Fox v. Dominion

[DB Roy]

In Delaware Superior Court today, a settlement was reached between Dominion and Fox News. The jury was chosen and opening statements were about to be made when a delay took place and when it was over, Judge Eric Davis let the jury go and thanked them for their service and both teams of lawyers also thanked the jury. Although the jury was not told what the settlement was, Fox News must pay $787.5 million and admit that they pushed lies concerning Dominion's voting machines,

One can see why Fox caved and settled before the trial could start. Dominion had such devastating evidence on Fox that Fox could never weather the storm of criticism it would be facing if that evidence was aired in public. That evidence must never see the light of day, they decided. The embarrassment would be intense. Employees would quit in order to flee to safety. Careers would be ruined. It's just too bad that this isn't going to happen but Fox has to do what Fox has to do.

Dominion also announced that they are by no means through. They intend, they said, to pursue others who were in on the conspiracy to defame Dominion. They too must pay the piper. I presume Rudy and Sydney Powell are at least two of the "others" Dominion refers to. You know they have to be terrified. They will cave and give Dominion anything it wants so as not to go to trial.

Like many, I am disappointed that there will not be a trial. I know some very dirty laundry was going to get aired and Fox would go kaput. But they have to go into survival mode. That's to be expected. I imagine some of this evidence will end up being revealed anyway. Who knows how bad it might get? You figure that Dominion released as an appetizer tidbit the fact that Sydney Powell got the election-stealing info from a woman who claimed to be a psychic and learned about the phony election while traveling the astral plane in a decapitated state. THIS was the LEAST shocking thing Dominion could afford to give up before the trial! Imagine the earth-shattering shit Fox is desperate to keep covered!

And all this happened to Fox because they couldn't stop kissing Trump's ass. The guy ruins everything and everyone he touches. It's what happens when you care about someone who only cares about himself. You will be led to ruination.

[Chris OConnor]

I'm soooo disappointed that this won't go to trial. Do you know if the trial was going to be televised?

[DB Roy]

I do not know. The mystery is why Fox didn't settle before Dominion released the Carlson memos. That would prevent any of it from ever being heard. Why let Dominion do that and only then do you settle? Makes no sense. Fox must have stupid lawyers. The size of the settlement is a direct correlation to the fault in the case so Fox is very liable. Moreover, if Fox had real evidence of election fraud then that would be a good time to release it. They released nothing meaning they have no evidence of electioneering by Dominion. So, they were lying all this time and the judge knew it and so slapped them with a hefty-ass fine.

[LanDroid]

Lawrence O'Donnell made an extended statement last night focusing on the stupidity of Rupert Murdoch. He could have prevented all of this by adding tiny disclaimers in election fraud statements while still spreading them, something like "We make no claims as to the veracity, but it is being reported that..." Fox did not do that. Also, as DB Roy says, Fox could have admitted problems earlier on - PRIOR to having all this discovery that their talking jerks actually disbelieved and hated Trump - and settled for a small fraction of this amount. But only one man had the authority to manage all this and he was too stupid to prevent it. No, this will not change how Fox operates, but it serves as a huge warning to others. And now there is this - Fox shareholders don't appear to be thrilled at wasting over 3/4 $billion; they want to extract that from someone's hide.

Exclusive: Fox investors seek records in possible step toward suing directors
Fox Corp shareholders are demanding company records that may show whether directors and executives properly oversaw Fox News' coverage of former President Donald Trump's election-rigging claims, sources told Reuters, in what could be a prelude to lawsuits seeking to make directors liable for costs.
...In moves not previously reported, shareholders are looking for records such as board minutes, emails and texts that may contain evidence that Fox directors and executives were derelict by allowing the network to air the false claims.
4/17/2023
https://www.reuters.com/legal/fox-inves ... 023-04-17/

All this is a prelude to an even larger lawsuit as voting machine manufacturer Smartmatic sues Fox for $2.7 billion for the same reasons. Smartmatic has access to all the pre-trial information developed by Dominion and I expect that huge settlement weakens Fox's position in the new lawsuit. Smartmatic's settlement strategy should be something like "It's $2.7 billion if we go to trial. If you want to avoid trial, that will cost $4.1 billion, Fox's total cash on hand prior to the Dominion settlement."

Don’t Worry! The $2.7 Billion Sequel to the Dominion Case Is Already Coming.
Shortly after the settlement announcement, J. Erik Connolly, a lawyer for Smartmatic, issued a statement: “Dominion’s litigation exposed some of the misconduct and damage caused by Fox’s disinformation campaign. Smartmatic will expose the rest.”
4/18/2023.
https://slate.com/news-and-politics/202 ... laint.html

I believe both Dominion and Smartmatic are also suing other media outlets such as OAN and even "Mr. Pillow" Mike Lindell. This will be in the news for a long time...

[Chris OConnor]

All this is a prelude to an even larger lawsuit as voting machine manufacturer Smartmatic sues Fox for $2.7 billion for the same reasons.

Wow! I wasn't aware that this isn't over. I've been so bummed out with how Dominion settled without any requirement for Fox to make crystal clear apologies for what they did. I've been so busy lately that I guess I haven't been paying attention to the news surrounding this subject.

[geo]

I have a relative who watches Faux News regularly. And he still watches Faux News regularly. Nothing has changed.

[Chris OConnor]

I have a relative who watches Faux News regularly. And he still watches Faux News regularly. Nothing has changed.

I'm tempted to engage in this discussion with a few neighbors and friends that watch Fox and see what they know of the lawsuit and settlement. Fox did NOT admit a damn thing, so unless they heard about this stuff from other sources, they will be clueless. And me sharing it with them will be met like a brick wall.

[LanDroid]

I saw a segment where a CNN talking head had 4 Faux viewers on a video call to discuss their reactions. At they end she asks, "Show of hands - how many will continue to watch Faux?" Three hands shot up, then the 4th crept up slowly with a grimace saying she might be a tad more skeptical.

Fox has a standard business process for these lawsuit payoffs. They have had quite a few penalties from sex harassment to a large phone hacking scandal in the UK, etc. Part of this Dominion payment will likely be covered by insurance. By reducing profits, any uncovered payment will also serve as a tax deduction of up to $165.38 million. As their fans are more interested in the path to power than the truth, viewership will continue and Fox will weather this storm.

However the Smartmatic settlement might end that business process. I expect that payout to be much closer to $2.7 billion than the $787. million for Dominion. Fox might not be able to absorb that so comfortably. As mentioned before, investors are gathering data to attack the personal assets of Fox directors and executives. At some point I'd expect investors would factor in a series of continuing penalties for future lawsuits as Fox behavior remains unchanged, reducing perceived revenue growth and tanking the stock price. (A trial would be much more effective at exposing all the lies and defamation, but that's highly unlikely since lawyers represent Smartmatic, not free speech.)

[Jim Watters]

Fox does have a few recent stories about the defamation lawsuit and settlement.

Check out the comments below this page! People are calling out Fox.

https://www.foxnews.com/media/fox-news- ... on-lawsuit

The page has nothing about how much the settlement was, or admit any guilt.

[Chris OConnor]

"FOX News Media, Dominion Voting Systems reach agreement over defamation lawsuit"

"Reach agreement" leads the uninformed (Fox viewers) to believe Fox and Dominion were working "as a team." It's all in the wording. Dominion pisses me off by not requiring Fox to be open and honest about what they did wrong and pledge to never do it again. Instead, they are candy coating things for their biased viewers.

"Dominion Voting Systems filed $1.6B lawsuit against network in 2021"
Notice how they say "against network" instead of "Fox News." Again, it's all about wording things vaguely so the Fox News watchers glance right by this article.