Fox News hosts Maria Bartiromo and Jeanine Pirro and former host Lou Dobbs filed separate motions on Friday to dismiss defamation lawsuits from Smartmatic, the voting technology company at the center of conspiracy theories about election fraud.
Fox News had previously moved to dismiss the $2.7 billion lawsuit, which alleges the network and its hosts caused financial harm to the company by promoting the claims of election fraud. Smartmatic is also suing attorneys Rudy Giuliani and Sidney Powell, who have been leading proponents of the claims.
The new motions to dismiss argue that Bartiromo, Pirro and Dobbs are protected journalists under the First Amendment and that Smartmatic posted millions of dollars in losses in 2019, so their business could not have been harmed.
“Smartmatic’s headline-seeking, multi-billion-dollar lawsuit thus should be seen—and rejected—for what it is: an unconstitutional attempt by a money-losing company (Smartmatic reported $17 million in losses on just $144 million in revenue in 2019) to try to refill its coffers at the expense of our constitutional traditions,” a Fox News spokesperson said.
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#BREAKING: Bartiromo, Pirro and Dobbs file to dismiss Smartmatic lawsuits https://t.co/qPWae0bboQ pic.twitter.com/DTT4UPxRQE
— The Hill (@thehill) February 12, 2021
Um…the suit is hardly unconstitutional. These companies lost business because of the lies these talkers spread. They have every right to sue for defamation.
Funny how the GOP and their allies in the media trample on the Constitution, but use it as a defense whenever they are accused of wrongdoing.
And free speech isn’t free if your speech causes harm to others. Pirro especially should know that.
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