Recap
Dominion Voting Systems reached a settlement in its $1.6bn defamation lawsuit against Fox. “The truth matters. Lies have consequences,” said Dominion lawyer Justin Nelson, noting that the $787.5m settlement with Fox represents accountability. However, Fox News hosts are not expected to retract or acknowledge the falsehoods they spread about Dominion on air.
Senate Republicans have shown no inclination in helping Democrats replace the ailing senator Dianne Feinstein on the judiciary committee.
Joe Biden spoke last night with Ralph Yarl, the Black teenager shot after ringing the doorbell at the wrong house in Kansas City, Missouri. Meanwhile, police arrested the alleged shooter after protests over the attack.
Anti-abortion groups have filed their response before the supreme court, which is considering whether to uphold a Texas judge’s ruling taking the abortion drug mifepristone off shelves nationwide.
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Representative Cori Bush has joined in calls for for supreme court justice Clarence Thomas to be impeached, following reports that the he did not disclose his financial dealings with Republican donor and real estate developer Harlan Crow.
Bush said:
It is clear that Justice Thomas holds a complete disregard for law and ethics that is incompatible with the trust and confidence placed in federal judges. For these reasons, and because the federal judiciary has failed to hold Justice Thomas accountable, I am calling for impeachment proceedings to begin regarding Justice Thomas’s apparent violations of federal law.
Holding judges accountable for their behavior is a matter of life-or-death for our communities. They wield enormous power, and the current hands-off approach to the judiciary has only emboldened lawless, corrupt, far-right judges to strip away our rights and make our lives worse off.
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Fox won’t have to acknowledge that it lied about Dominion on air, according to CNN media reporter Oliver Darcy.
Although Fox acknowledged, in a circuitous statement, “the Court’s rulings finding certain claims about Dominion to be false”, Fox News hosts won’t have to admit to lying to its viewers, or directly take accountability for spreading false information.
News: I'm told that, as part of the terms of its settlement, Fox News will *not* have to acknowledge ON AIR that it told lies about Dominion in the wake of the 2020 election. Fox did acknowledge falsehoods in its statement. But don't expect hosts to have to read statements.
— Oliver Darcy (@oliverdarcy) April 18, 2023
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Reuters reports that Fox shareholders are seeking records to review executives’ oversight of Fox News’ coverage of Donald Trump’s election claims.
From Reuters:
Fox Corp shareholders are demanding company records that may show whether directors and executives properly oversaw Fox News’ coverage of former President Donald Trump’s election-rigging claims, sources told Reuters, in what could be a prelude to lawsuits seeking to make directors liable for costs.
Investors are using provisions in Delaware corporate law to demand internal Fox records to investigate how Fox’s leaders acted as its Fox News network aired segments on Trump’s false claims that he lost the 2020 presidential election due to voter fraud, two sources confirmed.
In moves not previously reported, shareholders are looking for records such as board minutes, emails and texts that may contain evidence that Fox directors and executives were derelict by allowing the network to air the false claims.
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And here’s a longer statement from John Poulos, Dominion’s CEO:
Fox has admitted to telling lies about Dominion that caused enormous damage to my company, our employees, and our customers.
Nothing can ever make up for that.
Throughout this process, we have sought accountability, and believe the evidence brought to light through this case underscores the consequences of spreading and endorsing lies.
Truthful reporting in the media is essential to our democracy. Dominion, our employees and our partners are grateful to the court for allowing the process for the truth to come out.
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In a statement addressing the settlement, Fox News acknowledged the falsehoods aired on the network, without going much further to take accountability.
The statement reads:
We are pleased to have reached a settlement of our dispute with Dominion Voting Systems. We acknowledge the Court’s rulings finding certain claims about Dominion to be false. This settlement reflects FOX’s continued commitment to the highest journalistic standards. 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.
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“The truth matters. Lies have consequences,” said Dominion lawyer Justin Nelson, noting that the $787.5m settlement with Fox News represents accountability.
“Fox has admitted to telling lies about Dominion,” said Dominion CEO John Poulos.
In a press conference outside the court, Dominion attorney says “Truth matters. Lies have consequences.”
— Kira Lerner (@kira_lerner) April 18, 2023
Settlement is $787 million pic.twitter.com/myKyZwQXIl
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Even though Fox ultimately settled its $1.6bn defamation lawsuit against Dominion, “The stain this leaves on Fox can’t be wiped out with money,” Angelo Carusone, the president of Media Matters for America, a media watchdog group, said in a statement.
“Fox News lied about the 2020 election; they all knew it was a lie, right up to the Murdochs themselves. What the Dominion trial offered was a keyhole view into the day-to-day industrial-scale deceit that takes place at Fox. It helped illustrate why the company is such a uniquely destructive force.”
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The settlement in Dominion Voting Systems’s defamation lawsuit against Fox News came just as opening arguments were to begin in the trial, which was being held in Wilmington, Delaware.
A jury had been seated earlier today, and opening arguments were expected this afternoon, before being delayed without explanation – until now.
Dominion was seeking $1.6bn in compensation from Fox, alleging the broadcaster knowingly defamed it with reports that baselessly claimed the elections firm rigged the 2020 election against Donald Trump.
Dominion Voting Systems settles defamation case against Fox News
Dominion Voting Systems has reached a settlement in its $1.6bn defamation lawsuit against Fox News, the Guardian has confirmed.
We will post more details as they come in.
Updated
Biden condemns McCarthy's debt ceiling strategy
Speaking at the White House earlier today, Joe Biden cast Republican House speaker Kevin McCarthy’s rhetoric on the debt ceiling as irresponsible. Here’s a clip of his comments:
President Biden calls out Speaker Kevin McCarthy over the debt ceiling:
— The Recount (@therecount) April 18, 2023
“He proposed huge cuts to important programs that millions of Americans count on … He threatened to become the first Speaker to default on our national debt … What are MAGA Republicans in Congress doing?” pic.twitter.com/yzIyqf5BsR
The two men are at loggerheads over the issue, which could pose a grievous threat to the health of the world’s largest economy. Biden wants to increase the borrowing limit without preconditions, while McCarthy wants the president and his Democratic allies to agree to spending cuts, arguing that the country’s budget deficit is out of control.
Meanwhile, White House deputy press secretary Andrew Bates condemned rightwing House Republicans who want to see the Inflation Reduction Act dismantled. Here’s a statement he shared with the Guardian:
By targeting the Inflation Reduction Act, Scott Perry and Chip Roy just showed the real agenda of the ultra MAGA hardliners who increasingly dominate the House Republican Conference. Not only are House Republicans threatening to hold Americans’ jobs and retirement savings hostage by engaging in the dangerous brinkmanship that Presidents Reagan and Trump warned against. Now, the increasingly empowered extreme MAGA Republicans want their ransom to be killing tens of thousands of manufacturing jobs in a windfall for China, raising prescription drug and energy costs for middle class families, and sending the deficit skyward – all in the name of sweetheart deals for rich special interests. That’s on top of a multitude of other tax handouts they’re seeking for big corporations and the wealthy. Like even Donald Trump said in 2019, avoiding a catastrophic and unprecedented default is non-negotiable. And threatening default to sell working people out to Big Pharma and billionaires is incredibly revealing.”
Judge orders special master to investigate alleged Fox withholding of evidence
The judge in Dominion Voting Systems’s lawsuit against Fox News has appointed a special master to ensure Fox News turned over all evidence in the case, the Washington Post reports:
News: The judge has formally tasked the special master in the Fox/Dominion case with launching an investigation that "should include a determination whether Fox News Network ... complied with their discovery allegations"
— Jeremy Barr (@jeremymbarr) April 18, 2023
A report is due to the judge by May 15
Here is the back-story: https://t.co/XO2GeF3HZp
— Jeremy Barr (@jeremymbarr) April 18, 2023
It's worth noting that the judge has said he is satisfied with the issue regarding Rupert Murdoch's title, though Dominion has claimed that Fox did not properly turn over materials including secret recordings of Maria Bartiromo.
Jury selection in the case concluded earlier today, and opening arguments were expected to begin afterward, but have been delayed without explanation.
Dominion is seeking $1.6bn in compensation from Fox, arguing the conservative network harmed its business by falsely told its viewers the company was involved in rigging the 2020 election.
It seems unlikely we’ll hear full opening arguments this afternoon, if we hear anything at all.
There has been an unexplained delay since lunch. Both sides earlier told Judge Eric Davis they had planned more than an hour opening arguments and court is scheduled to end today at 4.30pm. The trial had already been pushed back a day.
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The outlines of what rightwing House Republicans want in exchange for increasing the debt ceiling are becoming clear.
CNN reports that Scott Perry, leader of the Freedom Caucus that includes some of the House’s most conservative lawmakers, wants to repeal the Inflation Reduction Act – Joe Biden’s signature legislative achievement that also includes the strongest measures Congress has ever enacted against climate change:
Leaving a meeting in Speaker McCarthy’s office, Freedom Caucus Chairman Scott Perry warned that the House GOP’s debt ceiling plan, “if it’s gonna pass, it’s gonna have to” include a repeal of the Inflation Reduction Act.
— Melanie Zanona (@MZanona) April 18, 2023
Fox-Dominion trial opening statements delayed
Confusion is rampant in the packed courtroom, as opening statements were scheduled to start at 1.30pm after a lunch break, but still have not kicked off as of 2.40pm.
Court staff said they could not explain the delay. Attorneys for Fox and Dominion appeared to huddle with each other at least once, and the judge and jurors have not been seated.
Each party’s opening statement is supposed to last around 90 minutes. With a 4.30pm recess today, there is no longer time for both parties to preview their evidence.
“As an update, I don’t have an update,” a court staffer said to the overflow room of journalists, resulting in many laughs.
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Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, one of the best known progressive Democrats in the House, has again condemned supreme court justice Clarence Thomas for his ties to a Republican mega donor.
Thomas is a conservative stalwart on the court, but in recent days ProPublica revealed he had accepted luxury trips as well as a real estate deal from Harlan Crow, a deep-pocketed GOP supporter.
Here’s what Ocasio-Cortez had to say about that:
Rep. @AOC (D-NY) hits Clarence Thomas for not disclosing gifts and luxury trips from GOP donor Harlan Crow:
— The Recount (@therecount) April 18, 2023
"The justice is required by law to disclose something like that ... If they want to live that kind of lifestyle, then they can resign from the court — they can retire." pic.twitter.com/SpdP1oVy2p
Senate Democrats have also demanded the supreme court investigate Thomas’s ties.
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The day so far
We’re waiting for the opening arguments in the trial of Dominion Voting Systems’s defamation suit against Fox News, which is expected to start later this afternoon in Wilmington, Delaware, after the jury was seated this morning. Back in Washington, House Republicans are said to be nearing a vote on their proposal for raising the debt ceiling, but its chances of passage are uncertain.
Here’s what else is happening today:
Senate Republicans have shown no inclination in helping Democrats replace ailing senator Dianne Feinstein on the judiciary committee.
Joe Biden spoke last night with Ralph Yarl, the Black teenager shot after ringing the doorbell at the wrong house in Kansas City. Meanwhile, police arrested the alleged shooter following protests over the attack.
Anti-abortion groups have filed their response before the supreme court, which is considering whether to uphold a Texas judge’s ruling taking abortion drug mifepristone off shelves nationwide.
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Donald Trump’s finances could take another hit as the author E Jean Carroll’s civil suit alleging defamation heads to trial later this month.
But the Guardian’s Hugo Lowell reports that Trump won’t appear on the witness stand when the proceedings begin:
Trump is currently not expected to take the stand at E Jean Caroll defamation and battery trial scheduled to start April 25, per person familiar
— Hugo Lowell (@hugolowell) April 18, 2023
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While abortion foes try to get drugs used in the procedure off the shelves, the Guardian’s Poppy Noor spoke to a New York doctor about a technique that could be used to expand reproductive care access:
Joan Fleischman has always had people flying in from across the world to her private abortion practice in Manhattan. In the two decades her clinic has been open, she has seen clients from places such as Ireland, the Bahamas and Mexico, who couldn’t get abortions in their home countries. In the past year, that has changed. Since the US federal right to abortion was overturned in June last year, she is now more likely to see patients flying in from her own country.
Often they are from Texas, sometimes Ohio, or Florida. Some with links to the city, others with none.
After years of providing abortion care, Fleischman, 60, still finds these trips shocking. “Usually, if somebody needs unusual medical care, they are willing to fly around the world for it – like for advanced neurosurgery or something. It’s always struck me as incredible that people are flying to me for the most simple procedure.”
There’s a reason people fly to see Fleischman. She provides abortions through manual uterine aspiration – using a small, hand-held device to remove pregnancy tissue. The device is gentle enough that the tissue often comes out almost completely intact. It is a quick and discreet procedure where a patient might be in and out of the door in less than an hour.
The anti-abortion groups who convinced a federal judge to order mifepristone off the shelves have asked the supreme court to uphold the rulings, NBC News reports.
The ruling earlier this month by conservative federal judge Matthew Kacsmaryk has been stayed temporarily by the supreme court while it reviews petitions from the Biden administration and a manufacturer of the abortion medication to allow its continued access.
NBC News reports that the groups that originally brought a suit trying to revoke the Food and Drug Administration’s authorization of the pill have formally filed before the supreme court:
The groups, led by the Alliance for Hippocratic Medicine, said in a filing that the court should leave in place a ruling last week by the 5th US Circuit Court of Appeals that would suspend several regulatory decisions by the Food and Drug Administration since 2016 that made it easier to obtain the drug.
Lawyers for the groups wrote that the FDA over decades has “stripped away every meaningful and necessary safeguard on chemical abortion, demonstrating callous disregard for women’s well-being, unborn life, and statutory limits”.
They dismissed the government’s “sky-is-falling argument” about the implications of allowing the lower court ruling to go into effect.
“The lower courts’ meticulous decisions do not second-guess the agency’s scientific determinations; they merely re- quire the agency to follow the law,” the lawyers wrote.
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House GOP debt limit vote could come next week: report
House Republicans could as soon as next week vote on their proposal to raise the US government’s debt limit, while also cutting spending to a variety of Joe Biden’s priorities, Punchbowl News reports.
The US government has hit the legal limit on how much debt it can take on, and is expected to run out of money sometime in early June, which could cause it to default on its debt for the first time in history. That would have major negative ramifications for the economy, but the GOP lawmakers say they won’t support increasing the debt ceiling without concessions from Democrats, such as spending cuts.
But House speaker Kevin McCarthy and his allies only control the chamber by a slim margin, and in a sign of how fraught the debt ceiling has become among Republicans, CNN reports at least one lawmaker won’t vote to increase the debt limit at all:
Tim Burchett, a Tennessee Republican, says he’s still opposed to raising the debt limit, a sign of the challenges ahead for McCarthy to limit defections ahead of a possible vote next week. “I’m open to it but I’m still a no vote.” pic.twitter.com/4iGu9ZADul
— Manu Raju (@mkraju) April 18, 2023
Democrats in the White House and Senate, meanwhile, say they will only support a “clean” debt ceiling increase that raises the limits without changes to spending.
There was a brief hiccup in jury selection Tuesday morning in the closely watched Dominion v Fox defamation trial.
After the twelve jurors were sworn in, one of the jurors stood up and said he couldn’t do it. The judge and lawyers from both sides spoke with him out of court and he was dismissed. Another juror was quickly sworn in.
There were a few moments of levity in the packed Delaware courtroom.
At one point, judge Eric Davis told jurors that he didn’t mind if they brought water or drinks in the court, as long as they had a lid. He quickly added “non-alcoholic”, prompting laughter.
There was also some laughing as jurors had to slide past one another as they were called into the jury box then excused. Some jurors arrived, had to shimmy down a row past all the other jurors, only to shimmy out moments later when they were excused.
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Let’s shift to Washington politics for a minute to examine the bind Senate Democrats are in. They may control the chamber, but they’re having trouble confirming federal judges because of the absence of California senator Dianne Feinstein.
The 89-year-old is a member of the judiciary committee, but has been out of Washington to receive treatment for shingles, delaying crucial votes to move nominees through committees.
Last week, she asked to be temporarily replaced on the committee, but that would require the cooperation of at least some Republicans. In the clearest sign yet that the GOP won’t go along, their leader in the Senate Mitch McConnell today said he would oppose replacing her:
Sen. Minority Leader Mitch McConnell argues against replacing Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) on Judiciary Committee, despite Feinstein requesting the removal herself:
— The Recount (@therecount) April 18, 2023
“The far left wants the full Senate to move a senator off a committee so they can ram through ... their nominees.” pic.twitter.com/ZGwjvKevYj
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The Fox-Dominion defamation trial officially kicked off at 9am in Delaware superior court and the 12 jurors who will determine whether Fox News acted with actual malice were seated roughly 90 minutes later.
The jury appears to be comprised of seven Black and five white or non-Black people. A set of 12 alternates were also seated for what’s expected to be a six-week trial.
The jury selection comes after Judge Eric Davis delayed the start of the trial by one day. Either the two sides could not reach an agreement on Monday, or speculation that settlement talks were underway was untrue.
Opening arguments are set to begin after a short break. The judge and an attorney for Fox have already indicated that Dominion Voting Systems has numerous objections to Fox’s opening slides.
Updated
The Fox-Dominion trial is now under way in Delaware, where CNBC reports the first witness will testify to his efforts to convince Fox that what they were broadcasting about the 2020 election was false:
One of the first witnesses we could see on the Dominion side of the FOX defamation case as soon as today is Tony Fratto - now head of communications for Goldman Sachs who was an outside crisis communications consultant for Dominion in 2020.
— Eamon Javers (@EamonJavers) April 18, 2023
He will testify about his real-time efforts in 2020 to convince Fox anchors and producers that the claims they were airing about Dominion were not true. That effort, clearly, was unsuccessful and led ultimately to the trial today.
— Eamon Javers (@EamonJavers) April 18, 2023
Florida governor Ron DeSantis is in Washington DC today, where he’s expected to meet with Republican members of Congress as he nears a potential run for president. That would escalate his clash with Donald Trump, who remains the strongest challenger for the presidency in the Republican party. Before he departed for the capital, the Guardian’s Richard Luscombe reports the governor made a new threat of retaliation against Disney for its criticism of his conservative policies:
Ron DeSantis has unveiled the latest act of retaliation against Disney for speaking out against his “don’t say gay” law: he’s threatening to build a new state prison next to the company’s central Florida theme parks.
The Republican governor dropped the suggestion at a hastily convened Monday lunchtime press conference, at which he laid out steps the state legislature would take to try to regain control over Florida’s largest private employer.
The move is the latest in an ongoing feud that began in March 2022 when Disney’s then chief executive Bob Chapek spoke out against a bill limiting discussion of sexuality and gender identity in Florida elementary school classrooms, dubbed the “don’t say gay” law.
Yesterday evening, Joe Biden called Ralph Yarl, the Black teen shot in Kansas City after ringing the doorbell at the wrong address, and “shared his hope for a swift recovery”, according to the White House. Here’s more about the incident and the shooter’s arrest, from the Guardian’s Richard Luscombe and Sam Levin:
A white homeowner in Kansas City, Missouri, has been charged with armed assault after he shot a Black teenager who rang his doorbell by mistake, authorities announced on Monday.
Andrew Lester, 85, is also facing a charge of armed criminal action after shooting Ralph Yarl, 16, twice on Thursday. The teenager, a high school junior, was going to pick up his younger twin brothers from a play date when he went to the wrong address. Zachary Thompson, the prosecuting attorney, announced the charges late on Monday after intense local protests and widespread outrage over the police’s decision to briefly detain Lester before releasing him without charges.
Updated
The Fox-Dominion trial was supposed to start on Monday, but was unexpectedly delayed – fueling speculation that the two sides were nearing a settlement that would forgo a trial. That apparently didn’t pan out, but The Guardian’s Mark Sweney took a look at why settling might be in the conservative network’s interest:
Rupert Murdoch’s push to try to bury a landmark defamation case against Fox News aims to avoid further damage to his media empire’s reputation – and protect the 92-year-old from a gruelling court appearance as he formulates succession plans.
Judge Eric M Davis moved on Sunday to delay the start of the $1.6bn (£1.3bn) defamation trial between Fox Corporation and Dominion, which has alleged Fox News repeatedly broadcast false claims that its voting machines were rigged, amid reports of a settlement.
However, the following day Davis confirmed the six-week trial would begin a day later than planned, with jury selection starting on Tuesday, after talks between the parties failed – for now at least.
The two most important words in the Fox-Dominion trial: 'actual malice'
The defamation lawsuit filed by Dominion Voting Systems against Fox News has already led to embarrassing revelations from inside the conservative network’s newsroom, including that some of its top stars “hate” Donald Trump and did not believe his claims that the 2020 election was stolen.
But to get $1.6bn – or any sum – out of Fox for the harm it allegedly caused to its business, Dominion’s lawyers will have to prove the network acted with “actual malice” when it aired those falsehoods in the tense weeks following Joe Biden’s election win.
The Guardian’s Sam Levine is in Wilmington, Delaware, where the trial is opening today, and breaks it all down here. Have a read:
The blockbuster $1.6bn defamation suit between Dominion Voting Systems and Fox is set to begin on Tuesday in a courtroom in Wilmington, Delaware, opening a six-week tribunal that represents one of the most muscular efforts to hold the powerful news network accountable for its role in spreading lies about the 2020 election.
Dominion is suing Fox News and its parent company Fox Corporation for knowingly spreading false claims about its equipment after the 2020 election. Fox repeatedly broadcast outlandishly false allegations that the company had paid government bribes, switched votes and was founded in Venezuela to rig elections for Hugo Chávez.
The trial was scheduled to begin on Monday, but Eric Davis, the Delaware superior court judge overseeing the case, pushed it back by a day without giving a reason. It was reported that both sides were engaged in negotiations over a settlement to avoid a trial.
Jury selection will be completed on Tuesday, followed by opening arguments.
The trial is likely to be a media frenzy. Rupert and Lachlan Murdoch, the top Fox executives, are expected to be called as witnesses. Fox News anchors Tucker Carlson, Sean Hannity, Maria Bartiromo and Jeanine Pirro are expected to testify at the trial.
At the heart of Dominion’s case is a trove of internal messages from Fox hosts and executives in which they openly say they knew the outlandish claims about Dominion were false. “Sidney Powell is lying, by the way. I caught her. It’s insane,” Carlson wrote in one such message, even as Fox continued to air Powell’s claims about Dominion.
“In the coming weeks, we will prove Fox spread lies causing enormous damage to Dominion. We look forward to trial,” a Dominion spokesperson said.
Defamation cases rarely go to trial because there is such a high bar a plaintiff has to clear to win. But experts observing the lawsuit say Dominion has put together an unusually strong case. The company may have strong enough evidence to show that Fox acted with “actual malice”, that Fox knew the claims were false, or that Fox acted with reckless disregard for the truth.
“It’s a rarity that we’ll see something of this caliber play out in front of a jury,” said RonNell Andersen Jones, a first amendment scholar at the University of Utah.
Fox News faces major test as Dominion defamation case goes to trial
Good morning, US politics blog readers. The biggest news this morning is happening in Wilmington, Delaware, where the defamation lawsuit filed by Dominion Voting Systems against Fox News is going to trial. Dominion, which makes hardware and software used in elections, is suing the conservative news outlet on claims it knowingly defamed its business in the aftermath of the 2020 election, when Fox was a leading conduit for Donald Trump’s unfounded conspiracy theories of vote rigging. Dominion wants the huge sum of $1.6bn for the damage caused, and the trial could see top Fox executives such as owner its Rupert Murdoch appear on the witness stand. We’ll see what emerges from the courtroom today.
Here’s what else is going on:
Florida governor Ron DeSantis is heading to Washington DC to meet with Republicans in Congress as he continues his slow, sure progress towards announcing a run for president.
Joe Biden will deliver remarks on his efforts to lower childcare costs at 2pm ET. White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre will brief reporters at 2.45 pm.
A Republican-led House committee on the Covid-19 pandemic holds a hearing at 9.30am examining the origins of the virus and China’s involvement.
