No matter how many times Rudy Giuliani or Sidney Powell proclaimed they had overwhelming evidence, the failure to produce it made flagrant from the outset that they were full of shit. They raised, at best, questions. Any fool can raise questions, possibilities of what could have been, or could not have been. The distinction was evidence of what was, and the louder they cried they had it but failed to produce it, the more full of shit they came off. At least to some of us. Yet to others, the belief was unshakable because they didn’t want to shake it.
Fox News abruptly agreed on Tuesday to pay $787.5 million to resolve a defamation suit filed by Dominion Voting Systems over the network’s promotion of misinformation about the 2020 election, averting a lengthy and embarrassing trial just as a packed courtroom was seated in anticipation of hearing opening statements.
That’s hardly nuisance value. The only issue remaining for trial was whether the “actual malice” standard of New York Times v. Sullivan was met. That it was false was CRYSTAL clear. As Dominion’s lawyer said, money talks.
“Money is accountability,” Stephen Shackelford, a Dominion lawyer, said outside the courthouse, “and we got that today from Fox.”
For its part, Fox made a curious statement.
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.
Squaring this concession that what Fox broadcast was clearly false reflects its “continued commitment to the highest journalistic standards” speaks volumes about Fox’s standards. It was selling what it’s customers wanted to buy, even if its own performers admitted in writing to each other that it was batshit crazy nonsense.
Some have blamed Dominion for settling “for money” rather than following through with trial in order to reveal to the world what Fox News did to the psyche of its willing audience, creating credence to the lie that twisted them into believing that they were on the side of truth, justice and democracy when they were merely useful pawns in Trump’s narcissistic butthurt caused by his rejection as president.
The nature of civil litigation for defamation is to obtain monetary damages for harm, not to serve “justice.” Even so, this is merely the first step on a journey that will involve Smartmatic’s suit against Fox, et al., as well.
At least, the public will be deprived for now. Smartmatic is still suing Fox for $2.7 billion, though no trial date has been announced yet. “Dominion’s litigation exposed some of the misconduct and damage caused by Fox’s disinformation campaign,” Smartmatic lawyer J. Erik Connolly said in a statement on Tuesday. “Smartmatic will expose the rest.”
And then there are the claims against the individual players, Rudy and Sidney, which could provide hours and hours of fun fodder for cross-examination CLEs.
Is this sufficient to change minds? Do those believers finally accept that the big lie, that the election was stolen, was a lie, was always a lie, and they were willfully deceived? Do they now realize that their “hero” lied to them for his own benefit at their expense to assuage his humiliation of being a pathetic loser?
And do they now appreciate that their trusted sources at Fox, “we report, you decide,” knew they were spewing lies on air and did so anyway? Can they ever be trusted not to lie? Will they still lie, as the cost of settling is relative to the cost of fooling their happily fooled audience to watch them night after night?
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