The out-of-court settlement between US broadcaster Fox News and electronic voting company Dominion (Voting Systems) came as a rather unexpected development shortly before the two sides met in court in Delaware. The unexpected news was delivered “live” by Neil Cavuto, one of the most famous Fox News anchors.

As he specifically stated, “Fox News has agreed to pay $787 million in damages following Dominion’s defamation lawsuit. It is reported by the Wall Street Journal. Settlement prevents litigation over allegations that Fox, its hosts and guests made complaints about the technological reliability of the 2020 election process.”

“A confession, but not a complete apology”

In 2020, Donald Trump did not acknowledge his defeat to the Democrats and Joe Biden, effectively attributing it to a “rig.” The ultra-conservative Fox News network appeared to have at least partially accepted the statements, though the lines were often blurred. Was he just a record of current political events, as Fox News itself claims, or was he acting as a pro-Trump propagandist, as Dominion claims, demanding even the mythical sum of 1.6 billion euros in compensation?

Finally, the settlement was “closed” for $787.5 million. This is a much smaller amount than Dominion claimed, but as Cary Colianesi, professor of law at the University of Pennsylvania, reports, “It is certainly a huge amount. The only such case I can think of is a case that was settled for $175 million. Here we are talking about almost 800 million, this seems to be a record amount.”

With the out-of-court settlement, 92-year-old Fox News chief Rupert Murdoch and other top executives of the channel are spared … the inconvenience of appearing in court as witnesses to answer, American analysts say. constant questions about the internal activities of the company.

Calls continue…

Dominion chief John Poulos speaks of a “historic settlement” and his attorney, Justin Nelson, states that “truth comes first, and lies must have consequences.”

The story doesn’t end here. Another lawsuit by electronic vote counting company Smartmatic is pending against Fox News. But Dominion has also filed other lawsuits against American networks Newsmax and OAN, as well as former Trump associates such as former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani and ultra-conservative activist Mike Liddell.

Regarding Fox News, Professor Colianesi believes that “on the one hand, he admits that some of his assessments of the Dominion were wrong, on the other hand, he does not categorically apologize. He does not appear to have been defeated in court. But, ultimately, we are talking about almost $800 million, a significant amount for a company like Dominion…”

Source: DW with information from DPA, AP, Reuters.