A New York state appeals court rejected Fox’s bid to dismiss a $2.7 billion defamation lawsuit by voting machine company Smartmatic over statements made on air after the 2020 U.S. presidential election, Reuters reported on Thursday.
The decision was issued by a five-judge panel of the Appellate Division in Manhattan.
Fox Corporation and Fox News Network were both named in the 2021 lawsuit, as were on-air personalities Lou Dobbs, Maria Bartiromo, Jeanine Pirro, frequent Fox commentator Rudy Giuliani and attorney Sidney Powell, who was indicted along with Donald Trump in the Georgia election fraud case.
Fox issued the following statement to TheWrap: “We will be ready to defend this case surrounding extremely newsworthy events when it goes to trial.