Fox News demands Dominion trial not mention Jan. 6 attack

Fox News' legal team is demanding that a judge prohibit any references to the January 6 insurrection when the $1.6 billion defamation suit by Dominion Voting Systems goes to trial, reported CNN senior media reporter Oliver Darcy on Thursday.

"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," said the motion by Fox News.

According to the report, Fox News is also asking that the judge prohibit any references to threats sent to Dominion workers, claiming that while those threats are "horrific and absolutely inexcusable," they would "arouse the jury’s sympathy and provoke a desire to punish Fox for the actions of unrelated third parties."

Dominion is objecting to both motions, reported Darcy, calling the January 6 attack — which was motivated by election conspiracy theories like the ones Fox put on air — "central to almost every element of this case," and the threats a consequence of the defamation, as "people are unlikely to want to work for" a company "that is besieged by death threats," and "It also became incredibly difficult for Dominion to retain and win business because would-be customers themselves are inundated with death threats, harassment, and protests related to Dominion."

Fox News continues to deny its actions in the aftermath of the 2020 presidential election were in any way defamatory to Dominion.

However, Dominion has put forward huge troves of evidence that suggest that high-ranking Fox News executives and on-air personalities were fully aware the conspiracy theories about Dominion were false, and aired them anyway, while retaliating against journalists at the network fact-checking the claims because of fears about ratings drops among supporters of former President Donald Trump.