Despite being fired by Fox News earlier this year, Tucker Carlson is still causing all kinds of legal trouble for his former network.
On Wednesday, a man named Ray Epps filed a lawsuit accusing Carlson and Fox News of defamation after the host repeatedly regurgitated a bizarre conspiracy theory about the Marine Corp. veteran. On his show, Carlson accused Epps — a two-time Trump voter — of being a government agent who orchestrated acts of violence during the Jan. 6th insurrection in order to essentially frame Trump and his supporters. Epps took part in the mob that entered the Capitol building that day, encouraging others to march with him and push past police barricades. But, according to his lawyer, he did so only after listening to Fox News pundits — namely Carlson — tell viewers that the election was stolen and MAGA patriots should protest its results in Washington D.C.
The conspiracy surrounding Epps’ role in the attack came after the Arizona native escaped federal charges lobbed at fellow insurrectionists despite video footage proving he was on the front lines of the assault. He’s since been questioned by authorities and the Jan. 6th committee on his role in the siege and, in May, the Justice Department informed Epps he would be facing criminal charges at some point in the future.
Until then, Epps is spending his time going after Fox News and Carlson for damaging his character, spreading baseless conspiracies that led to death threats against his family and the loss of his business. He’s currently seeking an unspecified amount in damages but he’s filed his suit in the Superior Court in Delaware — the same court that ordered the network to pay a $787.5 million settlement in a defamation case brought by Dominion Voting Systems.
“Just as Fox had focused on voting machine companies when falsely claiming a rigged election, Fox knew it needed a scapegoat for January 6th,” Epps’ complaint reads. “It settled on Ray Epps and began promoting the lie that Epps was a federal agent who incited the attack on the Capitol.”
“Ray is taking the next steps to vindicate his rights by seeking accountability for Fox’s lies that have caused him and Robyn [his wife] so much harm,” his lawyer said.
It’s almost as if fact-checking bonkers Parler threads before spewing them all over national television as undeniable truth is actually good journalistic practice that can save your network millions of dollars. Who knew?
You can watch the recent 60 Minutes segment on Ray Epps below. Seems like he has a pretty strong case!
(Via The NY Times)
Source: https://uproxx.com/viral/tucker-carlson-gets-fox-sued-again/
