California Gov. Gavin Newsom files $787 million lawsuit against Fox News
California Gov. Gavin Newsom is taking Fox News to court in a personal capacity, accusing the network of defamation over comments related to the deployment of the National Guard to Los Angeles.
Newsom's lawsuit is seeking $787 million in damages from Fox News, alleging defamation and violations of California's unfair competition law. The amount matches the settlement Fox News reached with election equipment company Dominion Voting Systems in 2023.
The lawsuit, filed in Delaware where the Fox Corporation is incorporated, is centered around reporting by Fox News and commentary from host Jesse Watters claiming that the California governor lied about his phone calls with President Trump over June's National Guard deployment.
"No more lies," Newsom , announcing the $787 million lawsuit.
Fox News called Newsom's lawsuit a "publicity stunt."
"Gov. Newsom's transparent publicity stunt is frivolous and designed to chill free speech critical of him. We will defend this case vigorously and look forward to it being dismissed," Fox News wrote in a statement to CBS News.
Newsom alleges in the lawsuit that Fox News misrepresented the timeline of a call between him and Mr. Trump. He acknowledged that the president and governor had a phone call on June 7 but says he did not speak about the protests against U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement in Los Angeles. That call was the last time Newsom and Mr. Trump spoke, the governor claims.
"Although the contents of that conversation are not germane to this matter, suffice it to say that at no point did President Trump raise the demonstrations in Los Angeles occurring at that time nor the use of the National Guard," Newsom's legal team wrote in a demand letter served to Fox News. "And when Governor Newsom attempted to discuss the situation in Los Angeles, President Trump steered the topic away."
The White House has been publicly critical of how Newsom handled the Los Angeles protests, prompting Mr. Trump's deployment of the National Guard. Newsom has said that Mr. Trump's actions inflamed the situation, calling the deployment "reckless."
Mr. Trump told reporters in the Oval Office on June 10 he had spoken to Newsom about the protests, saying that he had last talked with the California governor the day prior. Newsom pushed back against the comments, , "There was no call. Not even a voicemail."
According to the lawsuit, Fox News then presented the previous June 7 call between Newsom and Mr. Trump as evidence that the California governor was allegedly lying.
"If Fox News wants to lie to the American people on Donald Trump's behalf, it should face consequences – just like it did in the Dominion case," Newsom said in a statement regarding the lawsuit.
The lawsuit will be dropped if Fox News retracts the comments and apologizes, Newsom's lawyers wrote.
