Dominion CEO Defends Fox News Settlement Decision, Says “All Of The Facts We Had Discovered During The Case Had Already Come To Light”
19.04.2023 - 14:13
/ deadline.com
John Poulos, the CEO of Dominion Voting Systems, defended the $787.5 billion settlement with Fox News and Fox Corp., telling Good Morning America that “all of the facts we had discovered during the case had already come to light.”
Under the terms of the settlement, Fox News does not have to issue an on-air apology or retraction. In a statement released shortly after a judge announced on Tuesday afternoon that the parties had resolved the case, Fox said that “we acknowledge the court’s rulings finding certain claims about Dominion to be false.”
In his interview with George Stephanopoulos, Poulos said, “There was an acknowledgement, and certainly it was not the way I wrote it. I had some conversations with our team, my co-founder and I, and at the end of the day, the court system is really about accountability. We feel we got it.”
Stephanopoulos pressed Poulos on the Fox statement, noting that the network just acknowledged that the judge said there were falsehoods.
“Is that enough?” Stephanopoulos asked.
Poulos replied, “Well, if you look at the documents, I think they speak for themselves. They did acknowledge. They did not argue falsity. And the motion for summary judgment was extremely clear. In fact, he used the language ‘crystal clear.'”
The settlement came just after a jury was sworn in for the case and just before opening statements were to begin. Fox Corp. executive chairman Rupert Murdoch was expected to be among the first figures called by Dominion to testify.
The settlement amount is one of the largest ever for a defamation claim. Over the past month of so, a trove of internal Fox emails, text messages and other documents were released in the case, showing that a number executives and Fox personalities