The election tech company Smartmatic has unloaded a 285-page, $2.7 billion defamation lawsuit in a Manhattan court against Fox, Lou Dobbs, Maria Bartiromo, Jeanine Pirro, Rudy Giuliani and Sidney Powell.
Smartmatic Lawsuit
Andrew Donaldson
Born and raised in West Virginia, Andrew has been the Managing Editor of Ordinary Times since 2018, is a widely published opinion writer, and appears in media, radio, and occasionally as a talking head on TV. He can usually be found misspelling/misusing words on Twitter@four4thefire. Andrew is the host of Heard Tell podcast. Subscribe to Andrew'sHeard Tell Substack for free here:
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It’s gonna be crazy when Dominion and Smartmatic own all the RW media and a pillow company.Report
I… wow.
285 pages, none of them exhibits, just page after page after page of factual allegations and a five-page table of contents. A table of contents in a complaint!
This is [fire emoji]. Astonishing pleading by plaintiff’s counsel. Like, above-the-top amazingly good pleading.Report
Voir dire: Have you any familiarity with Fox News?
Potential juror !: Yes! I love it. They report the facts and let me decide. I don’t know where we’d be as a country if something bad happened to Fox News.
Voir dire: Have you any familiarity with Fox News?
Potential juror 2: Sure. I hate those lying sacks of rat poop. I hope someone sues them into the oblivion.
Rinse, repeat, rinse repeat.Report
I dunno really, but it seems to me very unlikely that this will go before a jury. I don’t see Fox News taking it trial, and if they settle, that will leave Giuliani and Powell hanging.
However, it was funny.Report
I don’t see Dominion or Smartmatic settling for cash. I see them demanding that Fox (a) punish the talent, (b) openly admit they lied and publicize it, and (c) give up large amounts of prime time space for the companies to run well-done documentaries on how remarkably secure US election systems are, and the equipment is.Report
Hopefully they -also- demand a dump truck load of cash.Report
Hopefully they demand rom-air retractions and apologies from all the named defendants.Report
Thats already happening. Look at what Newsmax had tot do to the My Pillow Guy the other day.Report
Honestly, just reading that TOC made me feel better. Each bullet point felt like a body blow.
And then the Introduction begins:
Report
I was also astonished. I loved the first paragraph. I had never heard of the firm and had to look them up. I’m rather tired of my current job; maybe they need some more staff.Report
The writing was fearsome. I’m not a lawyer but it popped even to my unskilled reading.Report
I was impressed.
They even got the spelling right!Report
Fox just canned Lou Dobbs…. think this is connected to the lawsuit?Report
Probably, though I note Hannity and Tucker are still on the air.Report
Were Hannity and Carlson named in the lawsuit? I thought it was just the three Fox Business hosts. As I recall, when Smartmatic first sent the threatening letter, Fox ran pieces with guests refuting the fraud claims in the Hannity and Carlson time slots, but made Dobbs answer questions himself.Report