Fox News Sued By Ray Epps Over Claim He Was At Center Of January 6th Conspiracy
12.07.2023 - 19:03
/ deadline.com
Fox News is facing a new defamation lawsuit from a man who claims that its former host Tucker Carlson falsely identified him as an undercover FBI agent who triggered the January 6th attack on the Capitol.
The lawsuit was filed in Delaware Superior Court, the same venue where the network recently faced a lengthy trial over Dominion Voting Systems defamation claims that its hosts and guests amplified a false narrative that the company rigged the 2020 presidential election. Fox News settled the case for $787.5 million.
Epps, who voted for Donald Trump in 2016 and 2020, and believed that the latter election was stolen from him, according to the lawsuit. Although he participated in the protest on January 6th, he “did not believe violence was appropriate,” and left the grounds for his hotel, according to the lawsuit.
“Having promoted the lie that Joe Biden stole the election, having urged people to come to Washington, DC, and having helped light and then pour gasoline on a fire that resulted in an insurrection that interfered with the peaceful transition of power, Fox needed to mask its culpability. It also needed a narrative that did not alienate its viewers, who had grown distrustful of Fox because ofi ts perceived lackof fealty to Trump,” the lawsuit stated.
Epps accuses the network of making him a “scapegoat” for what happened in the Capitol attack. with a “years-long” campaign of spreading falsehoods about him.
A Fox News spokesperson did not immediately return a request for comment.
More to come.
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