NY court slaps down Fox News' attempt to end multi-billion defamation lawsuit

A New York appeals court on Tuesday rejected the attempt of Fox News to throw out a defamation lawsuit.

Fox News is being accused of intentionally spreading lies through their various media platforms that a voting-technology company helped "steal" the 2020 election from then-President Donald Trump.

Along with the network, the five-judge panel ruled against Fox News television hosts Lou Dobbs and Maria Bartiromo. Both show anchors used the defense that they were just reporting the news, but that defense was not successful.

The lawsuit states that both Fox News' coverage and commentary defamed the company, Smartmatic.

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Smartmatic has insisted that Fox News cannot claim free speech while spreading falsehoods and statements they know are lies.

Fox News broadcast 13 reports stating and implying Smartmatic had stolen the election and that its technology was used in six states where the results were in dispute, Smartmatic wrote in their original complaint.

"The Earth is round," the complaint said. "Two plus two equals four. Joe Biden and Kamala Harris won the 2020 election for President and Vice President of the United States.

"The election was not stolen, rigged, or fixed," it said. "These are facts. They are demonstrable and irrefutable."

In fact, Smartmatic provided election technology and software only in Los Angeles County, California, it said, and county officials lauded its performance.

The complaint makes 16 claims of defamation and disparagement against the defendants and seeks $2.7 billion for economic and punitive damages.

In response to the lawsuit, Fox said, “There is nothing more newsworthy than covering the president of the United States and his lawyers making allegations of voter fraud. We are confident we will prevail as freedom of the press is foundational to our democracy and must be protected, in addition to the damages claims being outrageous, unsupported, and not rooted in sound financial analysis, serving as nothing more than a flagrant attempt to deter our journalists from doing their jobs.”

With additional reporting by AFP