Raffensperger subpoenaed to testify in $1.6 million defamation suit against Fox News

ATLANTA — Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger has been subpoenaed in the 2020 election defamation lawsuit against Fox News.

Denver-based Dominion filed a $1.6 million lawsuit last year against the media organization, alleging that some Fox News employees made false claims that Dominion had changed votes in the 2020 election through algorithms in its voting machines that had been created in Venezuela, to rig elections for the late dictator Hugo Chavez. On-air personalities brought on Trump allies who spread the claims, and then amplified those claims on Fox News’ social media platforms.

There was no evidence of widespread fraud in the 2020 election, a fact that a range of election officials across the country — and even Trump’s attorney general, William Barr — confirmed. An Associated Press review of every potential case of voter fraud in the six battleground states — including Georgia — disputed by former President Donald Trump, has found fewer than 475 — a number that would have made no difference in the 2020 presidential election.

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Raffensperger, along with two former U.S. election officials, will now have to testify in the case.

Fox News Media said in a statement: “As we have maintained, Fox News, along with every single news organization across the country, vigorously covered the breaking news surrounding the unprecedented 2020 election, providing full context of every story with in-depth reporting and clear-cut analysis. We remain committed to defending against this baseless lawsuit and its all-out assault on the First Amendment.”

Fox News has sought to have the lawsuit dismissed, arguing that its coverage is protected by the First Amendment and that a free press must be able to report both sides of a story involving claims that strike at the core of democracy.

The Associated Press contributed to this article.

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