Dominion's $1.6 Billion Defamation Suit Against Fox News Can Move Forward, Judge Rules

A massive defamation lawsuit against Fox News can move forward after a judge ruled the network had plenty of evidence that Dominion Voting Systems was not engaged in election fraud, despite the network’s many lies to the contrary. 

Delaware state court Judge Eric M. Davis eviscerated Fox in a Thursday ruling that said Dominion had presented enough allegations against the right-wing network for the $1.6 billion lawsuit to move forward.

In a 52-page opinion, Davis said Fox News may have pushed election fraud claims against Dominion despite knowing those claims were false .

“Fox possessed countervailing evidence of election fraud from the Department of Justice, election experts, and Dominion at the time it had been making its statements,” the judge wrote in his ruling. “The fact that, despite this evidence, Fox continued to publish its allegations against Dominion, suggests Fox knew the allegations were probably false.”

Dominion filed the defamation lawsuit in the aftermath of the 2020 presidential election, a period in which Fox News hosts and guests falsely claimed the Denver-based company that provides voting technology in more than two dozen states helped steal the presidency from former President Donald Trump . Along with the network, hosts Tucker Carlson, Jeanine Pirro and Sean Hannity are named in the lawsuit, along with recurring Fox guests like Trump’s former personal lawyer, Rudy Giuliani, and conspiracy theorist Mike Lindell , who also pushed election lies. Trump lost the election to President Joe Biden because he got fewer votes.

The ruling is a massive blow to Fox, as now the court must proceed under the assumption that Dominion’s claims about Fox News are true, according to CNN . The ruling also allows Dominion to file discovery requests, which could lead to unearthing internal communications within Fox News. Dominion may also be able to interview some of the network’s top brass under oath.

In a statement, Fox News said it remains “committed to defending against this baseless lawsuit and its all-out assault on the First Amendment.”