Dominion & Smartmatic Lawsuits Against Lying Right-Wing Medi

[LFC]

Court proceedings continue and include the revelation that Faux News's attorneys repeatedly lied in court about Murdoch's position within the company.

Dominion v. Fox News

With Dominion’s defamation case against Fox News set to go to trial next week, the judge made several important pre-trial rulings yesterday:

• Fox will not be allowed to argue that it broadcast false claims about Dominion because they were newsworthy, shutting down what had been a key line of defense for the cable news net.

• The judge was angered by a last-minute revelation that Fox Corp. chairman Rupert Murdoch also held an officer position with Fox News. Dominion complained vigorously that the failure to disclose Murdoch’s role as “executive chair” at Fox News had adversely impacted its approach to the litigation. “My problem is that it has been represented to me more than once that he is not an officer,” the judge said in court, suggesting he might have ruled differently on summary judgment.

• Fox did win one pre-trial dispute: Dominion will not be allowed to mention the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol during the trial.

• A new shareholder derivative lawsuit was filed Tuesday in Delaware against Rupert Murdoch, Lachlan Murdoch and several members of the Fox Corp. board of directors, claiming they violated their fiduciary duties by allowing Fox News to broadcast election conspiracy theories, NBC News reported.

[LFC]

Time to hire some more lawyers.

Fox News suffered a harsh blow in the run-up to next week’s blockbuster trial as a Delaware judge overseeing Dominion Voting System’s defamation case against the right-wing network said he plans to appoint a special master to probe whether Fox lied about withholding evidence.

Besides being on the verge of naming an outside attorney to look into this matter, the judge also sanctioned Fox News for not disclosing evidence, allowing Dominion to conduct another deposition at the network’s expense.

The explosive news comes a day after a former Fox News producer alleged that the conservative cable giant had access to several audio recordings of Trump allies admitting they had no proof of their 2020 election fraud lies but failed to provide the audio to Dominion’s lawyers during discovery.

“I am very concerned… that there have been misrepresentations to the court,” Superior Judge Eric Davis said at a pre-trial hearing on Wednesday. “This is very serious.”

Chastising the network’s lawyers, Davis added that he was “very uncomfortable right now” about the appearance that Fox didn’t fulfill all of its discovery obligations as it approached trial. He went on to say he would appoint an outside attorney to investigate whether Fox made “untrue or negligent” assertions about both its obligatory duties on evidence and its descriptions of Rupert Murdoch’s role at the network.

Lawyers for Fox initially insisted Murdoch didn’t have a formal role at Fox News, which could restrict how much discovery Dominion could seek into Murdoch’s role in the false election claims. But at a hearing this week, a Fox lawyer conceded that Murdoch is the executive chairman of Fox News.

The special master will also look into possible sanctions against the network, including informing jurors in the case Dominion was improperly blocked from obtaining pertinent evidence.

[indy]

I'm not sure why anyone would be surprised that a company which intentionally, knowingly, and repeatedly lied on the air to every single person watching also probably lie to their lawyers.

[LFC]

Apr 13, 2023 12:47:34 GMT indy said:

I'm not sure why anyone would be surprised that a company which intentionally, knowingly, and repeatedly lied on the air to every single person watching also probably lie to their lawyers.

When you're representing Trump or Faux News you have to know that your license to practice is at risk.

[andydp]

Apr 13, 2023 13:03:23 GMT LFC said:

Apr 13, 2023 12:47:34 GMT indy said:

I'm not sure why anyone would be surprised that a company which intentionally, knowingly, and repeatedly lied on the air to every single person watching also probably lie to their lawyers.

When you're representing Trump or Faux News you have to know that your license to practice is at risk.

I was chatting with a friend the other day.  I made the observation that ANYTHING Pres Trump comes in contact with gets corrupted and made into a pile of irrelevant garbage.  Its really bad when the lawyers get lawyers to protect them.

[LFC]

Oh, jeez! I wouldn't want to be an attorney for the defense. Click in and you can listen to the tape.

[goldenvalley]

Apr 13, 2023 19:17:13 GMT LFC said:

Oh, jeez! I wouldn't want to be an attorney for the defense. Click in and you can listen to the tape.

The money is good...I suspect that Murdoch, perhaps unlike Trump, pays his legal fees.  If the lawyers can document their advice not to hide evidence, they will be able to escape sanctions but not embarrassment.  

[LFC]

Faux folds!

Fox News and Dominion Voting Systems said Tuesday that they have reached a settlement agreement just moments before opening arguments were set to begin.

The deal ends a monthslong legal battle over whether the media company had defamed the voting machine maker when they broadcast election conspiracy theories in 2020.

The terms of the settlement were not immediately available.

[LFC]

From what I see in a quick search, Dominion Voting Systems has 142 employees and $23.6M in annual revenue. Not a bad payday for them!

[goldenvalley]

Apr 18, 2023 20:14:33 GMT LFC said:

Faux folds!

Fox News and Dominion Voting Systems said Tuesday that they have reached a settlement agreement just moments before opening arguments were set to begin.

The deal ends a monthslong legal battle over whether the media company had defamed the voting machine maker when they broadcast election conspiracy theories in 2020.

The terms of the settlement were not immediately available.

I am bummed.  No sign that Faux has to say on air that they lied in the settlement as disclosed so far.  Faux will go on saying the election was stolen, just not blame any company by name.   

No justice for the people that Faux mislead...no justice for those that got attacked because of it, not just 1/6 but also places like Shasta Co California that decided not to renew a contract with Dominion Voting Systems.

I'm more than bummed.  I'm just as angry as I ever was about the BS of Faux.  

And I invested a lot in popcorn to eat while watching the headlines come out of the trial testimony. 

[jackd]

Well, they were only allowed to sue for money. Once it's paid, the case is over. However, they did get Fox to "ackowdge the court's finding" that statements were false. That was probably the key to settling the case. Fox still has to face the action by Smartmatic.

[LFC]

[indy]

Apr 18, 2023 22:21:16 GMT jackd said:

Well, they were only allowed to sue for money. Once it's paid, the case is over. However, they did get Fox to "ackowdge the court's finding" that statements were false. That was probably the key to settling the case. Fox still has to face the action by Smartmatic.

They acknowledged the court's finding without saying they agreed that the court's finding was accurate. They still have the other lawsuit in the wings so any actual admitting of guilt or fault would have Smartmatic's lawyers dancing in the halls.

I'm reading it was settled for 787 million or thereabouts. You can assume Smartmatic won't settle for much less.

This kind of fiscal irresponsibility is going to bring a whole raft of shareholder suits and Fox is going to be defending this for years. And it's not like they have been serving their shareholders all that well down something like 25% over the last five years so shareholders were already looking for something to hang their hat on, or maybe a neck for their rope. Murdoch may be forced out eventually.

[goldenvalley]

Apr 19, 2023 0:07:00 GMT indy said:

Apr 18, 2023 22:21:16 GMT jackd said:

Well, they were only allowed to sue for money. Once it's paid, the case is over. However, they did get Fox to "ackowdge the court's finding" that statements were false. That was probably the key to settling the case. Fox still has to face the action by Smartmatic.

They acknowledged the court's finding without saying they agreed that the court's finding was accurate. They still have the other lawsuit in the wings so any actual admitting of guilt or fault would have Smartmatic's lawyers dancing in the halls.

I'm reading it was settled for 787 million or thereabouts. You can assume Smartmatic won't settle for much less.

This kind of fiscal irresponsibility is going to bring a whole raft of shareholder suits and Fox is going to be defending this for years. And it's not like they have been serving their shareholders all that well down something like 25% over the last five years so shareholders were already looking for something to hang their hat on. Murdoch may be forced out eventually.

Or he'll die..

[indy]

Apr 19, 2023 0:27:43 GMT goldenvalley said:

Apr 19, 2023 0:07:00 GMT indy said:

They acknowledged the court's finding without saying they agreed that the court's finding was accurate. They still have the other lawsuit in the wings so any actual admitting of guilt or fault would have Smartmatic's lawyers dancing in the halls.

I'm reading it was settled for 787 million or thereabouts. You can assume Smartmatic won't settle for much less.

This kind of fiscal irresponsibility is going to bring a whole raft of shareholder suits and Fox is going to be defending this for years. And it's not like they have been serving their shareholders all that well down something like 25% over the last five years so shareholders were already looking for something to hang their hat on. Murdoch may be forced out eventually.

Or he'll die..

If Rupert is forced out, I think the whole family is going with him.

[indy]

BTW, if that settlement figure is accurate it is 20 freaking times Dominion's gross revenues.

[goldenvalley]

Apr 19, 2023 0:37:18 GMT indy said:

BTW, if that settlement figure is accurate it is 20 freaking times Dominion's gross revenues.

Fox was worried about punitive damages?

[goldenvalley]

David Graham at The Atlantic says this about the case:

Before it settled, Dominion did the public a service by revealing so much about Fox’s inner workings through the lawsuit. We learned, for example, that the MAGA star Tucker Carlson “hate[d Donald Trump] passionately” and knew that the Trump lawyer Sidney Powell was “lying.” We learned that Murdoch deemed Trump’s lies about the election being stolen “crazy stuff.” Altogether, the evidence appeared to show that Fox knew well that it was broadcasting false and malicious material.

The discovery materials also explained why Fox did so: The company was terrified of losing its audience to smaller rivals such as One America News Network and Newsmax. In the immediate aftermath of the 2020 election, Fox was in the vanguard of reporting reality. It was the first network to call Arizona for Joe Biden, and thus to assert that he would defeat Trump. The network’s reporters, who tend to stick closer to the news than its talk-show hosts, debunked lies about fraud.

The result was an exodus of the viewers who had made Fox into the most powerful news organization in America and by far the leading cable outlet by ratings. For years, some liberals had believed that if Fox simply told the truth, its viewers would change their minds. Instead, they changed the channel.

That last sentence is chilling and it explains why those who are heavily into the right wing will never change their minds about anything.

[indy]

I wish I knew. I wouldn't think a jury would have ever made that sort of award. I think it was worth quite a bit to Fox to avoid the parade of on-air 'talent' as they were grilled about their honesty, as well as chancing being officially branded liars by a court of law.

[indy]

This is pretty funny:

[indy]

Apr 19, 2023 0:55:29 GMT indy said:

I wish I knew. I wouldn't think a jury would have ever made that sort of award. I think it was worth quite a bit to Fox to avoid the parade of on-air 'talent' as they were grilled about their honesty, as well as chancing being officially branded liars by a court of law.

I should rephrase this. A jury might have actually make a crazy punitive award because you never know with a jury but it would have been reduced by the courts to something more reasonable. I don't honestly believe Dominion would have gotten anywhere near 787 million. Ever.

[LFC]

Here's a lawsuit scorecard with an interesting choice of graphics.

[LFC]

Get out the checkbook again, Faux. Sounds like you're in even deeper shit.

Why Smartmatic's case against Fox News is even stronger than Dominion's
There are reasons Smartmatic is seeking a tidy $2.7 billion.

Last month, Fox News agreed to pay an eye-popping $787.5 million sum to settle a defamation lawsuit with Dominion Voting Systems. This allowed the network to avoid a trial that would have further highlighted its role in pushing the story that Dominion had helped Biden steal the election, all the while knowing it was a flat-out lie.

But Fox isn’t off the hook yet. Another voting technology company Fox lied about, Smartmatic, sued the network as well, demanding $2.7 billion, and their lawyer says they won’t settle for less than the same sum as Dominion — and they want a full apology and retraction, which Dominion didn’t get.

Smartmatic may have an even stronger claim than Dominion did. Where Dominion machines were used in 24 states in the 2020 election, Smartmatic was used in exactly one jurisdiction — Los Angeles County — that year. Los Angeles County has voted blue since 1968 and is in a state that Democrats have won every presidential cycle since 1992. Any argument that Smartmatic could have somehow tipped the election to Biden is therefore even more outlandish than the claims against Dominion.

[AnBr]

[LFC]

Pillow Boy's attorneys want out due to lack of payment.

Attorneys who've been defending MyPillow chief executive and election denier Mike Lindell against defamation lawsuits by voting machine companies are seeking court permission to quit, saying he owes them unspecified millions of dollars and can't pay the millions more that he'll owe in legal expenses going forward.

Lindell confirmed in an interview with The Associated Press on Friday that he's out of money and said he understands his lawyers are people who need to make a living.

Attorney Andrew Parker wrote in documents filed in federal court on Thursday that his firm and a second firm representing MyPillow in lawsuits by Smartmatic and Denver-based Dominion Voting Systems can't afford what it would cost to represent Lindell and MyPillow through the rest of the litigation. Continuing to defend him would put the firms “in serious financial risk,” he wrote.

Parker's firm has also requested to stop defending Lindell, his company, MyPillow, and his website, FrankSpeech, from a defamation lawsuit filed in federal court in Colorado by Eric Coomer, former director of product strategy and security for Denver-based Dominion.

It’s the latest in a string of legal and financial setbacks for Lindell, who propagates former President Donald Trump’s lies that the 2020 election was stolen from him, in part by rigged voting machine systems. He is also a high profile ally of former Mesa County clerk Tina Peters, including hold a fundraiser for her during her unsuccessful run for Secretary of State. Several big-box retailers, including Walmart, have stopped carrying Lindell's products.

“MyPillow's been decimated... We've lost hundreds of millions of dollars,” Lindell said, adding that the other main assets he has left are his home and pickup truck. He blamed Dominion, Smartmatic and the news media, including the conservative outlets Fox News and Newsmax.