Some on-air claims about Dominion Voting Systems were false, Fox News acknowledges in statement after deal is announced

<##>BREAKING: In Stunning Reversal, Fox News Concedes On-Air Claims About Dominion Were False

*By Jessica Ali, Global1.news Breaking News Anchor*

**WILMINGTON, Del.** — In a moment that will reverberate through newsrooms and courtrooms for decades, Fox News has formally acknowledged that some of its on-air statements about Dominion Voting Systems were false. The extraordinary concession came Tuesday afternoon in a terse statement issued moments after the network and Dominion announced a last-minute settlement in Dominion’s $1.6 billion defamation lawsuit, just hours before opening statements were set to begin.

The case, which had been widely viewed as a historic test of the limits of First Amendment protections for media organizations, ended not with a dramatic trial but with a quiet agreement and a humbling admission. Superior Court Judge Eric Davis, who has overseen the case in Delaware, informed the assembled jurors that the parties had resolved the matter. Details of the settlement were not immediately disclosed, but the symbolic weight of Fox’s declaration is already sending shockwaves through the political and media landscape.

**The Statement That Changes Everything**

For more than two years, Fox News hosts and guests repeatedly promoted baseless claims that Dominion’s voting machines were rigged to steal the 2020 presidential election from Donald Trump. Dominion argued that these lies devastated its reputation and business. Fox consistently defended its coverage on free-speech grounds, even as internal communications revealed that key figures—from primetime stars like Tucker Carlson and Sean Hannity to Chairman Rupert Murdoch—privately mocked the conspiracy theories as “nuts” and “really crazy stuff.”

Yet in the heat of the post-election turmoil, the network allowed claims to air that Dominion software manipulated vote counts, that the company was tied to deceased Venezuelan dictator Hugo Chávez, and that it engaged in a vast, multi-state plot to flip the election. All of that was false. And now, Fox News has admitted as much.

The network’s statement read: “We are pleased to have reached a settlement of our dispute with Dominion Voting Systems. We acknowledge the Court’s rulings finding certain claims about Dominion to be false. This settlement reflects FOX’s continued commitment to the highest journalistic standards. We are hopeful that our decision to resolve this dispute with Dominion amicably, instead of the acrimony of a divisive trial, allows the country to move forward from these issues.”

The phrasing is careful, but legally and public-relations wise, it is a bombshell. By acknowledging that “certain claims about Dominion” were false, Fox is effectively conceding that it broadcast misinformation to millions of viewers. It marks the first time the network has publicly broken from the election fraud narrative that continues to animate Trump’s political movement and a significant portion of the Republican base.

**How We Got Here**

The settlement comes after months of devastating pretrial revelations. Dominion’s legal team, led by famed defamation lawyers from the firm Clare Locke and trial attorney Justin Nelson, had systematically dismantled Fox’s defenses through a trove of internal emails, texts, and deposition testimony. They showed that Fox executives and anchors did not believe the election-fraud stories they were peddling but continued to do so out of fear of losing viewers to even more extreme right-wing outlets like Newsmax and One America News.

In one unforgettable exchange, Tucker Carlson texted a colleague on Jan. 4, 2021: “We are very, very close to being able to ignore Trump most nights. I truly can’t wait.” He also wrote that Trump’s presidency was a “disaster” and that he hated him “passionately.” Yet on his program, Carlson continued to entertain doubts about the election, albeit more subtly than some of his colleagues. Sean Hannity, meanwhile, said under oath that he never believed Sidney Powell’s wild claims about Dominion, yet he had her on his show repeatedly.

Perhaps most damning was the response from Rupert Murdoch. When asked in a deposition whether he believed the 2020 election was free and fair, Murdoch replied, “Yes. I mean, it was a close election, but yes. It was.” But when pressed on why Fox didn’t step in to stop the fraud narrative earlier, Murdoch admitted: “I could have. But I didn’t.”

Dominion’s lawsuit wasn’t just about the lies told on air; it was about the culture that allowed them. The company’s 192-page complaint detailed how Fox built a “disinformation campaign” that targeted Dominion specifically, destroying its reputation and leading to death threats against its employees. The $1.6 billion figure represented the company’s estimated losses and served as a stark warning to the media industry.

**A Trial Averted, But Questions Linger**

As the clock ticked down to trial, legal observers had predicted a potential watershed moment for American defamation law. To win, Dominion would have had to prove “actual malice”—that Fox knew the statements were false or acted with reckless disregard for the truth. The pretrial record strongly suggested Dominion had that evidence, but a jury could have been unpredictable. For Fox, a trial would have meant a parade of its biggest stars and its 92-year-old chairman testifying under white-hot public scrutiny, with every internal snarky text exposed.

Settlement, then, was the path of least humiliation, though the terms remain opaque. Did Dominion accept a financial payout? Almost certainly. But was it the full $1.6 billion? Unlikely. News of the settlement amount will likely emerge in the coming days, but the true victory for Dominion is the acknowledgment of falsity. For a company that once seemed powerless against an onslaught of lies, it is vindication of a sort—though it will likely never fully recover its brand.

For Fox, the settlement stanches a financial bleed and avoids a disastrous trial, but it does not resolve the deeper crisis. The network still faces a second, even larger defamation suit from Smartmatic, another voting technology company smeared in the post-election frenzy. Smartmatic is seeking $2.7 billion. The Dominion settlement and admission of false claims will almost certainly be used against Fox in that litigation. The network’s statement about “journalistic standards” will also ring hollow for those who recall that Fox did not clean house; many of the same executives and hosts remain in place, and prime-time programming still traffics in grievance and conspiracy.

**The Fallout: Media, Politics, and the Public**

The settlement comes at a precarious moment for American democracy. The lies about the 2020 election did profound damage: they fueled the Jan. 6 insurrection, eroded public trust in elections, and spawned a web of conspiracy theories that persist to this day. That the most-watched cable news network in the country has now formally acknowledged that some of those claims were false is a significant step toward accountability, but it is also a belated one—and many will see it as too little, too late.

Media ethicists point out that the settlement does not require Fox to issue a correction on air or to tell its viewers what, exactly, was false. The statement was a legal document, not a broadcast retraction. The millions who still believe the 2020 election was stolen may never hear of it, or will dismiss it as a forced legal maneuver. Misinformation, once planted, is notoriously hard to uproot.

Yet there is no denying this is a landmark moment. Never before has a major American news organization conceded that it broadcast false claims of this magnitude, especially those that challenged the integrity of a presidential election. The case joins a small pantheon of defamation actions that changed the media landscape: *New York Times v. Sullivan*, which established the actual malice standard in 1964; the Carol Burnett case against the National Enquirer; and now *Dominion Voting Systems v. Fox News Network*. But this one feels different because the falsehoods in question did not just harm a private company; they wounded the body politic.

Fox’s acknowledgment may also embolden further litigation against media companies that profit from outrage and conspiracy. The “actual malice” standard remains high, but the Dominion discovery showed just how effectively a plaintiff can marshal evidence when internal communications are laid bare. Other potential plaintiffs may take note.

In the immediate aftermath, reaction has been swift. A spokesperson for Dominion called the settlement “historic” and said it will “hold Fox accountable for the damage caused.” Dominion CEO John Poulos, in a brief statement, said: “Truthful reporting is essential to our democracy. Fox has admitted to telling lies about Dominion that caused enormous harm.” Meanwhile, Fox News representatives declined further comment beyond the statement, and its on-air personalities have not yet addressed the settlement on their programs. It remains to be seen how—or if—they will cover it.

As the courthouse empties and the media circus decamps, we are left with an uneasy truth: a news network admitted its reports were false, but the damage those reports inflicted is far from repaired. The settlement buys peace for Fox, but it cannot buy back the trust of a fractured public. For now, this chapter ends with a whimper, not a bang—but its echo will be heard for years.

*Jessica Ali is the breaking news anchor for Global1.news. She has covered media and law for over 15 years.*