lawsuit,” stated Stephen Shackelford, an lawyer for Dominion’s case against Fox and a associate at trial agency Susman Godfrey, on a convention name with reporters.
He gave an analogous reply when requested particularly about Lou Dobbs and Maria Bartiromo, each of whom are prominently featured in Dominion’s swimsuit towards Fox.
“We have not dominated out suing these particular person brokers,” Shackelford stated, however “finally although, the buck stops with Fox.”
He later added: “I do not assume that is going to be the final lawsuit filed. All we are able to say at this level is, we’re doing our due diligence and looking on the proof.”
The lawsuit in Delaware Superior Court is asking for greater than $1.6 billion in damages.
Dominion has already filed separate federal lawsuits towards former President Donald Trump’s lawyer Rudy Giuliani, the lawyer Sidney Powell and the pro-Trump CEO of MyPillow, Mike Lindell.
Dominion, whose machines are licensed in 28 states, argues that every of these defendants defamed the corporate and severely broken its status by falsely claiming it rigged the 2020 presidential election towards Trump.
Trump misplaced to President Joe Biden however by no means formally conceded the race. He spent months amplifying an array of baseless conspiracy theories about election fraud, and pressured politicians to take steps that could overturn Biden’s victory.
On Jan. 6, he held a rally exterior the White House and known as on Vice President Mike Pence and different Republicans to not certify Biden’s Electoral College victory. A mob of Trump’s supporters then stormed the U.S. Capitol, forcing a joint session of Congress into hiding. The invasion resulted in 5 deaths, together with a U.S. Capitol police officer.
Dominion’s newest defamation swimsuit claims that “on account of Fox’s orchestrated defamatory marketing campaign,” workers in any respect ranges of the corporate “have been repeatedly harassed. Some have even acquired dying threats. And in fact, Dominion’s enterprise has suffered huge and irreparable financial hurt.”
The swimsuit accuses Fox of “broadcasting the lies of facially unreliable sources — which have been embraced by Fox’s personal on-air personalities — as a result of the lies have been good for Fox’s enterprise.”
Those allegedly unreliable sources embrace Powell, whose attorneys this week requested a choose to dismiss Dominion’s $1.3 billion defamation case towards her.
Powell’s attorneys in that movement to dismiss claimed that “no reasonable person” would believe that her false claims and conspiracy theories about the 2020 election were “truly statements of fact.”
Fox News Media in a press release Friday stated it is “proud” of its protection of the 2020 election, “which stands in the best custom of American journalism.” The firm stated it “will vigorously defend towards this baseless lawsuit in court docket.”
The authorized criticism in Delaware repeatedly references a slew of present and former Fox hosts and on-air personalities, together with Bartiromo, Dobbs, Tucker Carlson, Sean Hannity and Jeanine Pirro.
Dobbs’ surname, as an illustration, seems practically 300 occasions in numerous kinds in the 139-page court docket submitting. In early February, Fox cancelled Dobbs’ present “Lou Dobbs Tonight,” which aired on Fox Business.
Both Fox News Network, LLC, and Dominion Voting Systems, Inc., are based mostly in Delaware, although each corporations are headquartered elsewhere.
“The disinformation marketing campaign waged towards our firm has induced us extreme injury and undermined belief in American democratic establishments,” Dominion CEO John Poulos stated in a press release Friday morning.
“These lies even have threatened the private security of our workers and prospects. No sum of money will restore the injury accomplished,” Poulos stated.
Dominion authorized counsel Tom Clare stated in a press release that Fox “endorsed, repeated, and broadcast a collection of verifiably false, but devastating, lies about Dominion. Fox’s viral disinformation marketing campaign reached over a billion individuals worldwide and induced huge hurt to Dominion.”