For all the interest in big-name witnesses and eye-opening private text messages, at the core of the defamation lawsuit filed by Dominion Voting Systems against Fox News are 20 specific broadcasts and tweets in which the voting company says Fox knowingly promoted lies, destroying its reputation.
According to the lawsuit, all 20 statements took place between November 8, 2020, and January 26, 2021, and came in the form of on-air comments from Fox hosts Jeanine Pirro, Lou Dobbs and Maria Bartiromo; interviews with prominent pro-Trump election deniers Sidney Powell, Rudy Giuliani and Mike Lindell; and several of Dobbs’ tweets.
The wild allegations in the statements fell into four broad categories: that Dominion conducted election fraud, that it used algorithms to flip votes, that it had ties to Venezuela and that politicians received kickbacks to use the company.
The judge overseeing the defamation trial has already ruled that these allegations were false, saying it is “CRYSTAL clear that none of the Statements relating to Dominion about the 2020 election are true.”
At trial, it will be a jury’s job to determine if the statements were made with “actual malice” – a high bar based on knowing falseness or having a reckless disregard for the truth – and potentially award damages. Dominion has asked for $1.6 billion in damages and additional punitive damages, a number Fox says is wildly overblown.
Fox has denied wrongdoing and said the case is a meritless assault on press freedoms. Lawyers for Fox have argued that Dominion hasn’t come close to clearing the high bar to prove defamation.
Here’s a closer look at those 20 specific broadcasts and tweets of alleged defamation.
Broadcast 1: Bartiromo interviews Powell
The broadcast: “Sunday Morning Futures” on November 8, 2020.
What they alleged: Election fraud and algorithm flips.
Key false quote: “Sidney, we talked about the Dominion software. I know that there were voting irregularities. Tell me about that,” Bartiromo said.
“That’s to put it mildly. The computer glitches could not and should not have happened at all,” Powell said. “That is where the fraud took place where they were flipping votes in the computer system or adding votes that did not exist.”
Broadcast 2: Dobbs interviews Giuliani
The broadcast: “Lou Dobbs Tonight” on November 12, 2020.
What they alleged: Election fraud and Venezuela ties.
Key false quote: “So, we’re using a foreign company that is owned by Venezuelans who are close to – were close to (Hugo) Chávez, are now close to (Nicolás) Maduro, have a history. They were founded as a company to fix elections, they have a terrible record, and they are extremely hackable,” Giuliani said.
Broadcast 3: Dobbs interviews Powell
The broadcast: “Lou Dobbs Tonight” on November 13, 2020.
What they alleged: Election fraud, algorithm flips, Venezuela ties, kickbacks.
Key false quote: “Let’s start with Dominion, a straight out disavowal of any claim of fraud against the company, its software or machines. Your reaction,” Dobbs asked.
“Well, I can hardly wait to put forth all the evidence we have collected on Dominion, starting with the fact it was created to produce altered voting results in Venezuela for Hugo Chavez and then shipped internationally to manipulate votes for purchase in other countries, including this one,” Powell said.
“We also need to look at and we’re beginning to collect evidence on the financial interests of some of the governors and Secretaries of State who actually bought into the Dominion Systems … to line their own pockets by getting a voting machine in that would either make sure their election was successful or they got money for their family from it,” she added.
“Well, that’s straightforward,” Dobbs said. “You’re going to have to be quick to go through and to produce that investigation and the results of it.”
Broadcast 4: Tweet from Dobbs
The broadcast: Quote-tweet by Dobbs of Giuliani tweet on November 14, 2020.
What they alleged: Election fraud, algorithm flips, Venezuela ties.
Key false quote: “Did you know a foreign company, DOMINION, was counting our vote in Michigan, Arizona and Georgia and other states,” Giuliani wrote.
“Read all about Dominion and Smartmatic voting companies and you’ll soon understand how pervasive this Democrat electoral fraud is, and why there’s no way in the world the 2020 Presidential election was either free or fair. #MAGA @realDonaldTrump #AmericaFirst #Dobbs,” Dobbs wrote.
Broadcast 5: Jeanine Pirro interviews Powell
The broadcast: “Justice with Judge Jeanine” on November 14, 2020.
What they alleged: Election fraud, algorithm flips, Venezuela ties.
Key false quote: “It was created for the express purpose of being able to alter votes and secure the reelection of Hugo Chavez and then Maduro. They’ve used it in Argentina,” Powell said. “There is an American citizen who has exported it to other countries and it is one huge, huge criminal conspiracy that should be investigated by military intelligence for its national security implications.”
“Yes. And hopefully the Department of Justice, but who knows anymore,” Pirro said.
Broadcast 6: Bartiromo previews interview with Powell and Giuliani
The broadcast: “Fox & Friends Sunday” on November 15, 2020.
What they alleged: Election fraud, algorithm flips, Venezuela ties, kickbacks.
Key false quote: “Sidney Powell is also talking about potential kickbacks that government officials, who were asked to use Dominion, actually also enjoyed benefits to their families,” Bartiromo said. “We’re going to talk about that coming up as well.”
Broadcast 7: Bartiromo interviews Giuliani and Powell
The broadcast: “Sunday Morning Futures” on November 15, 2020.
What they alleged: Election fraud, algorithm flips, Venezuela ties, kickbacks.
Key false quote: “We have sworn witness testimony of why the software was designed. It was designed to rig elections … We have so much evidence, I feel like it’s coming in through a fire hose,” Powell said.
“Wow,” Bartiromo said.
Broadcast 8: Dobbs interviews Powell
The broadcast: “Lou Dobbs Tonight” on November 16, 2020.
What they alleged: Election fraud, algorithm flips, Venezuela ties.
Key false quote: “I’ve just gotten some stunning evidence from a firsthand witness, a high-ranking military officer, who was present when Smartmatic was designed in a way that – and I’m going to just read to you some of these statements, if you don’t mind, so I get them exactly right,” Powell said.
“Sure,” Dobbs said.
Powell continued, “From the affidavit, (Smartmatic was) ‘designed in a way that the system could change the vote of each voter without being detected.’”
Powell also incorrectly claimed that Smartmatic owns Dominion.
Broadcast 9: Dobbs interviews Giuliani
The broadcast: “Lou Dobbs Tonight” on November 18, 2020.
What they alleged: Election fraud, algorithm flips, Venezuela ties.
Key false quote: “But I mean just the mere fact that we have a foreign country, we had this in a foreign country, done by friends of an enemy of the United States, Maduro, is outrageous and has to stop immediately,” Giuliani said.
“It’s outrageous,” Dobbs said.
Broadcast 10: Dobbs interviews Powell
The broadcast: “Lou Dobbs Tonight” on November 19, 2020.
What they alleged: Election fraud, algorithm flips, Venezuela ties.
Key false quote: “Let me put it this way, there are thousands of people in federal prisons on far less evidence of criminal conduct than we have already against the Smartmatic and Dominion Systems companies,” Powell said.
Broadcast 11: Pirro monologue
The broadcast: “Justice with Judge Jeanine” on November 21, 2020.
What they alleged: Election fraud, algorithm flips, Venezuela ties.
Key false quote: “The President’s lawyers alleging a company called Dominion, which they say started in Venezuela with Cuban money, and with the assistance of Smartmatic software, a backdoor is capable of flipping votes,” Pirro said.
Broadcast 12: Dobbs interviews Powell
The broadcast: “Lou Dobbs Tonight” on November 24, 2020.
What they alleged: Election fraud, algorithm flips, Venezuela ties.
Key false quote: “We are just continuing to be inundated by evidence of all the frauds here and every manner and means of fraud you could possibly think of,” Powell said.
“I think many Americans have given no thought to electoral fraud that would be perpetrated through electronic voting; that is, these machines, these electronic voting companies, including Dominion, prominently Dominion, at least in the suspicions of a lot of Americans,” Dobbs said.
Broadcast 13: Dobbs interview with Powell
The broadcast: “Lou Dobbs Tonight” on November 30, 2020.
What they alleged: Election fraud, algorithm flips, kickbacks.
Key false quote: “Different states shaved different amounts of votes, or the system was set up to shave and flip different votes in different states,” Powell said. “Some people were targeted as individual candidates. It’s really the most massive and historical egregious fraud the world has ever seen.”
Broadcast 14: Sean Hannity interviews Powell
The broadcast: “Hannity” on November 30, 2020.
What they alleged: Election fraud and algorithm flips.
Key false quote: “The machine ran an algorithm that shaved votes from Trump and awarded them to Biden,” Powell said. “They used the machines to trash large batches of votes that should have been awarded to President Trump. And they used a machine to inject and add massive quantities of votes for Mr. Biden.”
Broadcast 15: Dobbs interviews Phil Waldron
The broadcast: “Lou Dobbs Tonight” on December 4, 2020.
What they alleged: Election fraud and algorithm flips.
Key false quote: “Dominion Voting Systems, you have described it with algorithms which were designed to be inaccurate rather than to be a secure system,” Dobbs said.
“Give us your sense of who is driving all of this,” Dobbs asked Phil Waldron, a Trump supporter who worked with Powell and others to spread conspiracy theories about the 2020 election.
Broadcast 16: Tweet from Dobbs
The broadcast: Dobbs tweet with embedded document on December 10, 2020.
What they alleged: Election fraud and algorithm flips.
Key false quote: “The 2020 Election is a cyber Pearl Harbor,” Dobbs wrote, embedding a document.
“We have technical presentations that prove there is an embedded controller in every Dominion machine, that allows an election supervisor to move votes from one candidate to another,” the document stated.
Broadcast 17: Dobbs interviews Powell
The broadcast: “Lou Dobbs Tonight” on December 10, 2020.
What they alleged: Election fraud, algorithm flips, Venezuela ties.
Key false quote: “Let me make you an offer, very straightforwardly,” Dobbs said. “We will gladly put forward your evidence that supports your claim that this was a Cyber Pearl Harbor. We have tremendous evidence already … of fraud in this election, but I will be glad to put forward on this broadcast whatever evidence you have, and we’ll be glad to do it immediately.”
Broadcast 18: Tweet from Dobbs
The broadcast: Dobbs tweet with embedded video of Powell interview on December 10, 2020.
What they alleged: Election fraud.
Key false quote: “Cyber Pearl Harbor: @SidneyPowell1 reveals groundbreaking new evidence indicating our Presidential election came under massive cyber-attack orchestrated with the help of Dominion, Smartmatic, and foreign adversaries. #MAGA #AmericaFirst #Dobbs,” Dobbs wrote.
Broadcast 19: Fox interviews Giuliani
The broadcast: “Fox & Friends” with hosts Will Cain, Pete Hegseth and Rachel Campos-Duffy on December 12, 2020.
What they alleged: Election fraud.
Key false quote: “We have a machine, the Dominion machine, that’s as filled with holes as Swiss cheese and was developed to steal elections, and being used in the states that are involved,” Giuliani said.
Broadcast 20: Tucker Carlson interviews Mike Lindell
The broadcast: “Tucker Carlson Tonight” on January 26, 2021.
What they alleged: Election fraud.
Key false quote: “Every outlet in the country, they go, ‘Mike Lindell, there’s no evidence, and he’s making fraudulent statements.’ No. I have the evidence. I dare people to put it on. I dare Dominion to sue me because then it will get out faster. So, this is – you know, they don’t – they don’t want to talk about it,” Lindell said.
“No, they don’t,” Carlson said.
