Fox News liar

The verdict didn’t come in. In the much-anticipated $1.6-billion lawsuit between Dominion Voting Systems and Fox News, the biggest headline ended up the one about the last-minute settlement. What a letdown.

Before the opening statements in the case, Fox opted instead to pay a mouthwatering payday of $787.5 million to Dominion, making a lot of their lawyers very happy indeed.

One can imagine the lawyers spending sleepless hours prepping for trial, racking up the billable hours and memorizing thousands of Fox News sound bites, only to end up released from the stress-o-rama at the eleventh hour. Chalk that up as a resounding win in their respective legal careers.

To recall, Dominion sued Fox because after the 2020 elections (Fox itself called for Biden at a crucial point in the count), after Fox messaged election fraud. Despite no evidence, and despite their own fact checkers (to the extent they existed) protesting, many election deniers were hosted, guested, and left unchallenged to repeat their baseless accusations on Fox air. This, despite the fact that their own hosts didn’t believe their guests --or their own scripts.

Dominion sued. The amount was ginormous, the topic sensational, and the parties (especially Fox and its controversial hosts) news-grabbers. I was ready with my popcorn, but no, Fox had to spoil the fun.

Perhaps it was because of details unearthed during proceedings, or because the judge had already expressed his displeasure at the way Fox’s lawyers omitted the role played by Rupert Murdoch, or because after jury selection, Fox lawyers had a better sense of the ideological composition of the jurors. Whatever the reason, hundreds of millions were suddenly earmarked for Dominion.

However, not everyone was happy. Even if Fox had thrown in the towel, and $787.5 million paid, many pundits groused about how this was a small victory. How this was chump change for a billionaire like Murdoch. How Fox was let off easy because there was no public apology required, and because the public statement Fox had to issue was drafted so ambiguously.

Begging to disagree here. Given the magnitude of the payment, plus the freedoms left to the victor to exploit this settlement, it was a huge win for Dominion by my measure.

Normally, a settlement agreement will muzzle the parties from further discussing the deal. Confidentiality clauses and blanket secrecy obtained. A paying party would naturally shirk from having to disclose how much it paid so event the amount to be coughed out would be identified as confidential. Not so here. In fact, the public was informed about the Benjamins to leave the Fox war chest.

Indeed, a settlement agreement will even prohibit the parties from further discussing the case, and only a pre-agreed statement would be disseminated. Have you seen the lawyers of Dominion dominate American airwaves? They’re giving interviews left and right about how they made Fox accountable.

Not just that, they were left free to call Fox a “liar”, many times in multiple venues. This is incredible. It’s unheard of for a litigant to allow the other the freedom to continue mouthing off to press, proclaiming they prevailed. Once a compromise is signed, there’s supposed to be peace, and the parties go their separate ways to lick their wounds. But in this instance, we see Fox’s wounds being inflamed.

Dominion’s reps are pouring more inflammatory statements and humiliating Fox --and nothing in the settlement agreement prohibits them from doing so. Dominion CEO John Paulo said: “Fox has admitted to telling lies…This case underscores the consequences of spreading and endorsing lies.” Dominion lawyer Justin Nelson stated: “…If you are caught lying, you will be held responsible... Truth matters. Lies have consequences.”

It doesn’t matter therefore that Fox doesn’t have to publicly apologize. It just has to take all that crap being thrown its way, and then grin and bear it. Now I call that a victory.