(NewsNation) — Fox News and Dominion Voting Systems reached a settlement Tuesday in a $1.6 billion defamation lawsuit against the network. The $787.5 million settlement stemmed from Fox’s reporting over the 2020 presidential election, including false claims from former President Donald Trump that he won.
Former CNN host Brian Stelter appeared on “Dan Abrams Live” to discuss the settlement he described as “jaw dropping.”
“I was astonished by the number. I figured there would be a settlement because that’s what happens in these cases. The lawyers at Dominion expertly tortured Fox in public, pushed them all the way up into a courtroom. The jury was seated, ready to go. That’s exactly when you would expect a settlement,” Stelter told Abrams. “However, the dollar figure is jaw dropping, even for Fox.”
Stelter thinks this is just the beginning for Fox. The lawsuit from Dominion was not the only legal action the network faced in connection to their reporting on the 2020 election.
Smartmatic, a producer of voting machines, is suing Fox over false claims made on the network about the 2020 election being rigged, despite no evidence of widespread election fraud after reviews by state and federal election officials.
“Now, this goes on to Smartmatic. Now, this goes on to shareholder lawsuits. This is just the beginning for Fox in terms of how much it will have to pay out,” Stelter said.
Stelter was set to cover the Fox News defamation trial brought by Dominion as a special correspondent for Vanity Fair. With his push for media accountability and criticism of Fox in previous years, Abrams questioned whether people would think Stelter could be objective when covering the trial.
“We can debate tone. We can debate temperature, right? They can say ‘Raise the temperature, lower the temperature, raise the volume, lower the volume,’ but the facts are what the facts are. That’s the important part. Whether you like me or not, let’s focus on what the facts are about Fox,” Stelter said.
The former “Reliable Sources” host said he’s not sure why he was let go by CNN and believes Fox enjoyed seeing him leave.
“I think we were doing really fantastic journalism at CNN for the nine years that I was there. I also think Fox News really enjoyed making me a target, using horrible names about me and all that sort of stuff that happens in the cable news wars. I appreciate that shows like yours rise above that,” Stelter told Abrams.
He continued: “Fox could change tomorrow. They can hire hundreds of journalists. They can choose to be a reality-based network with down the middle reporting, 24 hours a day. It’s not going to happen, though, so they have to be held accountable.”
Dominion said the settlement was a “ringing endorsement for truth and democracy.”
Fox News issued the following statement regarding the settlement: “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.”
Smartmatic is suing Fox for $2.7 billion. A judge declined Fox’s efforts to have the case thrown out. No trial date has been set for the lawsuit.
