Fox News And Venezuelan Businessman Reach Settlement In Defamation Lawsuit Over Election Rigging Claims
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Fox News has reached a settlement with Venezuelan businessman Majed Khalil, who filed a defamation lawsuit over a Lou Dobbs tweet and broadcast linking him to rigging the 2020 presidential election.
The lawsuit has been a bit of a sidelight to separate and more widely publicized defamation cases brought against the network by Dominion Voting Systems and Smartmatic, after hosts and guests amplified claims that the companies were involved in voter fraud. Jury selection in the Dominion case is scheduled to start this week.
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“The parties are pleased to jointly inform the court that they have reached a confidential agreement to resolve this matter,” attorneys for Khalil and the network wrote in a filing to U.S. District Judge Louis Stanton. “The parties anticipate filing a joint stipulation of dismissal with prejudice early next week.”
Dobbs and Fox Corp. also were named as defendant’s in Khalil’s lawsuit.
In his defamation claim, Khalil cited a Dec. 10, 2020, tweet on Dobbs’ account in which he wrote that the election was a “Cyber Pearl Harbor.” The tweet included a document in which Khalil is named as the “effective ‘COO’ of the election project, under Chavez and Maduro. Khalil is a liaison with Hezbollah.”
Later that day, Dobbs interviewed attorney Sidney Powell, who claimed that Khalil and three others “designed and developed the Smartmatic and Dominion programs and machines that include a controller module that allows people to log in and manipulate the vote even as it’s happening.”
Dobbs’ show was dropped by Fox Business Network in February, 2021.
In September, Stanton declined a motion to dismiss Khalil’s case, writing that the plaintiff “adequately alleges that Fox may be held liable for the defamatory claims.” The judge did conclude that New York’s anti-SLAPP law applied to the case because it was a matter of public interest.
The defendants filed counterclaims in October under New York’s anti-SLAPP statute, arguing that Dobbs’ coverage was covered by the First Amendment and New York law, and that Khalil failed to allege actual malice. Fox had maintained that it was covering newsworthy claims of election fraud made by Donald Trump and his allies.
Reached by Deadline, a Fox News spokesperson said, “This matter has been resolved amicably by both sides. We have no further comment.” Khalil’s attorney, Sigmund S. Wissner-Gross, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Stanton had previously dismissed Khalil’s claims against Powell, citing lack of personal jurisdiction.
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