Fox, Dominion reach $787M settlement over election claims
Fox and Dominion Voting Systems reached a $787 million settlement Tuesday in the voting machine company’s defamation lawsuit, averting a trial in a case that exposed how the top-rated network chased viewers by promoting lies about the 2020 presidential election. “The truth matters. Lies have consequences,” Dominion lawyer Justin Nelson said in a news conference outside the courthouse after a judge announced the deal. Dominion had asked for $1.6 billion in arguing that Fox had damaged its reputation by helping peddle phony conspiracy theories about its equipment switching votes from former President Donald Trump to Democrat Joe Biden. Fox said the amount greatly overstated the value of the Colorado-based company. The resolution in Delaware Superior Court follows a recent ruling by Judge Eric Davis in which he allowed the case to go to trial while emphasizing it was “CRYSTAL clear” that none of the allegations about Dominion aired on Fox by Trump allies were true. In a statement issued shortly after the announcement, Fox News said the network acknowledged “the court’s rulings finding certain claims about Dominion to be false.” It did not respond to an inquiry asking for elaboration. Inquiries to Dominion and Fox Corp. were not immediately returned. Records released as part of the lawsuit showed how Fox hosts and executives did not believe the claims by Trump’s allies but aired them anyway, in part to win back viewers who were fleeing the network after it correctly called hotly contested Arizona for Democrat Joe Biden on election night. The settlement, if formally accepted by the judge, will end a case that has proven a major embarrassment for Fox News. If the case had gone to trial, it also would have presented one of the sternest tests to a libel standard that has protected media organizations for more than half a century. Several First Amendment experts had said Dominion’s case was among the strongest they had ever seen. Still, there was real doubt about whether Dominion would be able to prove to a jury that people in a decision-making capacity at Fox could be held responsible for the network’s airing of the falsehoods. Dominion accused Fox of defaming it by repeatedly airing, in the weeks after the 2020 presidential election, false allegations by Trump allies that its machines and the software they used had flipped votes to Biden — even as many at the network doubted the claims and disparaged those who were making them. The company sued both Fox News and its parent, Fox Corp., and said its business had been significantly damaged. During a deposition, Fox Corp. Chairman Rupert Murdoch, who founded the network, testified that he believed the 2020 election was fair and had not been stolen from Trump. “Fox knew the truth,” Dominion argued in court papers. “It knew the allegations against Dominion were ‘outlandish’ and ‘crazy’ and ‘ludicrous’ and ‘nuts.’ Yet it used the power and influence of its platform to promote that false story.” In his March 31 summary judgment ruling, Davis pointedly called out the news organization for airing falsehoods while noting how the bogus election claims persist, 2 1/2 years after Trump lost his bid for reelection. “The statements at issue were dramatically different than the truth,” Davis said in that ruling. “In fact, although it cannot be attributed directly to Fox’s statements, it is noteworthy that some Americans still believe the election was rigged.” In its defense, Fox said it was obligated to report on the most newsworthy of stories — a president claiming that he had been cheated out of reelection. “We never reported those to be true,” Fox lawyer Erin Murphy said. “All we ever did was provide viewers the true fact that these were allegations that were being made.” Fox said Dominion had argued that the network was obligated to suppress the allegations or denounce them as false. “Freedom of speech and of the press would be illusory if the prevailing side in a public controversy could sue the press for giving a forum to the losing side,” Fox said in court papers. In a 1964 case involving The New York Times, the U.S. Supreme Court limited the ability of public figures to sue for defamation. The court ruled that plaintiffs needed to prove that news outlets published or aired false material with “actual malice” — knowing such material was false or acting with a “reckless disregard” for whether or not it was true. That has provided news organizations with stout protection against libel judgments. Yet the nearly six-decade legal standard has come under attack by some conservatives in recent years, including Trump and Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis of Florida, who have argued for making it easier to win a libel case. Two Republican-nominated Supreme Court justices, Clarence Thomas and Neil Gorsuch, have publicly expressed interest in revisiting the protection. Dominion’s lawyers argued that Fox made a deliberate decision to repeatedly air the false claims to appeal to viewers. They allowed guests to falsely claim that the company had rigged the election, flipped large numbers of votes to Biden through a secret algorithm, was owned by a company founded in Venezuela to rig elections for Hugo Chavez, the late president, and bribed government officials. “What they did to get viewers back was start this new narrative that the election had been stolen and that Dominion was the thief,” Dominion lawyer Rodney Smolla said during a March hearing. A mountain of evidence — released in the form of deposition transcripts, internal memos, and emails from the time — was damaging to Fox, even if some of it was only tangentially related to the libel argument. Dominion has pointed to text and email messages in which Fox insiders discounted and sometimes overtly mocked the vote manipulation claims. One Fox Corp. vice president called them “MIND BLOWINGLY NUTS.” Much of the material showed a network effectively terrified of its audience after its election night declaration that Biden had won Arizona. The race call infuriated Trump and many viewers who
Donald Trump v. Ron DeSantis: Young conservatives debate GOP’s future
When former President Donald Trump took the stage before a crowd of more than 5,000 young conservative activists in Tampa this weekend, he received the rock star’s welcome he’s grown accustomed to over the seven years in which he’s reshaped the Republican Party. One night earlier, it was Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis who had the crowd on its feet as he headlined the day’s program at Turning Point USA’s annual Student Action Summit. “To be honest, it’s like choosing between your favorite child,” said Leo Milik, 19, who lives in Barrington, Illinois, when asked whom he’d like to see as the party’s next nominee. Milik, wearing a “Trump was Right” baseball cap, said both Republicans “have their pros, they have their cons.” For now, he said, he’s leaning toward Trump. That sentiment reflects the soul searching underway inside the GOP as an invisible primary for the 2024 presidential nomination begins to take shape, dominated at least for the moment by Trump and DeSantis. There’s little doubt that Trump is moving closer to announcing a third presidential campaign. But there’s genuine debate over whether he’s the party’s best candidate to take on President Joe Biden, who is otherwise seen as a vulnerable incumbent heading into the next campaign, weighed down by soaring inflation, sinking popularity, and questions about his capacity to manage the U.S. into his 80s. This summer’s hearings by the House committee investigating the deadly January 6 insurrection have only amplified the GOP’s anxiety about Trump. A pair of weekend editorials in the New York Post and Wall Street Journal — publications owned by the often Trump-friendly Rupert Murdoch — underscored the impact, castigating the former president for refusing to call off the mob of his supporters as they stormed the U.S. Capitol to halt the peaceful transfer of power. “As a matter of principle, as a matter of character, Trump has proven himself unworthy to be this country’s chief executive again,” wrote the New York Post. But inside the Tampa Convention Center, mentions of January 6 elicited cheers as a who’s who of Trump’s “MAGA movement” took the stage in a room that had the feel of a Las Vegas nightclub. Young attendees dressed in sparkly heels and candy-colored cowboy boots danced under laser lights to a DJ before the program began. Speakers were introduced with WWE-style videos, elaborate pyrotechnics, and smoke displays. Throughout the venue, ring lights were placed strategically in front of logoed backdrops for flattering photo ops. Outside, a small group of neo-Nazis briefly waved swastika flags. The top draw was Trump, who again teased his future plans. “I ran twice. I won twice and did much better the second time … and now we may just have to do it again,” he said to thundering cheers and chants of “Take it back!” During his speech, Trump appeared intent to address criticism from some corners of the party that he is too focused on relitigating the 2020 election, telling the crowd he wanted to talk about “some of the really big issues.” But he quickly returned to familiar grievances, labeling himself the most persecuted politician in the nation’s history as he inched ever closer to announcing a run. “If I renounced my beliefs, if I agreed to stay silent, if I stayed home, if I announced that I was not going to run for office, the persecution of Donald Trump would immediately stop,” he said. “But that’s what they want me to do. And you know what? There’s no chance I do that.” DeSantis, who often insists he is focused solely on reelection as governor, headlined Friday night’s program in an appearance that strongly suggested his ambitions extend beyond the state. He welcomed the crowd to the “free state of Florida” and highlighted the anti-COVID mitigation policies that made him a conservative hero during the height of the pandemic. And he bragged about his efforts to bar discussions of race and sexual orientation in Florida classrooms, as well as his battles with Disney. “We’ve accomplished an awful lot in the state of Florida. But we have only begun to fight,” he said. “Because we are on a mission to keep the state of Florida free and to save our great country.” An unscientific straw poll of attendees at the event found that 78.7% would vote for Trump in a GOP primary, with DeSantis coming in second with 19%. No other potential candidate came in above 1 percent. And many were indeed all in on a Trump 2024 run. “I love the idea; I absolutely do,” said Ryan Malone, 33, who recently moved from New York to Florida. While he is a big fan of DeSantis, he argued that Trump is best positioned to turn the country around from what he sees as Biden’s litany of failures. “I think that he would get more done,” he said. “Again, I love DeSantis; he’s my 1A, right? But I do think that if we’re going to get out of this miserable period that we’re in, Trump is the guy to get us out of this hole.” Still, he worried about what might happen if the two were to run against each other in a GOP primary. “I wouldn’t want to see there be bad blood between the person who’s, like, the true leader of our party and then the person who’s, you know, the second coming,” he said. But his wife, Dr. Mariuxi Viteri Malone, 33, is eager for DeSantis to run. As an immigrant from Ecuador, she said she was offended by Trump’s rhetoric toward Hispanics. “Be nice!” he said. “That’s all you need to do.” Others were more strategic in their thinking. Cameron Lilly, 29, said that he personally likes DeSantis better than Trump but nonetheless thinks another Trump run makes sense for the party. “I think Ron DeSantis right now is wasting the one more chance that Trump has,” said Lilly, who works for a defense contractor in Annapolis, Maryland. “I like DeSantis even a little bit more. But I think if we want to have
Business promotion and politics par for Donald Trump’s golf tour
Donald Trump moved from hole to hole on his wind-swept Scotland golf course Saturday, not a club in hand but promotion on his mind, extolling North Sea views that are among “the great sights of the world.” He squeezed in commentary about the United Kingdom’s vote to leave the European Union and Hillary Clinton‘s tax policies. And when the abbreviated tour of Trump International Golf Links ended at the clubhouse, Trump ditched the pack of reporters trampling on his fairways, hopped into the driver’s seat of a golf cart and gave media mogul Rupert Murdoch and wife Jerry Hall a ride around the property. Business, with a wedge of politics, was par for the day. A Trump scorecard by hole: —On the 10th fairway, he said Texas wouldn’t take a cue from the U.K. and try to secede. “Texas will never do that because Texas loves me.” —On the 13th green, he said fixing the United States would be like repairing a golf course. “It’s not so different, it’s just bigger.” —On the 14th green, he boasted about overcoming some local opposition to building the course. “I am good at getting things zoned.” —On the 18th tee, he warned scrambling reporters: “Don’t fall! I don’t want to be sued.” Trump’s appearance at the course outside Aberdeen was the final event of his two-day tour of his golf resorts in Scotland. While the timing of the trip was not linked to Thursday’s referendum, the U.K.’s surprising vote dominated the questioning of the presumptive Republican nominee for U.S. president. Trump has cheered the outcome and tried to play down American fears about it. The U.S. stock market and global markets plunged Friday after the “leave” side won. “Americans are very much different. This shouldn’t even affect them. I mean frankly, if it’s done properly, if we had proper leadership,” Trump said moments after emerging from his helicopter on the 10th fairway. When pressed about the stock market drop that has caused Americans to fret about retirement plans and savings, Trump suggested that Wall Street was actually worried about President Barack Obama‘s economic policies and the U.S. debt. Trump has linked the nationalist fervor behind the “leave” vote to the forces driving his own campaign. He shrugged off the criticism he received for saying that if the value of the British pound falls, more people would spend money at his courses. “I don’t want to have a plummeting pound,” Trump said. “But if it does plummet, I do well. And if it does well, I do well. I do well in any case.” Trump also muddied the waters about his call for a temporary ban on foreign Muslims from entering the United States. Trump, in a speech this month, added a new element, saying he favors suspending immigration from parts of the world where there is proven history of terrorism against the U.S. and its allies. On Saturday, he said it “wouldn’t bother me” if a Muslim from Scotland tried to enter the U.S. Then, he suggested to reporters that “strong vetting,” and not a ban, would be an essential part of his immigration policy. Spokeswoman Hope Hicks later clarified that Trump’s position has not changed since the speech. The scene outside Aberdeen, a day after Trump reopened a course on Scotland’s opposite coast, again highlighted the unprecedented co-mingling between the candidate’s business and campaign, as well as his ability to create a made-for-TV spectacle. Aides originally said Trump would not talk to reporters. Then they said he would only discuss the golf course. Trump had other ideas. He ended up holding court at four separate holes. Reporters piled into golf carts and ran along fairways to keep up. The roving news conferences doubled as an advertisement for the course, which despite its stark beauty, has failed to live up to Trump’s lofty promises. Trump has claimed to Scottish authorities that he lost money on the course, and it has yet to host a major tournament. He has fought local authorities over a proposed wind farm and the preservation of the dunes that line the course. Though Trump boasted he won his zoning battles with the town, the owners of two houses that line the course remain unbowed. As a protest of Trump’s immigration proposals, which include building a wall along the U.S.-Mexican border, each flew a Mexican flag that could be easily spotted from the course’s clubhouse. Republished with permission of The Associated Press.
Presidential Primary Brief: 392 days until Election Day
138 days until AL Presidential Primary 392 days until Election Day Convention Dates: Republican July 18-21 2016, Democratic July 25-28 2016 Weekly Headlines: DNC reveals details on final two debates Is Marco Rubio the new favorite to win the GOP nomination? Clinton sent GOP 2016 candidates copies of her book Press Clips: These 5 facts explain a confusing U.S. presidential race (TIME 10/8/15) The presidential campaign silly season is upon us, and it hasn’t disappointed. But the race to succeed Barack Obama is about to get much more serious. With competition among Republicans getting tougher and the first Democratic debate on October 13, now’s a good time to take stock of the U.S. presidential race. These five facts detail which numbers to pay attention to—and which ones don’t matter. Ted Cruz sees slow and steady path to 2016 presidential victory (The Hill 10/5/15) Ted Cruz is playing a slow and steady campaign, but for the firebrand Texas senator, that doesn’t translate into being quiet. In the past week alone, he has stolen supporters from fellow Republican presidential candidate Rand Paul (Ky.), won the rousing support of evangelicals and had to be shut down by Senate leaders for trying to complicate efforts on a short-term funding extension with a protest vote against Planned Parenthood funding. That reelects Cruz’s efforts to try to emerge as the consensus anti-establishment candidate if and when the top three outsider candidates, and his biggest rivals, peter out. Rupert Murdoch: Ben Carson would be a ‘real black president’ (NBC News 10/8/15) Media tycoon Rupert Murdoch has suggested that President Barack Obama is not a “real black president.” The 84-year-old billionaire said in a tweet late Wednesday that Republican presidential candidate Ben Carson would give the U.S. “a real black president who can properly address the racial divide.” The American-Australian business magnate tweeted an apology Thursday — 12 hours after the original message — saying there was “no offense meant” and that he found “both men charming,” presumably referring to Obama and Carson. Clinton donors place side bets on Biden (Politico 10/8/15) A Denver-based philanthropist who in May was appointed to the board of the pro-Hillary Clinton PAC Correct the Record has stepped down from the position and donated to the campaign to draft vice president Joe Biden into the race, POLITICO has learned. LGBT rights activist Scott Miller and his husband, mega-donor Tim Gill, each gave $25,000 to Ready for Hillary last year and have supported her candidacy and the coordinating rapid response PAC. But the couple, who over the years have given millions to progressive candidates and causes, are close to Biden and his potential entry into the race has changed the calculus for them — together they have now donated $50,000 to the Draft Biden campaign as well. John Kasich in a struggle with opponents to define Republican party (CBS News 10/8/15) Republican presidential contender John Kasich has split from other conservatives in his party on issues like immigration and same-sex marriage, but he’s not denouncing the GOP’s values just yet. “I think I have right to define what the party is, Charlie,” Kasich told “CBS This Morning” host Charlie Rose early Thursday. “Look, if I win, I have a right to define what the party is, and along the way I’m defining what it is.” Draft Biden launches first ad in 2016 presidential race (Reuters 10/7/15) Draft Biden, the political action committee created to urge Joe Biden to jump into the 2016 presidential race, has released its first national television ad in the latest sign the vice president is moving closer to a decision to run. The ad urges the vice president to run for the Democratic party’s nomination for the 2016 election, although Biden has said that he has not yet decided on a run and is weighing the matter with his family. The ad focuses on Biden’s personal history, including the deaths of his first wife and a daughter in 1972, and uses a recording of the vice president’s commencement address earlier this year at Yale, in which he talked about how that changed his life. For Chris Christie, gun control creates a snag in his 2016 pitch (CBS News 10/6/15) New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie has staked out a role in the 2016 Republican primary as the candidate who can get things done — even with Democrats. “Compromise isn’t capitulation,” the governor recently said on Comedy Central’s The Daily Show. “It’s an option not to talk to the other side. That should not be an option. You get sent [to Washington] to work, to govern. That’s what I’ve done in New Jersey. Doesn’t mean we always agree, but we find compromise.” Inside Bernie Sanders’ unorthodox debate prep (Politico 10/8/15) Hillary Clinton has had aides lined up to run her debate prep for months. A Washington super lawyer is mimicking Bernie Sanders, and her top policy staffer is acting as Martin O’Malley. Sanders started studying for next Tuesday’s event not even a full week ago. And that’s because his two top aides sat him down in Burlington on Friday and asked whether he had a plan. Sanders has briefing books, a couple of meetings with policy experts and an abiding aversion to the idea of acting out a debate before it happens. He knows the stakes are high, his staff says. But the candidate, whose New Hampshire polling and fundraising prowess have put a scare into Clinton, is uninterested in going through the motions of typical debate practice.
Rupert Murdoch suggests Barack Obama isn’t ‘real black president’
The founder of the global News Corp. media empire, Rupert Murdoch, is suggesting that President Barack Obama isn’t a “real black president.” Murdoch was praising Republican presidential candidate Ben Carson and his wife on Twitter Wednesday evening when he wrote: “Ben and Candy Carson terrific. What about a real black President who can properly address the racial divide?” Later, Murdoch recommended a New York magazine article asking whether Obama has done enough for the African-American community. Murdoch is the founder of Fox News Channel, and News Corp’s publications include The New York Post and The Wall Street Journal. The 84-year-old Murdoch has praised Carson on Twitter before, calling him “irreproachable on background, achievements, character, vision.” Republished with permission of the Associated Press.
