Dominion Sues

 Today, Smartmatic filed a comprehensive $2.7 billion lawsuit in the state of New York against Fox News, a number of their news anchors and other individuals. Containing 276 pages, the allegations of specific wrongdoing and purposeful disregard of the facts are exhaustively itemized. I have only read the complaint once, but I can still make some preliminary observations.

First, the complaint, especially the summary that begins the complaint, reads like a John Grisham novel. If true, the actions of Fox News, its anchors, and Sidney Powell and Rudy Guiliani (whose unsubstantiated allegations were taken at face value) would show that the integrity of news reporting was completely undermined by a desire to pander to their primary viewership.

Second, if you have tended to think about Dominion Voting Systems and Smartmatic in the same breath, it is the fault of Fox News and its enablers. In 2020, Smartmatic was ONLY used in Los Angeles County and not in any of the areas where voting irregularities were alleged. Hence, they suffered guilt by association where no association actually existed.

Third, It is notable that the only Fox News employees who are named as defendants are people who hold themselves out to be journalists: Lou Dobbs, Maria Bartiromo and Jeanine Pirro. Excluded as defendants are such pundits as Sean Hannity, Tucker Carlson and Laura Ingraham. There was a brilliant reason for the exclusions. As I noted in a prior “legal stuff”, a court has previously concluded that pundits/commentators (including Tucker Carlson specifically) could not be successfully sued for defamation because “no reason person” would construe their commentary as real news.

The focus of the suit against Fox News, then, is that, as a purportedly accurate news source, it purposely misled its viewers and perpetuated a narrative about Smartmatic that it knew to be false. Here is their conclusion:

“With this action, Smartmatic says: Enough. Facts matter. Truth matters. Defendants engaged in a conspiracy to spread disinformation about Smartmatic. They lied. And they did so knowingly and intentionally. Smartmatic seeks to hold them accountable for those lies and for the damage that their lies have caused.”

The merits of the case will be determined at a later time. But from a first read, this is not a case that will easily be dismissed. [Written on February 4, 2021]