A New York judge has ruled that Fox News' parent company, Fox Corporation, must sue over a $2.7 billion defamation lawsuit brought by voting company Smartmatic.
Additionally, a judge on Wednesday denied a motion to dismiss defamation claims against the company, NBC News reported. report Thursday.
However, the outlet said, “Smartmatic must also face counterclaims from Fox that the substantive defamation claims are aimed at suppression.” [sic] freedom of speech, the judge ruled in a separate order. ”
The order pertains to a legal battle between Smartmatic, the company accused of fraud in the 2020 election, and Fox News Corp., which claims to have covered news and figures related to the election, according to NBC. The report continued.
Lawyers for Fox asked the court to dismiss the claim against Fox, arguing that the parent company, then led by executives Rupert Murdoch and Lachlan Murdoch, had no legal liability for Fox News coverage. asked the court.
New York County Supreme Court Judge David Cohen disagreed and dismissed the claims in a ruling Wednesday, stating, “Plaintiffs allege in their amended complaint that the company's employees played an affirmative role in publishing the defamation material at issue. I fully assert that I have accomplished this.”
In April, Fox News agreed to pay Dominion Voting Systems a $787 million settlement, helping the voting company avoid a trial in a defamation lawsuit filed against Fox. , Breitbart News reported at the time.
In 2021, Dominion filed a $1.6 billion defamation lawsuit against Fox News and its major corporations.
In the lawsuit, Dominion says the station “broadcast claims by former President Donald Trump and his lawyers that Dominion voting machines were used to steal the 2020 election,” Breitbart News reported. “and damaged its reputation.''
Fox announced in August that its chief legal officer, who oversaw the Dominion settlement, would resign, according to the Associated Press. However, Viet Dinh will retain his role as a “special advisor” to the company.
Speaking about the 2020 election during a CNN town hall in May, President Trump said, “That was a fraudulent election. It's unfortunate that we had to go through that.” It's bad for our country. All over the world they saw it and saw exactly what everyone else was seeing. ”
