Fox News Settlement With Dominion Does Not Require On-Air Retraction Or Apology

Fox News’ $787.5 million settlement with Dominion Voting Systems does not require that the network do an on-air a retraction or apology, sources confirmed.

In talking to reporters afterward, attorneys for Dominion suggested that the settlement sum and the proceedings up to this point held the network accountable for amplifying false allegations that the election software company was involved in rigging the 2020 election in Joe Biden’s favor.

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“We achieved our goals. Our goals were accountability, and our goals were to make right by our client,” Justin Nelson, the lead attorney for Dominion, told Deadline. “And I think we hit a home run on both of those. We’re very proud of what we have done in this case, and I think that what we have done is for the first time to have accountability for the lies of the 2020 election.”

Fox did issue a statement shortly after the settlement was announced, but it did not include an apology or directly retract what was said, but referenced what the court had ruled on the case. “We acknowledge the Court’s rulings finding certain claims about Dominion to be false,” the statement read. Judge Eric Davis issued a summary judgment opinion last month ruling that the 20 statements at issue in the case were false.

RELATED: CNN’s Jake Tapper Has Hard Time Keeping Straight Face When Reading Fox News’ Statement About $787M Dominion Settlement

But Nelson said, “I think what we’re after was accountability. And I think it really showed today by paying more than three quarters of a billion dollars. Lies do have consequences. They also do acknowledge that summary judgment opinion called them lies.”

“From our perspective, what we were after is what we achieved.”

The settlement speculation started on Sunday, when Davis delayed the start of the trial 24 hours to today. Fox entered a filing in the court that argued that Dominion was significantly slashing its $1.6 billion damages claim by more than a half billion dollars, citing an email it received from a Dominion attorney. But Dominion challenged that it was doing so.

The settlement speculation died down today, as the jury was selected, sworn in and seated. By late morning, it looked as if the trial was about to start in earnest, with sources indicating that Rupert Murdoch could be called to the stand near the start of Dominion’s case, perhaps as soon as Wednesday as it began to call its first witnesses. Many of Fox News’ star personalities were due to take the stand and be queried by Dominion about a trove of embarrassing emails and text messages released in recent months.

RELATED: Dominion Attorneys And CEO Talk About $787.5 Million Settlement Of Fox Defamation Case: “The Truth Matters, Lies Have Consequences”

When the court came back in session after lunch, the situation had changed. Instead of bringing the jury back into the courtroom, Davis huddled behind closed doors with Dominion and Fox attorneys. For 2 1/2 hours the packed courtroom, filled mostly with journalists, was left to speculate as to what was happening. Reporters read the body language of attorneys, watching for any clues. The judge apparently was awaiting the word that the settlement had been finalized before taking his next step in the case: Thanking and dismissing the jury.

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