Dominion vs Fox News: How the almost-trial exploded into a Succession-worthy finale

Sign up for the daily Inside Washington email for exclusive US coverage and analysis sent to your inbox Get our free Inside Washington email Get our free Inside Washington email SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. While a court spokesperson set up a lectern outside the courthouse steps, with news cameras from around the world jockeying for a sweet spot to film them, attorneys for Fox rushed out the other side of the building, chased down by photographers and two men carrying signs reading “FOX IS GUILTY” and “MAKE ‘EM PAY”. “I’ve been following Fox News for the last seven years and how they are basically pushing lies to increase their viewership, without any regard for the damage it has done to our country, to people I know, to people in my own family,” one of those men, Bill Schultz, who stood outside the courthouse all day, told The Independent. Judge Davis asserted in a ruling last month that it is “CRYSTAL” clear that “none of the statements relating to Dominion in the 2020 election are true.” Instead, they were tasked with figuring out if those statements meet the high legal standard of “actual malice” for defamation cases – in other words, deciding if the network and its leadership knowingly aired false statements or aired them with reckless disregard for the truth. We are hopeful that our decision to resolve this dispute with Dominion amicably, instead of the acrimony of a divisive trial, allows the country to move forward from these issues.” That afternoon, Fox host Howard Kurtz – who attended the near-trial in Delaware – read the statement on his programme, adding that claims from Mr Trump and his allies “on Fox and elsewhere” about Dominion “stealing votes” and “flipping” them to Joe Biden in the 2020 election were “obviously false.” “Those were conspiracy theories,” he said.