Ray Epps, on Thursday, called on Fox News host Tucker Carlson to cease and desist and retract his “false and defamatory statements,” saying he was secretly working with the federal government during the attack.
Epps has been accused of working with the federal government and seeking to provoke violence during the Capitol attack.
In a letter to Carlson and Fox News general counsel Bernard Gugar, Michael Teter, a lawyer for Epps, said the Carlson “persists with his assault on the truth” by pushing “fanciful notions” regarding Epps’ involvement in the Capitol attack that have “demonstrably (and already proven to be) false.”
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In a letter Thursday, Teter demanded that Carlson and Fox News publicly retract the claim that Epps was working for the federal government during the events of Jan. 6, 2021, and the claim that Epps “acted as an instigator or provocateur of the insurrection.”
“We expect that you will give the same airtime in retracting these falsehoods as you spent amplifying them,” Teter wrote. “Further, Mr. Carlson and Fox News must issue a formal on-air apology for the lies you have spread about Mr. Epps.”
Teter claims that Epps and his wife have been “subjected to threats, intimidation, and harassment, resulting in significant economic and emotional damages” because Carlson and other Fox News hosts promote the ‘conspiracy’ theory.
Teter noted that Carlson and other Fox News officials are under scrutiny over Dominion Voting Systems $1.6 billion defamation lawsuit against the network.
Dominion, which sued Fox in March 2021, accuses the network of defamation and alleges it boosted conspiracy theories it knew were false, including that Dominion equipment was used to rig the 2020 election for Joe Biden.
This week, arguments in the Dominion case were heard in hearings on dueling motions seeking pretrial rulings. A judge will soon decide how much of Dominion’s case heads to a jury next month.
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