Arizona man sues Fox News for defamation over Jan. 6 rally participation.

An Arizona Man Files Defamation Lawsuit Against Fox News

By Helen Coster, Tom Hals and Jack Queen

NEW YORK (Reuters) – An Arizona man has taken legal action against Fox News, claiming that the network spread a conspiracy theory linking him to the violent storming of the U.S. Capitol by supporters of former President Donald Trump.

Ray Epps, a Trump voter in both 2016 and 2020, alleges in his lawsuit that Fox knowingly spread false claims that he was an undercover FBI agent who instigated the January 6, 2021 attack as part of a government plot to discredit Trump.

Epps states in his suit that this campaign of disinformation, carried out over several years, has “destroyed” his and his wife’s lives.

The lawsuit reveals that Epps was interviewed by the Congressional select committee investigating the January 6 attack, and the committee confirmed that he was not an FBI agent.

Fox News has not yet responded to the lawsuit.

This lawsuit in Delaware state court comes as Smartmatic, a voting technology company, is also suing Fox for defamation. It follows the settlement of defamation claims brought by Dominion Voting Systems against the company for $787.5 million.

Fox acknowledged that some of its claims about Dominion were false.

In a separate case, Fox Corp settled a lawsuit by former Fox News producer Abby Grossberg for $12 million. Grossberg had accused the network’s lawyers of pressuring her to make misleading statements in the Dominion case, in addition to claiming gender discrimination.

Epps is seeking compensatory and punitive damages, the amounts of which will be determined at trial.

While Epps did attend the January 6 “Stop the Steal” rally in Washington, he asserts in his lawsuit that he never entered the Capitol building and tried to calm the crowd.

Epps alleges that nearly a year after the attack, former Fox host Tucker Carlson propagated a conspiracy theory that the FBI was responsible for the insurrection and that Epps played a part in it. According to the lawsuit, Carlson referred to Epps as a “central figure” in the attack and claimed he “helped stage-manage the insurrection.” Fox fired Carlson in April.

Epps is suing the network for defamation and false light, arguing that the statements made about him on Fox News would lead the public to believe that he was a federal agent involved in inciting the attack on the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021.

(Reporting by Helen Coster and Jack Queen in New York, and Tom Hals in Wilmington, Delaware; Editing by Jamie Freed)

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