Fox News and former on-air host Lou Dobbs settled defamation claims by a Venezuelan businessman falsely accused on-air of being a central player in an effort to rig the 2020 presidential election against Donald Trump.
(Bloomberg) — Fox News and former on-air host Lou Dobbs settled defamation claims by a Venezuelan businessman falsely accused on-air of being a central player in an effort to rig the 2020 presidential election against Donald Trump.
Fox’s confidential accord with Majed Khalil was revealed in a brief letter Saturday to US District Judge Louis Stanton in Manhattan, who last year denied the network’s request to dismiss the lawsuit. Fox and Khalil will file a joint stipulation of dismissal early next week, according to the letter.
The conspiracy theory has been widely debunked but Trump and many supporters continue to claim the election was stolen from him.
The deal comes days before jury selection is set to begin in a separate $1.6 billion defamation suit against Fox News by Dominion Voting Systems Inc., which was also falsely accused of conspiring to flip votes away from Trump. That trial is set to start April 17 in Delaware.
Khalil’s lawsuit “has been resolved amicably by both sides,” Fox News said in a statement on Sunday. “We have no further comment.”
According to his lawsuit, Dobbs and Fox stated on air and on Twitter that Khalil was the “COO of the election project” in which Venezuelan government officials conspired with Dominion and a competing voting machine company, Smartmatic Corp., to ensure Trump lost to Joe Biden.
They also claimed Khalil was “a liaison with Hezbollah” who “executed an electoral 9-11” and a “cyber Pearl Harbor,” according to the suit.
Khalil’s lawyer, Sigmund Wissner-Gross, didn’t immediately respond to a message seeking comment.
In his September ruling, Stanton said Khalil had adequately alleged that Dobbs’ reported accusations against him, which originated with attorney Sidney Powell, were untrue and harmed his reputation.
Internal Fox News and Fox Corp. emails and text messages uncovered in the Dominion suit revealed that many Fox personalities and executives knew the conspiracy theory was bogus even as the network repeated the claims over and over in the weeks after the election.
Fox Business Network in 2021 canceled “Lou Dobbs Tonight” on the Fox Business Network. Dobbs, a fierce ally of Trump, focused numerous reports on the conspiracy theory despite never presenting evidence it was true. Dobbs was also named in a $2.7 billion lawsuit filed against Fox by election-technology firm Smartmatic.
Read More: Murdoch Can’t Avoid Testifying at Dominion Trial, Judge Says
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