Fox News Sued By Ray Epps Over Claim He Was At Center Of January 6th Conspiracy; Ex-Execs Blast Network For “Negative Impacts On Our Society” — Update

Ray Epps, in the red Trump hat, center, gestures to others as people gather on the West Front of the U.S. Capitol on Wednesday, Jan. 6, 2021.

Fox News is facing a new defamation lawsuit from a man who claims that former host Tucker Carlson falsely identified him as an undercover FBI agent who triggered the January 6th attack on the Capitol.

The lawsuit was filed in Delaware Superior Court, the same venue where the network recently faced the prospect of a trial over Dominion Voting Systems’ claim that its hosts and guests amplified a false narrative that the company rigged the 2020 presidential election. Just before opening statements were to begin in the case, Fox News settled for $787.5 million.

Epps voted for Donald Trump in 2016 and 2020, was an avid Fox News viewer and, believing that the latter election was stolen from him, was among those who trekked to Washington, D.C. in January, 2021 to participate in protests, according to the lawsuit.

Although Epps was outside the Capitol on January 6, he “did not believe violence was appropriate,” acted to deescalate the situation, and ultimately left the grounds for his hotel, according to his lawsuit. But as recently as earlier this year, according to the lawsuit, Carlson cited Epps as a central figure in the conspiracy theory that the attack on the Capitol was orchestrated by the government, and floated the notion that Epps was being protected by federal law enforcement.

Epps accused the network of making him a “scapegoat” for what happened in the Capitol attack. with a “years-long” campaign of spreading falsehoods about him.

“Having promoted the lie that Joe Biden stole the election, having urged people to come to Washington, DC, and having helped light and then pour gasoline on a fire that resulted in an insurrection that interfered with the peaceful transition of power, Fox needed to mask its culpability. It also needed a narrative that did not alienate its viewers, who had grown distrustful of Fox because of its perceived lack

of fealty to Trump,” the lawsuit stated.

A Fox News spokesperson did not immediately return a request for comment.

On Wednesday, FBI Director Christopher Wray, appearing at a congressional hearing, rejected claims that Epps was working as a government agent. He also said it was “ludicrous” to think that the FBI was somehow behind the attack on the Capitol.

In the aftermath of the Capitol riot, after FBI posted a photo of Epps on its website seeking information about him, he immediately contacted the agency and later met with FBI officials, according to the lawsuit. The agency removed his photo from their website in July, 2021.

But Carlson, the lawsuit claimed, became “fixated” with Epps, as the host promoted the idea that the January 6th attack was a “false flag” operation. That included a documentary series, Patriot Purge, that was first posted on Fox Nation later in the year.

Carlson told viewers on January 11, 2022 that Epps was the “central figure” in the attack on the Capitol, and later claimed that he helped “stage-manage” the insurrection, while accusing government officials of a cover up, Epps’ lawsuit noted. The focus on Epps continued throughout 2022 and into this year.

Other Fox personalities, including Laura Ingraham and Will Cain, also promoted the conspiracy theory about Epps, according to the lawsuit.

Epps’ lawsuit also contended that Carlson was not stating his opinion, but “bluntly telling his viewers that it was a fact that Epps was a government informant.” Epps’ lawsuit accused Carlson of relying on “distorted and selectively edited videos, combined with an untruthful voiceover and a false or misleading chyron.”

Carlson also ignored Epps’ sworn testimony to the January 6th Committee that he was not working on behalf of the government, the lawsuit noted.

“Contrary to Fox’s lies, Ray was not a federal agent of any kind, was not law enforcement of any kind, and was not any type of government agent or informant, or acting on behalf of the government in any capacity when he participated in the protests on January 6th,” according to his lawsuit.

Epps claimed that he and his wife, Robyn, have received death threats and bullet casings in their yard, along with threatening voicemails, emails and text messages. The conspiracy theory surrounding him became so well known that “Arrest Ray Epps” T-shirts were sold online and a song was written about him and posted on YouTube. The Epps were forced to sell their house and business because of the ongoing harassment, the lawsuit noted, and have gone to living in a mobile home.

The Justice Department did not initially charge Epps in the case, but told him in only this past May that they intended to bring a criminal claim against him, according to the lawsuit.

“Although it is difficult to believe that the Department of Justice would have pursued this matter if Fox had not focused its lies on Epps, ultimately the criminal charges conclusively demonstrate the falsehood of the story that Mr. Carlson and Fox told about Epps,” according to the lawsuit.

The conspiracy theory surrounding Epps is rooted in a video posted online from the night before the Capitol attack, when he said “we need to go in to the Capitol. In another video, he also urged people to go into the Capitol but “peacefully,” while some chanted “fed, fed, fed.” The website Revolver pushed the theory that he was an FBI plant, but fact-checking sites like Politifact deemed the story unfounded.

In March, Epps’ attorney, Michael Teter, sent a letter to Fox News demanding a retraction and apology, but none came. The lawsuit also references a claim made in former producer Abby Grossberg’s claim against the network. She contended that as head of booking on Carlson’s show, she reached out to an attorney representing the far right group the Proud Boys, who told her that there was no conspiracy and “get away from this stuff. This is dangerous. Tell Tucker to stop.” Fox News settled with Grossberg last month for $12 million.

Earlier on Wednesday, three former Fox executives — Preston Padden. Ken Solomon and Bill Reyner — published a statement expressing their “deep disappointment” for “helping to give birth to Fox Broadcasting Company and Fox Television that came to include Fox News Channel — the channel that prominently includes news that, in the words of Sidney Powell’s counsel, ‘no reasonable person would believe.'”

They said, “In our opinion, the Fox News Channel has had many negative impacts on our society. Arguably the worst has been Fox’s role in promoting Trump’s ‘Big Lie’ about alleged widespread fraud in the 2020 election and, in our opinion, Fox’s role in contributing to the January 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol that undermined our democracy. In fact, the connection between Fox and the January 6 attack is so strong that multiple Jan 6 defendants have pleaded not guilty arguing they were suffering from ‘Foxitis’ — a disease caused by watching false news on Fox!”

Padden last week launched a challenge to the broadcast license that Fox Corp. holds for its Philadelphia station. Padden and the Media and Democracy Project contend that “a court has held that the senior management of Fox Television Stations repeatedly disseminated false news.” Fox calls the petition “frivolous” and “without merit.”