This Could Be Another Big Payout By Fox News
On the heels of paying out over three-quarters of a billion dollars to Dominion Voting Systems, another whopper lawsuit could be headed Fox News’s way.
While still working at Fox News, Tucker Carlson promoted a conspiracy theory that Ray Epps was working as a covert government agent and helped incite the Jan. 6, 2021, assault on the Capitol to sabotage and discredit former President Donald Trump.
Evidence shows that Epps took part in demonstrations in Washington that day and the night before. He was captured on camera urging a crowd to march with him and enter the Capitol. But at other points, he pleads for calm once it becomes clear the situation is turning violent. He can be seen moving past a line of Capitol Police at the barricades, but never actually goes inside the Capitol.
So far Epps has not been charged with a crime, and Carlson insisted that the lack of charges against Epps could mean only one thing: that he was being protected because he was a secret government agent.
There was “no rational explanation,” Carlson told viewers. Carlson mentioned Epps on Fox News over 20 times.
The NY Times reports that lawyers representing Epps and his wife are proceeding with plans to sue Fox News for defamation. “We informed Fox in March that if they did not issue a formal on-air apology that we would pursue all available avenues to protect the Eppses’ rights,” said Michael Teter, a lawyer for Epps who sent the network a cease-and-desist letter asking for an on-air apology and a retraction. After Teter did not hear from Fox about his request, he began to prepare the suit. “That remains our intent.”
Mr. Epps declined to comment on his potential suit. A Fox News spokeswoman declined to comment.