Fox News and Dominion Voting Systems announced that they reached a $787.5 million settlement over claims that the television network made false statements about voter fraud in the 2020 election.
After a long dispute, Fox News managed to evade a libel suit against them by reaching a financial settlement and admitting that they shared misinformation about the 2020 election.
It is suspected that the decision was made at the last minute, shortly before the opening statements of the trial were to begin, as the jurors had already been sworn in when the court proceedings were halted and there was a delay of several hours. The settlement means that the trial has come to an end and both parties appear to be satisfied with the decision.
At a press conference, the CEO of the voting machine company, John Poulos, explained that in addition to agreeing to the amount, Fox admitted to lying about Dominion and claimed that such lies caused significant damage to the company and its customers.
“Lies have consequences. The truth does not know red or blue.”
— Dominion Voting Systems lawyer Justin Nelson celebrates Fox News’ settlement of $787.5 million over its lies about Dominion in the wake of the 2020 election, sparing Fox News from a potentially damaging trial pic.twitter.com/1BC2CHUQ4j
— The Recount (@therecount) April 18, 2023
Fox News also reported on the deal and acknowledged that they found "certain claims" about Dominion that were found to be false.
The television network also assured that the agreement reflects the company's commitment to the "highest journalistic standards." "We are hopeful that our decision to resolve this dispute with Dominion amicably, instead of the acrimony of a divisive trial, allows the country to move forward from these issues," Fox added.
It should be recalled that Dominion had sued Fox News for $1.6 billion after the television network publicly claimed that the 2020 elections were fraudulent due to an alleged manipulation that Dominion had committed with its voting machines.
Fox initially asserted that Dominion's lawsuit was a political crusade seeking "exaggerated" financial gain. However, legal documents later surfaced revealing that journalists, anchors and even network executives were aware that the information they were sharing about the election was false.
