Judge sends Dominion lawsuit against Fox News to trial (Politico)

"It is “CRYSTAL clear” that Fox aired false statements about the voting company after the 2020 election, the judge wrote."

"Judge Eric Davis concluded that Dominion Voting Systems, which makes election equipment, had proven that Fox aired a series of false claims about the company, but that depositions, internal emails and text messages had not established whether Fox acted with “actual malice” by carrying statements on its air that it knew were false or likely so.

The evidence is “CRYSTAL clear that none of the Statements relating to Dominion about the 2020 election are true,” Davis wrote. Fox’s false statements included assertions that the company was controlled by Venezuela and implemented a bizarre algorithm to boost Democrats’ vote count under certain conditions, the judge said.

Some uncertainty remained about who at Fox authorized specific broadcasts and what those people knew or believed at the time, Davis continued.

“The Court does not weigh the evidence to determine who may have been responsible for publication and if such people acted with actual malice – these are genuine issues of material fact and therefore must be determined by a jury,” the judge wrote in his81-page ruling ."

"While the Court must view the record in the light most favorable to Fox, the record does not show a genuine issue of material fact as to falsity. Through its extensive proof, Dominion has met its burden of showing there is no genuine issue of material fact as to falsity. Fox therefore had the burden to show an issue of material fact existed in turn. Fox failed to meet its burden. The evidence developed in this civil proceeding demonstrates that is CRYSTAL clear that none of the Statements relating to Dominion about the 2020 election are true. Therefore, the Court will grant summary judgment in favor of Dominion on the element of falsity."

By so ruling, the judge essentially eliminated much of Fox's "defense" claiming "ambiguity". That is going to be a very, very high hurdle to surmount at trial. But he didn't stop there. He also found "no issue of material fact" that Fox published the falsities. " FNN is not a passive entity. FNN controls what is broadcast on its various networks. FNN does this through its employees as agents of FNN. Thus, regardless of who within FNN is responsible for publication, FNN did in fact publish the statements to its viewers."

Fox is screwed. Fox should be.