The motion for summary judgment says Fox News aired at least 20 defamatory statements across six different shows
Dominion Voting systems offered an extensive sneak peek at its sweeping defamation case against Fox News in a Thursday court filing, bringing dozens of examples of how top network executives and hosts – from Rupert Murdoch to Tucker Carlson – were privately appalled as the network continued to book guests presenting unsupported election-fraud theories following the 2020 election.
The 179-page document, filed Thursday in the Superior Court of Delaware, requests “summary judgment” – or a judge’s declaration of instant victory – in Dominion’s $1.6 billion defamation suit against Fox. While the odds of that happening are statistically zero, the filing, including dozens of texts and emails between Fox’s top brass and talent, is the most comprehensive view into Dominion’s case against Fox since it filed suit in November 2021.
Dominion says Fox defamed it by allowing guests like attorney Sidney Powell and Trump advisor Rudy Giuliani to repeatedly appear in the weeks after the Nov. 2020 election, suggesting that Dominion’s software was compromised to digitally tilt the election to Biden.
A necessary pillar of any defamation case is showing “actual malice” – meaning the plaintiff must be proven to have known it was spreading harmful untruths. Dominion says the emails, text messages and other communication it collected shows that behind the scenes, Fox’s top-ranking shot-callers were horrified by the unfounded claims appearing nightly on their network – and were deeply worried that they would case trouble down the road.
