Dominion lawsuit has already destroyed Fox News' reputation: analysis

Fox News sealed its own fate in a defamation lawsuit brought by Dominion Voting Systems by making Sidney Powell a household name.

The voting machine company has sued Fox News for defamation, and Dominion's lawyers argued the network had destroyed its own reputation by giving Powell, who hadn't even been formally hired by Donald Trump and was shut out of White House meetings, a platform on its airways, wrote Guardian columnist Sam Levine.

“Sidney was hunting for someone to make her relevant and Fox made her relevant,” said Stephen Shackleford, a lawyer for Dominion. “While it doesn’t matter legally, the historical record needs to be clear.”

Fox News made a “deliberate decision … to release the kraken,” added Dominion lawyer Rodney Smolla, and internal communications show network employees were aware that election fraud claims by Powell and Trump attorney Rudy Giuliani were false but putting them on the air was "guaranteed gold" for ratings.

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"Dominion’s lawyers painted a more realistic picture of Fox, emphasizing the immense influence it has among conservatives," Levine wrote. "When the network chose to air the false claims about Dominion, it wasn’t just airing allegations, the lawyers said, it was pumping it into the veins of the American public. Fox didn’t just give Sidney Powell and Rudy Giuliani airtime, the network made them household names."