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☆ Fox News settles Dominion's defamation lawsuit for $787.5 million over election conspiracy theories just as the trial is about to start
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-18 | by ( Jacob Shamsian | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +11 min

Fox News settled Dominion's defamation lawsuit over election conspiracy theories for $787.5 million. WILMINGTON, Delaware — Fox News settled Dominion Voting Systems's blockbuster defamation lawsuit just as it was about to go to trial, agreeing to pay it $787.5 million. In a press conference after Davis announced the settlement, Dominion CEO John Poulos criticized Fox for broadcasting lies about the company. Dominion first filed its lawsuit against Fox News and its parent company, Fox Corp., in March 2021. Representatives of Fox News arrive at the justice center for the Dominion Voting Systems' defamation lawsuit against Fox News, in Wilmington, Delaware.

☆ Dominion’s case against Fox News goes to trial next week. Is the First Amendment really on the line?
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-16 | by ( Jacob Shamsian | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +21 min

But even by the standards of the profession, the language in Dominion's $1.6 billion lawsuit against Fox News has been downright apocalyptic. A victory for Dominion against Fox, they say, could wreak havoc for other journalism organizations across the country. The sheer closeness between Trump and Fox News makes a case like this unlikely to harm journalism organizations down the line, Goodale said. The vast majority of defamation cases against media organizations are settled, which gives few high-profile precedents to the Dominion lawsuit. "And that's the balance that the Sullivan court strike tried to strike in 1964.

☆ Trump faces more legal threats beyond a hush money case. Here's the status of those probes
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-05 | by ( Kevin Breuninger | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +10 min

Cohen has since become a vocal critic of his former boss and testified before the grand jury hearing evidence in Bragg's probe. The grand jury was impaneled in January 2022 to hear evidence in Fulton County DA Willis' probe. Portions of that final report, which were released in February, show the grand jury determined that at least one witness may have lied under oath. New York civil caseTrump is also embroiled in a state-level civil fraud case filed by James, the New York attorney general. (L-R) Eric Trump, Donald Trump Jr., and Ivanka Trump and Donald Trump attend the ground breaking of the Trump International Hotel at the Old Post Office Building in Washington July 23, 2014.

☆ Trump live updates: Ex-president suggests there could be 'death and destruction' if he is charged
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-24 | by ( Dan Mangan | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

Former U.S. President Donald Trump speaks to reporters before his speech at the annual Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) at Gaylord National Resort & Convention Center on March 4, 2023 in National Harbor, Maryland. The Manhattan panel is probing a $130,000 payment Trump's then-personal lawyer Michael Cohen gave porn star Stormy Daniels shortly before Election Day 2016. That grand jury could resume work on Monday. Trump's legal team earlier this week lost a last-ditch effort at the federal appeals court for the District of Columbia to block a Corcoran's ordered appearance. Those investigations are taking place even as Trump is seeking the 2024 Republican presidential nomination.

☆ Fox News is unlikely to face pushback from professional journalism groups after court documents revealed it lied to viewers
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-19 | by ( Jacob Shamsian | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +8 min

The White House Correspondents' Association doesn't police member conduct, a former board member said. A number of professional organizations told Insider that Fox News fell well short of the standards expected in the profession. "Journalism receives significant protections from the First Amendment and with those protections come profound responsibilities," McCarran told Insider. Evidence made public in Dominion's lawsuit shows how Fox employees — beyond just hosts of opinion shows — had priorities other than telling their viewers the truth. "There are left-wing publications, right-wing publications, there are government-owned publications — there's Voice of America, foreign news organizations," the former board member said. "

☆ Democratic Rep. Judy Chu, the first Chinese American woman elected to Congress, blasts a Texas GOP congressman after he questioned her loyalty to the US: 'It is racist'
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-25 | by ( John L. Dorman | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

Judy Chu criticized Lance Gooden after he seemingly questioned her "loyalty" to the US on Fox News. "I think she has drug along the other Chinese American members to sign this letter. I very much doubt that he would be spreading these lies were I not of Chinese American descent." "Lance Gooden's slanderous accusation of disloyalty against Rep. Chu is dangerous, unconscionable and xenophobic," Jeffries said in a statement. Rep. Gooden accused Democrats of bringing up race after his criticism of Rep. Chu.

☆ Pence will fight subpoena in special counsel probe of Trump's attempt to overturn 2020 election
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-14 | by ( Kevin Breuninger | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

Former Vice President Mike Pence is planning to challenge a subpoena issued to him by the special counsel investigating ex-President Donald Trump's efforts to overturn his 2020 election loss, a person familiar with the matter told CNBC on Tuesday. Under the U.S. Constitution, the vice president is also the president of the Senate. A spokesman for the special counsel declined to comment. Smith was appointed special counsel in November to head a criminal investigation into whether Trump unlawfully interfered with the transfer of power after losing to President Joe Biden in the 2020 election. After Pence refused, a mob of Trump's supporters stormed the U.S. Capitol, forcing the vice president and members of Congress to flee their chambers.

House Democrats marked the second anniversary of the Jan. 6 riot Friday with a solemn ceremony on the steps of the U.S. Capitol, which Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries called "a citadel of democracy" that had come under assault that day. "We stand here today with our democracy intact because of those officers," he said. A bipartisan group of lawmakers observe a moment of silence on the steps of the Capitol on the second anniversary of the Jan. 6 riot. "They failed because of the bravery and valor of the U.S. Capitol Police and the Metropolitan Police Department officers who fought heroically to defend our democracy," he said. Last year, only then-Rep. Liz Cheney, R-Wyo., joined House Democrats for a moment of silence on the first anniversary of the attack.

☆ Trump's biggest accomplishments and failures from his 1-term presidency
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-25 | by ( John Haltiwanger | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

He repeatedly attacked the media, leading UN experts to warn that Trump's rhetoric raised the risk of violence against journalists. Though President Joe Biden was the clear winner of the 2020 election, Trump refused to concede. Even as world leaders began to congratulate Biden, a major sign of Biden's legitimacy, Trump continued to deny reality. After the violence, Trump released a video acknowledging that a new administration would take over, but he did not explicitly concede. Every president prior to Trump allowed for a peaceful transition of power after they'd served two terms or lost an election.

☆ House probe of Jan. 6 pro-Trump riot is cooperating with DOJ special counsel, reports say
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-20 | by ( Kevin Breuninger | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

The member of the U.S. House Select Committee investigating the January 6 Attack on the U.S. Capitol hold their final public meeting on Capitol Hill in Washington, U.S., December 19, 2022. The committee started sending special counsel Jack Smith documents and transcripts last week, Punchbowl News reported earlier. The DOJ has also received Meadows' text messages, along with witness transcripts related to an Eastman-backed scheme to try to appoint pro-Trump electors in key states in the 2020 election, Punchbowl reported. Spokesmen for the select committee and the DOJ did not immediately respond to CNBC's requests for comment. Smith is also tasked with investigating potential violations related to Trump's removal of hundreds of documents from the White House, including some bearing classified markings.

☆ Smartmatic subpoenas Trump's lawyer Christina Bobb in election conspiracy lawsuit against Fox News and Rudy Giuliani
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-22 | by ( Jacob Shamsian | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Smartmatic subpoenaed Christina Bobb as part of its lawsuit against Fox News and Rudy Giuliani. Bobb pushed election conspiracy theories while simultaneously working for OAN and with Trump's lawyers. Smartmatic has other parallel lawsuits pending against election conspiracy theorists Sidney Powell and Mike Lindell. A defamation lawsuit against OAN from Dominion, a rival election technology company also caught up in conspiracy theories, alleged Solomon "was in fact a convicted felon with no college degree." At the same time Bobb worked for OAN, she freelanced for Trump's personal attorneys, including Giuliani, to help with legal challenges against the election results.

☆ Raphael Warnock and Herschel Walker will face off in a December 6 runoff election in Georgia with a 4-week campaign blitz unlike any other
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-09 | by ( John L. Dorman | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Raphael Warnock and Herschel Walker are set to face off in a Dec. 6 Senate runoff, per Insider and DDHQ. The time between the general election and the runoff is shorterAfter Warnock and Ossoff flipped both of Georgia's Senate seats from then-GOP Sens. Georgia Republican Senate nominee Herschel Walker. To meet eligibility requirements to cast a ballot in the runoff election, an individual must have been registered to vote by November 7. The Biden and Trump factorsIn 2020, Biden became the first Democratic presidential nominee to capture Georgia since Bill Clinton in 1992.

☆ Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp fends off Democrat Stacey Abrams for a second term, NBC News projects
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-08 | by ( Emma Kinery | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

Governor Brian Kemp holds up four fingers to indicate "four more years" as he speaks after winning the Republican primary during his primary election watch party in Atlanta, Georgia, U.S. May 24, 2022. Brian Kemp has secured another term, fending off Democrat Stacey Abrams in the duo's second match-up, NBC News projected. Georgia voters in 2020 elected Democrats to both U.S. Senate seats and backed President Joe Biden. State officials, including Kemp, refused to do Trump's bidding and drew his ire when they certified Biden's electoral college win in Georgia. Abrams took flak two weeks before the election when she said on MSNBC that abortion was an economic issue.

☆ Walmart's PAC has quietly donated nearly $1 million to campaigns ahead of the midterms. While the company has a ''don't rock the boat strategy,' it contributed to 41 election deniers.
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-07 | by ( Ben Tobin | Madison Hall | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +8 min

WALPAC donated almost 50-50 to Democratic and Republican federal candidates for the midterms. Walmart's PAC donated to 41 candidates who denied the 2020 presidential election results, ProPublica found. Of that, about 53% went to Republican candidates, and 47% went to Democrats. Some members of Congress, particularly among Democrats, also reject any corporate PAC contribution — WALPAC or otherwise — as a matter of practice. However, the company did donate a significant amount of money to candidates who voted against certifying the 2020 presidential election results.

☆ A former Oath Keeper testified he was in 'freakout mode and scared' after January 6. 'I'm going to have to tell my mom.'
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-31 | by ( C. Ryan Barber | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

A former Oath Keepers member testified at the first seditious conspiracy trial linked to January 6. Graydon Young said he was "regalvanized" by Oath Keepers founder Elmer Stewart Rhodes. Prosecutors showed text messages in which Oath Keepers planned for a revolution-like event. Within weeks of joining the Oath Keepers, in late 2020, he joined a security detail for longtime Trump ally Roger Stone. Inside the Capitol, Young testified Monday, "It was pandemonium."

☆ Attack on Nancy Pelosi's husband prompts Republicans, including many who defied the 2020 election results after Capitol rioters hunted her on Jan. 6, to denounce political violence
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-28 | by ( Erin Snodgrass | Warren Rojas | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Rep. Nancy Pelosi's husband, Paul Pelosi, was attacked during an early Friday break-in, police said. Several GOP lawmakers, including some who spread lies about the 2020 election, have since condemned the attack. Sen. Ted CruzThe Texas senator acknowledged his and Nancy Pelosi's "political differences," while calling the attack on her husband "horrific." —Congresswoman Kat Cammack (@RepKatCammack) October 28, 2022Rep. Chuck FleischmannThe Tennessee Republican wrote that any politically motivated violence "must be strongly condemned." Rep. Rodney DavisThe Illinois Republican wrote that the Pelosi attack strikes at the heart of every lawmaker, decrying it as "an attack on all of Congress."

☆ GOP Rep. Liz Cheney backs Rep. Elissa Slotkin in tight Michigan House race in her first endorsement of a Democrat
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-27 | by ( Kevin Breuninger | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

U.S. Rep. Elissa Slotkin speaks at a campaign rally she held on October 16, 2022 in East Lansing, Michigan. Republican Rep. Liz Cheney, co-leader of the House Jan. 6 committee and a staunch critic of former President Donald Trump, is endorsing Democratic Rep. Elissa Slotkin in her tough re-election fight in Michigan. It's also Cheney's first endorsement since Trump-backed GOP challenger Harriet Hageman trounced the incumbent in Wyoming's GOP primary. Cheney and Slotkin are set to campaign together in Lansing on Tuesday, the Democrat's campaign said Thursday. "I'm proud to endorse Elissa Slotkin," Cheney said in a statement shared by Slotkin's campaign.

☆ Trump lashes out at judge who said former president knowingly pushed false voter fraud case
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-20 | by ( Kevin Breuninger | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +5 min

Former U.S. President Donald Trump speaks as he attends a rally in Warren, Michigan, U.S., October 1, 2022. Former President Donald Trump lashed out Thursday after a federal judge wrote that Trump knowingly pushed false claims of voter fraud while he was fighting his 2020 election loss. In late December, Eastman relayed concerns to Trump's attorneys about citing supposed evidence of voter fraud in Georgia's Fulton County. "The emails show that President Trump knew that the specific numbers of voter fraud were wrong but continued to tout those numbers, both in court and to the public," the judge determined. In that decision, the judge wrote that it was "more likely than not that President Trump corruptly attempted to obstruct the Joint Session of Congress" on Jan. 6.

☆ Judge says more of attorney John Eastman's emails about Trump election challenge must be given to Jan. 6 probe
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-19 | by ( Kevin Breuninger | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

Eight of Eastman's emails were subject to that "crime-fraud exception," according to the order in U.S. District Court in Santa Ana, California. Another four emails "demonstrate an effort by President Trump and his attorneys to press false claims in federal court for the purpose of delaying the January 6 vote," Carter wrote. In Wednesday's ruling, Carter ordered disclosure of portions of a handful of emails related to Eastman's plan for Pence to challenge the 2020 electoral count. Carter ruled in March that Eastman disclose 101 emails to the select committee that were the subject of disputes over legal privileges. In that decision, judge wrote that it was "more likely than not that President Trump corruptly attempted to obstruct the Joint Session of Congress" on Jan. 6.

☆ Jan. 6 committee hearing to reveal new evidence, look at Trump's state of mind during riot
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-13 | by ( Kevin Breuninger | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

Please refresh the page if you do not see the player above at that time.] The House select committee investigating the Jan. 6 Capitol riot is set to take a broader look Thursday at the plot to overturn former President Donald Trump's loss to President Joe Biden in the 2020 election. The committee's ninth public hearing, set for 1 p.m. The rioters fought through lines of police officers and entered the building, forcing lawmakers to flee their chambers for safety. The nine-member panel will seek to contextualize those plans, while providing new information and witness testimony, the aide said.

☆ Next Jan. 6 committee hearing will reveal 'pretty surprising' new material, Rep. Zoe Lofgren says
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-11 | by ( Kevin Breuninger | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

The committee's ninth public hearing will touch on the "close ties between people in Trump world and some of these extremist groups," Rep. Zoe Lofgren, D-Calif., said in a CNN interview. "There's some new material that, you know, I found as we got into it, pretty surprising." Later that same week, the committee interviewed Virginia Thomas, the wife of Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, for about 3.5 hours. Thomas was not videotaped during her interview with the committee, Lofgren said over the weekend in an MSNBC interview. The committee also faces an end-of-the-year deadline to submit a final report to the president and Congress containing its findings.

Demonstrators take part in a protest for democracy and free elections and against Brazil's President Jair Bolsonaro, at Paulista Avenue in Sao Paulo, Brazil, August 11, 2022. Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com Register"One thing is certain about this election: President Bolsonaro will only accept one result – victory. When pressed in interviews, Bolsonaro says he will respect the election result as long as voting is "clean and transparent," without defining any criteria. Demonstrators cited the big crowds as evidence that opinion polls are skewed and electoral fraud is Lula's only hope. The Brazilian president has warned that the aftermath of Brazil's election this year could be worse than the fallout from that contested U.S. vote.

☆ Ex-White House aide said she wanted Mark Meadows to 'snap out' of it and pay attention to the Capitol riot as it was unfolding
▼ + stars: | 2022-06-28 | by ( John L. Dorman | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

An ex-aide to Meadows said she wanted him to "snap out" of it and pay attention to the Capitol riot. Cassidy Hutchinson said she asked Meadows if he could see what was transpiring on his TV on January 6. "I remember thinking in that moment, 'Mark needs to snap out of this and I don't know how to snap him out of this but he needs to care.'" About a minute later, then-White House counsel Pat Cipollone appeared and pressed Meadows to act on the events at the Capitol. "I remember Pat saying to [Meadows], something to the effect of, 'The rioters have gotten to the Capitol, Mark, we need to go down and see the president now,'" Hutchinson said.

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