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[1/3] Dominion lawyers embrace after Dominion Voting Systems and Fox settled the defamation lawsuit over Fox's coverage of debunked election-rigging claims, in Wilmington, Delaware, U.S., April 18, 2023. At least 31 lawyers from nine different law firms worked on the case, court filings show. It was not immediately clear how large a share of the settlement the firm would receive in legal fees. The filings do not include recent costs associated with preparing for trial or the success fees lawyers could earn from the settlement. Fox News also hired Paul Clement and Erin Murphy, top appeals court lawyers who have advocated for conservative causes at the U.S. Supreme Court.

NEW YORK, April 20 (Reuters) - The co-head of the private equity firm that owns Dominion Voting Systems said the company's $787.5 million settlement with Fox Corp (FOXA.O) held Fox accountable for spreading lies even if it did not apologize or admit wrongdoing. The settlement came with no apology or admission of wrongdoing on behalf of Fox, just an acknowledgement of the court's rulings finding some claims about Dominion to be false. Dominion and Staple Street achieved their goals by exposing the truth and Fox News' "offensive" actions and getting the media company to pay for them, Yaghoobzadeh said. In a statement following Tuesday's settlement, Fox said it was committed to the highest journalistic standards. Dominion funded the litigation through its own resources, without Staple Street or a third party providing financial backing, Yaghoobzadeh said.

WASHINGTON, April 20 (Reuters) - Mike Lindell, a prominent ally of former U.S. President Donald Trump, has been ordered to pay $5 million to a man who debunked Lindell's false claims of election fraud, the plaintiff's law firm said on Thursday. An arbitration panel ordered Lindell, the founder of pillow manufacturer My Pillow and a well-known election conspiracy theorist, to pay cyber expert Robert Zeidman after he won a contest Lindell hosted in Nevada in July 2021. "Lindell's claim to have 2020 election data has been definitively disproved." A significant portion of self-identified conservatives in the U.S. continue to falsely believe that the 2020 presidential election, which Trump lost, was marred by widespread fraud. In 2021, Dominion Voting Systems, which just reached a $787.5 million settlement with Fox Corp and Fox News, sued Lindell for damages related to his vote-rigging claims.

☆ Fox has more headaches coming after agreeing to pay $787.5 million to settle Dominion's defamation lawsuit
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-20 | by ( Jacob Shamsian | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +8 min

After shelling out $787.5 billion to settle Dominion's lawsuit, Fox has more troubles on the way. Atop the list is a separate lawsuit from Smartmatic, another election technology company that sued Fox News Network and its parent company, Fox Corp., in the aftermath of the 2020 presidential election. Smartmatic's defamation lawsuit asks for $2.7 billion in damages and was filed against Fox Corp.; Fox News Network; hosts Jeanine Pirro, Maria Bartiromo, and Lou Dobbs; and Powell and Giuliani. Aside from the Smartmatic case, Fox News has to deal with potential shareholder lawsuits. The overall value of Fox Corp. — which also includes Fox Sports and the streaming service Tubi — is more than $17.6 billion.

☆ Senate Republicans who backed Trump's election fraud claims say Fox News settling Dominion case leaves things 'a little murky'
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-20 | by ( Warren Rojas | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Several Senate Republicans predicted the settlement wouldn't change much at Fox or in journalism. "A bad settlement is a lot better than going to court," one Trump backer told Insider. "I think that it leaves a few things a little murky," Braun said while walking through the Senate subway. "The trial was likely to be pretty ugly," Cruz told Insider. "It's no problem — if you don't lie," Romney told Insider between votes.

☆ The $787.5 million settlement Fox has to pay is a big nut. But Fox's net cost for that will be much less.
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-20 | by ( Jeanne Sahadi | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

Here’s why:Settlement payments are tax deductible if the company pays out of pocket. The corporate income tax is also about dollars and cents, not about judging behavior that led to the business expense in the first place. “Our income tax measures income, not probity,” said business tax expert Steven Rosenthal, a senior fellow at the Urban-Brookings Tax Policy Center. In addition, “Fox also may deduct their settlement payments for state and local income tax purposes,” Rosenthal noted. If Fox pays for an insurance policy that it expects will reimburse it for its settlement costs, then it may not deduct the cost of the settlement payment.

At the very last minute, both Dominion Voting Systems and Fox News decided to settle their closely watched defamation lawsuit, rather than make their cases at trial. Jeremy W. Peters, who covers media and politics for The Times, was inside the courtroom as it happened.

☆ Smartmatic wants more than Dominion’s $787 million payout, plus a retraction from Fox for its 2020 election lies, lawyer says
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-20 | by ( Marshall Cohen | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +2 min

(But in a press release, Fox publicly “acknowledged” that the judge in that case had concluded that all 20 on-air statements that Dominion sued over were false.) “That set down a marker and it’s a marker that we think we should be exceeding,” Connolly said. “The scope of the damage done to Smartmatic is a global scale, because we operate globally… $787 million is a good start. Smartmatic wants $2.7 billion from Fox and other Trump allies that it named in the lawsuit. “We will be ready to defend this case surrounding extremely newsworthy events when it goes to trial, likely in 2025,” a Fox spokesperson said in a statement on Wednesday.

☆ Opinion | Did Fox News Just Pay for the Privilege of Continued Corruption?
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-20 | by ( David French | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +3 min

The settlement reflects Fox’s abandonment of even the most minimal journalistic standards. The headline stated that “Fox News Media, Dominion Voting Systems reach agreement over defamation lawsuit,” but it didn’t state the amount of the settlement and instead mainly focused on the judge’s compliments of Fox’s legal team. Some of them, including members of his legal team, made false and unsubstantiated claims against Dominion Voting Systems and are the subject of separate defamation lawsuits. In the meantime, many of the viewers who keep the company so very profitable won’t know anything meaningful about the Dominion settlement or Fox’s lies — because Fox won’t tell them. While this newsletter is admittedly rather bleak even in the face of Fox’s decisive court defeat, the story is far from over.

☆ Smartmatic could be Fox’s next big problem
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-20 | by ( Jennifer Korn | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

New York CNN —Fox News’ legal battle with Dominion Voting Systems is over. It now has to deal with Smartmatic, which is seeking billions of dollars more than its rival wanted in damages. Dominion wanted “only” $1.6 billion and settled with Fox for $787 million Tuesday. Both lawsuits focus on Fox News’ coverage of the 2020 election, including lies about voter fraud. “Dominion’s litigation exposed some of the misconduct and damage caused by Fox’s disinformation campaign,” Smartmatic lawyer Erik Connolly said in a statement after the settlement.

☆ Fox Has Settled One Voting Machine Company’s Defamation Case. Another Looms.
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-19 | by ( Erin Mulvaney | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Photo: Mark Makela/ReutersFox Corp.’s decision to pay $787.5 million to settle a defamation dispute with Dominion Voting Systems gave voting-machine company Smartmatic USA Corp. a potential blueprint for its own case against the conservative media empire, legal experts say. Just like Dominion, Smartmatic is accusing Fox’s news networks of airing defamatory comments about its products in the aftermath of the 2020 presidential election, including that the voting-machine company helped rig the outcome in favor of Joe Biden. The $2.7 billion lawsuit is pending in New York state court.

April 19 (Reuters) - Fox News on Tuesday disposed of one legal threat with its $787.5 million defamation settlement with Dominion Voting Systems, but the network still faces a $2.7 billion lawsuit from another voting technology company, Smartmatic USA, over its coverage of debunked election-rigging claims. REUTERS/Shannon Stapleton/File PhotoSmartmatic is seeking $2.7 billion in damages from Fox and five individuals, including former Trump lawyers and hosts. Smartmatic alleges in its lawsuit in New York County Supreme Court that the defendants knowingly spread false claims that its software was used to flip votes. Conspiracy theorists erroneously claimed Smartmatic owned Dominion, and the companies mounted similar allegations in their lawsuits. Fox denies the allegations, saying in a recent statement the network had a right to report on highly newsworthy allegations of voter fraud.

☆ Fox News says little on air about its $787.5 million settlement with Dominion
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-19 | by ( Helen Coster | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

Hosts Tucker Carlson and Sean Hannity, who had been expected to testify in the Dominion trial, did not reference the settlement, the largest struck by an American media company, during their primetime broadcasts on Tuesday night. Fox News is owned by Fox Corp (FOXA.O) and is the most-watched U.S. cable news network. Howard Kurtz, the host of Fox News' MediaBuzz show, appeared on Cavuto's show and during "Special Report with Bret Baier." On "Special Report" Kurtz read the Fox statement, but did not include the dollar figure of the settlement. In response to a Reuters request for comment about Fox's coverage of the settlement, a spokesperson shared the company's statement about the Dominion settlement that aired on Cavuto and Baier's shows.

"Fox has admitted to telling lies about Dominion that caused enormous damage to my company, our employees and our customers," Poulos said in a statement. Fox anchor Neil Cavuto broke into his news show "Your World" about 4:30 p.m. Eastern Time to report the settlement. In February court filings, Dominion cited a trove of internal communications in which Murdoch and other Fox figures privately acknowledged that the vote-rigging claims made about Dominion on-air were false. Dominion said Fox amplified the untrue claims to boost its ratings and prevent its viewers from migrating to other media competitors on the right. ANOTHER LAWSUIT PENDINGAdding to the legal risks for Fox, another U.S. voting technology company, Smartmatic, is pursuing its own defamation lawsuit seeking $2.7 billion in damages in a New York state court.

☆ After Fox Settlement, Assault on Media Protections Is Likely to Continue
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-19 | by ( David Enrich | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

The last-minute settlement of Dominion Voting Systems’ lawsuit against Fox News defused a high-stakes test of the First Amendment protections afforded to the media. But more challenges are likely on the horizon. The Dominion lawsuit, in which the voting machine company sought $1.6 billion in damages from Fox News for spreading falsehoods about Dominion’s role in the 2020 elections, had the potential to reshape the debate. If Fox News lost, a powerful news organization faced the prospect of record-breaking damages. But a victory for the cable news network would have raised questions — even among lawyers who represent the news media — about whether federal courts’ interpretations of the First Amendment made it impossible to hold anyone accountable for reckless and damaging lies.

☆ Here are the winners and losers of Fox News's $787.5 million settlement with Dominion
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-19 | by ( Kelsey Vlamis | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Fox News settled with Dominion on Tuesday, agreeing to pay $787.5 million. The network avoids a potentially embarrassing trial, while Dominion rakes in far more than its worth. Fox News agreed to pay Dominion $787.5 million, the largest public sum in a defamation case. The winnersDominion Voting Systems: Fox News is paying Dominion $787.5 million — which amounts to nearly 10 times what the company is worth, according to an evaluation from 2018. Rudy Giuliani and Sidney Powell: The former Trump lawyers who made the false statements that were broadcast on Fox News were in no way vindicated by the settlement.

The voice on the other end asked Roscoe if he would serve as an eleventh-hour mediator in the massive defamation lawsuit filed by Dominion Voting Systems against Fox News. “I said yes,” Roscoe told CNN on Wednesday, recalling advice his father gave him at the age of 16 about accepting work assignments while on vacation. Eduardo Munoz/Reuters/Eric Lee/Bloomberg/Getty ImagesIn the lead up to the last-second deal, attorneys for both Fox News and Dominion were fully expecting a trial. Last week, Dominion had notified Fox News that one of its first witnesses would be Rupert Murdoch, the 92-year-old Fox Corporation chairman, a person familiar with the matter told CNN. “Presence in the courtroom often tends to crystalize the focus of the risks and benefits of litigation,” Roscoe told CNN.

☆ What’s next for Fox and Dominion? More lawsuits seeking accountability for corrosive 2020 election lies
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-19 | by ( Marshall Cohen | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

Wilmington, Delaware CNN —Dominion Voting Systems’ blockbuster defamation case against Fox News is over after the right-wing network cuts a check for a staggering $787 million, but there’s still an avalanche of pending lawsuits that are seeking accountability from the right-wing figures who championed false claims about the 2020 election. Smartmatic, another voting technology company, sued Fox for defamation following the 2020 election and is seeking $2.7 billion in damages from Fox and other defendants. Dominion still has a bevy of pending lawsuits against 2020 election deniers. “All of those decisions will have a huge bearing on those lawsuits as they play out,” Dominion lawyer Davida Brook told CNN Tuesday night. Dominion lawyer Justin Nelson added in a CNN interview that the Fox News settlement “sends a message to the other seven lawsuits that accountability is coming.”

☆ Judge privately said Fox News spokesperson should 'be nicer' after she 'ratted on other people' about courtroom conduct in Dominion case
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-19 | by ( Jacob Shamsian | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

The judge in the Dominion v. Fox lawsuit criticized a Fox News spokesperson in a private conversation. He said she should "be nicer to people" after saying she "ratted on" others for tweeting in court, which is forbidden. She had taken photos of the courtroom on her phone, before the judge or any prospective jurors arrived. After leaving the main courtroom, Cronin went into the overflow room. After hours of waiting and what the transcript refers to as a brief "sidebar discussion held off the record," the judge announced Fox and Dominion had reached a settlement.

☆ Fox's $787 million settlement won't restore damage to US democracy
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-19 | by ( Stephen Collinson | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +9 min

CNN —Fox News will pay $787.5 million for transmitting lies that a small voting technology firm helped steal the 2020 election. And Trump himself is facing several criminal probes related to his efforts to overturn the 2020 election and the run-up to the January 6, 2021, insurrection. And is there any chance that Fox’s humiliation can repair some of the damage from the disastrous election aftermath in 2020? That missing moment of accountability will be important because claims that the 2020 election was corrupt are not some artifact of recent history. No single case can repair the damage of 2020The extent to which Trump’s falsehoods and conspiracy theories harmed democracy is open to debate.

☆ Morning Bid: Crowded bonds unnerved
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-19 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

This has some wondering if the recent dash for cash and top-rated bonds has become a bit crowded and how much more tightening central banks have to do. As we move into the weeds of the first-quarter U.S. earnings season, it's been a mixed bag so far. That clearly unnerved UK government bonds - where 10 year yields jumped 10bps - but it also jarred sovereign bonds around the world. Elsewhere, further signs of healing were evident in the global bank funding market. Japan's Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group (8316.T) sold $1 billion of additional tier-1 debt, the first major global bank to sell the risky securities since similar bonds issued by Credit Suisse were wiped out last month.

☆ Dominion isn’t Rupert Murdoch’s costliest legal defeat. Not even close
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-19 | by ( Julia Horowitz | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +5 min

But for now, the price tag attached to the Dominion case isn’t the worst Fox chairman Rupert Murdoch has had to stomach. A phone hacking scandal involving Murdoch’s tabloid newspaper empire in the United Kingdom has proven much more costly over the past decade or so. It looked at legal fees and damages, as well as expenses tied to the subsequent restructuring of Murdoch’s UK media empire. The last big Murdoch legal fightThe editor of Murdoch’s News of the World and a private investigator were convicted of conspiracy to hack the voicemails of British royals in 2007. Britain’s Prince Harry and actor Hugh Grant are among those who have filed legal challenges against The Sun tied to phone hacking.

☆ Breakingviews: Fox is not out of the woods yet
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-19 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

NEW YORK, April 18 (Reuters Breakingviews) - Rupert Murdoch’s Fox will find that a damaged beast attracts more foes. The media company which operates cable network Fox News settled a defamation lawsuit on Tuesday for approximately half of the $1.6 billion sought in damages by the plaintiff, Dominion Voting Systems. In a statement, Fox acknowledged the court’s ruling “finding certain claims about Dominion to be false.”Fox has some $4 billion in cash, so it can easily scratch a check for the $788 million penalty. And while Fox is flush now, Chief Executive Lachlan Murdoch has noted the company needs more scale, given it’s vulnerable to cord cutters and a tepid advertising environment. The $17 billion Fox has survived this round, yet the hunt is still on.

☆ Fox is not out of the woods yet
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-19 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

☆ Premarket stocks: The earnings recession is here. There could be worse to come
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-19 | by ( Nicole Goodkind | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +8 min

New York CNN —Earnings reports are coming thick and fast, showing how companies fared in the first few months of the year. But even as earnings are forecast to slump to their lowest level in three years, investors fear the worst is yet to come. This left significant gaps in the forensic search for Nazi-linked records, the Senate Committee stated. AlixPartners, according to the Senate committee, has indicated it will conduct a “supplementary review” of Credit Suisse’s connections to ratlines amongst other allegations. Credit Suisse is Switzerland’s second-largest bank by assets and has spent the past few years plagued by scandals and large losses.

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