Delaware judge denies Fox’s motion to dismiss Dominion lawsuit

A Delaware judge denied a motion on Thursday by Fox News to dismiss Dominion Voting Systems’ defamation lawsuit against the network. 

Dominion sued the network in March for $1.6 billion over its coverage of the 2020 election and claims that some members of the network made regarding Dominion.

One of the claims pushed by some on Fox News was that votes had been changed by Dominion through voting machines that Venezuelan dictator Hugo Chávez created.

In May, Fox filed a motion to dismiss the lawsuit. The network claimed in its motion that it “did not create allegations against Dominion,” but that they were reporting on the remarks of others, including former President Trump and his supporters.

“When a sitting President of the United States and his legal team challenge a presidential election in litigation throughout the nation, the media can truthfully report and comment on those allegations under the First Amendment without fear of liability,” attorneys for Fox wrote at the time. “Plaintiffs’ defamation lawsuit against Fox News threatens to stifle the media’s free-speech right to inform the public about newsworthy allegations of paramount public concern.”

However, Delaware Superior Court Judge Eric Davis sided with Dominion on Thursday, writing in his decision that “for purposes of the Motion, the Court must view all well-pled facts alleged in the Complaint as true and in a light most favorable to Dominion,” according to Law & Crime.

“If the plaintiff offers ‘some direct evidence’ that the statement ‘was probably false,’ the Court can infer that the defendant ‘inten[ded] to avoid the truth,’” he added.

Fox News Media responded to the judge’s decision, saying in a statement that the lawsuit was “baseless” and an “all-out assault on the First Amendment.”

“As we have maintained, FOX News, along with every single news organization across the country, vigorously covered the breaking news surrounding the unprecedented 2020 election, providing full context of every story with in-depth reporting and clear-cut analysis,” Fox News Media said. “We remain committed to defending against this baseless lawsuit and its all-out assault on the First Amendment.”