CNN
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Fox asked a judge in court filings made public Thursday to prohibit references to the January 6 insurrection at the U.S. Capitol, as well as threats directed at employees of Dominion Voting Systems, when the high-stakes $1.6 billion defamation case goes to trial later this month.
“Dominion’s defamation claim has nothing to do with the Capitol riot,” Fox’s lawyers argued in the court filings. “And any reference to the Capitol riot will only unfairly prejudice the jury against Fox, inflame passions, prevent a fair trial, and taint any resulting verdict.”
Fox added that threats against Dominion employees “were horrific and absolutely inexcusable.” But the company said “allowing Dominion to discuss specific threats and their effect on employees is virtually guaranteed to arouse the jury’s sympathy and provoke a desire to punish Fox for the actions of unrelated third parties.”
The documents made public Thursday are “motions in limine,” which are pretrial efforts by both sides to block certain evidence and arguments from being used during the trial. These motions are common in criminal and civil proceedings. Depending on how the judge rules, the outcome of these motions could significantly shape the trial, potentially giving one side an advantage.
The judge said Wednesday that he’ll address these motions next week, at an in-person hearing on Tuesday in Wilmington, Delaware. He might rule on the motions during that hearing, or he could issue written opinions later on.
Dominion, according to the documents made public Thursday, has moved to block Fox News from bringing up emails from one of its top officials who wrote in October 2020 that “out s**t is just riddled with bugs.” Fox News has never argued in court that Dominion rigged the 2020 election, but its lawyers have repeatedly made the point that there are longstanding and bipartisan security concerns about its voting machines.
“Fox’s motions attempt to narrow Dominion’s kitchen sink legal approach and return focus to the core issues,” a Fox News spokesperson said, “including documents that show that Dominion’s then director of product strategy & security criticized its software by stating ‘our s*** is just riddled with bugs’ and their CEO saying, ‘no customer cares about the media.’ Such internal admissions by Dominion directly contradict their case, which is why they continue to push distracting and irrelevant materials in their quest for a payday.”
A trial is scheduled to begin April 17, unless the parties reach a last-minute settlement.
Both Fox and Dominion filed a slew of these pretrial motions last month, but they were under seal. They filed public versions of the documents on Thursday, in accordance with an order from the judge. Media outlets had pressed the judge for more transparency, and to unseal these and other documents.
Dominion is seeking $1.6 billion in damages. Fox News vehemently denies that it ever defamed anyone, and claims that the lawsuit is a meritless assault on First Amendment press freedoms.