Voting machine makers Dominion and Smartmatic have hit the jackpot, quite literally. Via discovery in the lawsuit, they now have texts showing that Fox News stars Hannity, Tucker, and Ingraham texted back and forth, mocking Trump and his team’s list of excuses, including the voting machine issues, and then proceeding to go on the air and push these theories as real and serious.
If you are suing for defamation, you have to prove that the speaker knew that their statements were false. Here, perfectly preserved, we now have texts in which they were laughably false.
From the Times:
Hosts Tucker Carlson, Sean Hannity, and Laura Ingraham, as well as others at the company, repeatedly insulted and mocked Trump advisers, including Sidney Powell and Rudolph W. Giuliani, in messages with each other in the weeks after the election, according to a legal filing made public on Thursday in a defamation lawsuit against Fox by Dominion Voting Systems.
It had to be hell on the three clowns in handing over their phones, knowing exactly what would be found. They had to know right then that the lawsuit was basically lost.
“Sidney Powell is lying by the way. I caught her. It’s insane,” Mr. Carlson wrote to Ms. Ingraham on Nov. 18, 2020. Ms. Ingraham responded: “Sidney is a complete nut. No one will work with her. Ditto with Rudy.” Mr. Carlson continued, “Our viewers are good people and they believe it,” he added, making clear that he did not.
This is the cognitive dissonance required to be a Fox News entertainer. It was Tucker himself who used the “No sane person would believe what I was saying” defense to a prior defamation lawsuit. “Our viewers are good people,” and thus, “they will believe it,” even though Tucker knew it was wrong? So only bad people would see right through his lies? Bad people like, say, Rachel Maddow? The New York Times? Me? You?
That is painfully close to summary judgment territory where the judge says, “Yes, that’s defamation, alright. The trial will now be only to measure damages.”
Dominion’s goal, aside from convincing a jury that Fox knowingly spread lies, is to build a case that points straight to the top of the Fox media empire and its founding family: the Murdochs. “Fox knew,” the Dominion filing declares. “From the top down, Fox knew.”
Well, of course, Rupert and his sons knew! This IS their business plan. Feed the fans what they want to hear without regard to whether it is true or not. That is the entire purpose of having an evening line-up!
Believe it or not, a long time ago, 15-20 years ago, the real news division at Fox, the people who worked the day shift, used to be semi-respected (they had some decent reporters), but even that is now gone. The “Fox Knew” meme is going to permeate the entire lawsuit(s) and will simply drive up damages. Fox can certainly pay the $1.6 billion, but that almost becomes problematic for them because defamation suits are supposed to ensure that the plaintiff is made “whole” due to the reputation damage and punish the company. So long as the jury finds Fox liable, which looks more certain by the day, the Plaintiffs will put out evidence as to how much money Fox makes, and the jury will decide how much it will take to sufficiently punish Fox. It is not unheard of for juries to go above the amount for which the attorneys asked.
So, now consider the example set in this case and consider the volume of lies that occur on the air in those evening shows and consider the number of plaintiffs that might line up right behind Dominion and Smartmatic. Yes, Tucker has been sued for defamation before. But now the company will be (If the plaintiffs win) on notice that lies are spewed every night, “good people, they will believe it,” and so from this point forward, every plaintiff will say that the “Murdochs were on notice that they had liars on air in the evening and let them continue to spew their lies and are thus speaking for the network…”
Murdoch is going to have a come-to Jesus moment here soon enough. If Fox has to pay out $1.6 billion (or more) to Dominion and Smartmatic, along with other ancillary lawsuits filed by people hurt by the post-election lies, a decision is going to have to be made. “Is a business model premised upon lies to feed the audience sustainable given the liability incurred in doing so?” And the answer will depend on the balance of money in versus money going out due to the lies.
As someone called a liar by someone with 1.1 million followers, as I was yesterday, there is a strong temptation to sue because you feel so violated. Imagine the number of companies and people who will see the example being set and get in line. It could literally drive Fox News off the air, leaving only the network and its successful shows and NFL.
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[email protected], @JasonMiciak, SUBSTACK: RIHANNA’S HALFTIME SHOW CALLED ‘SATANIC’ AMIDST MASS SHOOTINGS AND TREATING MIGRANTS AS SUBHUMAN
A dream come true if FOX and all that lie to “the good people, they will believe it” were canned and is taken off the air! I can’t stand Hannity, Carlson and Ingraham and I don’t even watch FOX!
DITTO, they know nothing about telling the truth …
TRUE evil is one which KNOWS the truth and can be paid to LIE. It isn’t a job, it is a total lack of morality. Pence KNEW tobacco killed, yet he took money to LIE they didn’t or that the “science wasn’t settled”. He very likely did precisely the same thing about HIV and education when Governor and he continues doing it today with climate science. These asshats have done it for years and they continue doing it. There is NO redemption from such deliberate and self-serving evil. Unfortunately, there is nowhere it would be possible to exile them.
Good for you, because Fox News has been INCREDIBLY destructive to American democracy. It has nothing to do with freedom of speech. It has to do with using manipulative disinformation to deliberately sow disunity and conflict designed to weaken American society, in other words psychological warfare (psyops) against the United States and in the interests of foreign powers, especially fascists like Putin. All with the motive of making money. Which is the definition of treason: selling out your country.
Jason: you absolutely should sue – why not? That appears to be the only thing that will begin to turn things around with these liars and libelers. I know it’s time consuming and resource intense for those filing suit so I understand perfectly why not – just the same I wish you would.
Back in the day, when there were basically 3 major networks and daily newspapers from which we mostly got our news as a nation and society (yes I’m that old), there were consequences from misstatements and faulty reporting – even if unintentional. People were exposed and/or sued and held accountable. With the absolute explosion of sources over the last 20 years or so, accountability is now little more than whack-a-mole and those with limited ability to think and interpret what they read and hear logically can be easily manipulated. How do we combat what our media has become? I don’t have any real answer other than “Sue the bastards!”
Still considering it.
Realistically it could be a class action or a series of class actions. But now at least we know which lawyers to call.
My brother says pin the tweet to my Twitter account and wear it as a badge of honor.
I think you should do that, too.
If there’s really a God Fux news will be obliterated, and the world just might go back to some semblance of the pre-Rodger Ailes days.
I suspect that there will be no lack of lawyers willing to work Pro Bono on lawsuits against FUX after this. Avoiding heavy legal fees will encourage plenty of complainants to file suit. And I pray that these corrupt “stars” of FUX will go down along with the bosses.
Before they yank those jackholes off the air, they ought to make them apologize for their repeated offenses on the air for, oh let’s say a complete month.
“We lied to you about the stolen election. Trump LOST.”
“Rudy, Sidney and Kari Lake are all crazy.”
You know, little tidbits like that.
Call it “Correction and Reconciliation Month.”
Make it long and loud enough so no one can miss it.
Maybe this has been covered in the past and it’s a non-starter, but if Fox gets nailed (looking increasingly likely) wouldn’t it be great to go after their “talent” personally? Those texts and other information that prove Malines at a level that meets the Sullivan standard established by SCOTUS should also apply to individuals. And with a court loss in which the evening hosts’ and the morning crew’s texts and emails are the evidence that puts the screws to Fox already each of those asshats would be starting out way the hell in the hole. A hundred million dollar lawsuit against each and every one of them would change their lives immeasurably. Well, except for Carlson who was born filthy rich. But that just means that Swanson family fortune is on the block! Wouldn’t it be funny if that trust were broken up? And all that money was to say be used to fund “woke”/liberal causes!
Jason. Having participated in hundreds of psy admissions, it was inevitable someone would either get upset with my assessment, or their family pathology would blame me. I was sued. After 6 hours of deposition and a couple of years, my case went to the NC Supreme Court and I won. The other side had to foot the entire bill. The suit was baseless but with attorneys that often doesn’t matter. The hospital and MD were the deep pockets they were after. All I can say is sure you have a case, but ask yourself if you want to put the time & emotional energy into proving your point. You have the truth on your side and he’s a liar. Exposing that is free and remembering who you are is also. Just a suggestion to think about.
This is the way I’m leaning. I’m the only attorney on earth, I think, that has never filed suit in my name (a divorce suit against me doesn’t count). And I don’t wan to break that record. I’m kind of proud of it.