Federal court dismisses defamation lawsuit against Fox News for Jan. 6 conspiracy theory

CROTON, N.Y. (AP) — A federal judge dismissed a slander case filed by a former Trump supporter against Fox News on Wednesday. The plaintiff claimed that the network showed phony conspiracy theories about his role in the January 6, 2021, Capitol insurgency and that he received death threats as a result.

Fox falsely accused veteran Marine Raymond Epps of being a government agent who was instigating disruption near the Capitol that day so that Trump supporters would be held accountable.

Without comment, U.S. District Judge Jennifer L. Hall in Delaware approved Fox’s motion to have the case dismissed.

Shortly before he filed his lawsuit in 2023, Epps was interviewed by 60 Minutes. He said that because of the hostility they experienced as a result of the stories, he and his spouse sold the ranch in Arizona where they were living and relocated.

Tucker Carlson, who was sacked from Fox in April 2023 for circumstances that were never completely revealed, was identified by Epps as the conspiracy theory’s most active propagandist. Carlson was the host of Fox’s most watched program at the time.

Fox News said in a statement on Wednesday that the firm was the target of two other defamation cases that were recently dropped. They included Tony Bobulinski, a former business associate of Hunter Biden, and Nina Jankowicz, a former Biden administration misinformation specialist.

Following the dismissals of the Bobulinski, Jankowicz, and now Epps cases, Fox News expressed satisfaction with these consecutive rulings from federal courts upholding First Amendment press liberties.

The Associated Press, 2024. All rights reserved. All rights reserved. It is prohibited to publish, broadcast, rewrite, or redistribute this content without authorization.

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