'On the wrong side': Bill Barr pens op-ed in defense of Fox News amid Dominion Voting Systems lawsuit

24 March 2023

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Former U.S. Attorney General Bill Barr (R) recently penned an op-ed defending Fox News amid the defamation accusations they are facing from Dominion Voting Systems.

In the piece, which was published on Thursday, March 23 by The Wall Street Journal, Barr — who previously denounced former President Donald Trump's claims of voter fraud after resigning from his administration — argued that Dominion's case against the news network is weak.

“A ruling against Fox would be a major blow to media freedoms generally, subjecting news outlets to the prospect of outsize liability whenever they report on newsworthy allegations that turn out to be false,” Barr wrote.

He also explained two different viewpoints to support his claim for why he believes the case is not substantial enough.

"First, it isn’t defamatory for journalists to report on newsworthy allegations made by others, even when those allegations turn out to be false," Barr wrote. "As long as claims are presented only as allegations and not asserted to be true, legal responsibility for any defamatory content rests with those making the allegations, not the news outlet."

He added, "If you examine the relevant statements by Fox hosts in context, it is clear the company was simply reporting the allegations, not reporting that those allegations were true."

Barr also wrote, "Defamation applies only to false statements of fact, not statements of opinion. Thus, it isn’t defamatory for a journalist to provide commentary — stating an opinion about an allegation — as long as he doesn’t assert that the defamatory aspects of the allegations are true."

According to Barr, Republicans will likely be facing problems in regard to "culture-setting," but he believes Democrats should also be concerned

“Conservatives shouldn’t try to weaken the actual-malice standard. For the foreseeable future, we will likely be on the wrong side of the culture-setting consensus,” Barr wrote. “The left should think twice about cheering for Dominion in this case. While the left has more artillery, it also has more targets for defamation cases, as left-wing media outlets far outnumber conservative ones.”

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