Taxpayers Will Foot The Bill For Fox News' $787 Million Defamation Settlement - Ring of Fire

[TexasTowelie]

It looks like the massive $787 million payout that Fox News has to make to Dominion Voting Systems for the defamation lawsuit settlement is not going to sting the network as much as originally thought. Not only does the company have an insurance policy that will cover a large chunk of the settlement, but they are also able to write off the remainder on their taxes - which means that YOU will be helping to pay for the network's lies. Ring of Fire's Farron Cousins explains how this works.

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*This transcript was generated by a third-party transcription software company, so please excuse any typos.

according to a phenomenal new report from Lever News, it turns out that Fox News isn't really sweating the 787 million settlement that they reached this week with Dominion, because they're not really going to be the ones paying it. Nope. The ones who are technically footing that bill will be the taxpayers of the United States, because as the lever points out, and as the people they spoke to at Fox confirmed they can just write off this settlement in their taxes. Now, let me read this again. This is from Lever News. Absolutely one of the best outlets out there right now, thanks to an arcane line in the tax code, Fox can deduct that settlement payment from its income taxes according to a company spokesperson and tax experts consulted by the lever. That's because federal law allows taxpayers to write off many legal costs, providing that they're ordinary and necessary business expenses.

The i r S has repeatedly affirmed that for major corporations, paying out settlements is just part of the cost of doing business. Now, loyal viewers here at Ringa Fire have probably heard myself and Mike Papantonio talk about this ad nauseum for many, many years. Whether it's Fox News with their defamation settlement, or whether it's a major corporation that ran afoul of federal law and had to pay a huge settlement to the doj, most of them don't actually end up paying the real amount of any fine that you see. A, again, especially leveled by the fda, the epa, or the doj, they end up getting reduced before they even make a single payment. Typically, it's reduced to about 25% of the total. So 75% in a federal settlement usually immediately just gets wiped away. On paper, they pay the 25%, then they write off the entire thing on their taxes.

So it gets deducted from what they owe the federal government. We, the average taxpayer, make up the difference. It's no different here with Fox, except they're not gonna be able to reduce it by 75%. Actually, they might, because as the lever also points out, and this is something I know from, you know, almost 20 years in the media, media companies have liability insurance, uh, basically to protect them from slander, libel, and defamation lawsuits, kinda like car insurance. So when you get into an accident, you don't have to pay out of pocket. The insurance pays and they address your rates accordingly. It's the same thing with slander, libel, and defamation. Typically, it's not the entity that pays most of it. It's their insurance company that pays it just like a car accident. So, Fox News will not be able to write off whatever the insurance covers of that 787 million, but then whatever's left, whatever the network actually has to pay,

They then get to write off that amount. So, if I could put this another way, none of this matters, and I hate to say it that way. I, I, I hate to be gloom and doom, but none of this matters. Fox News isn't actually being penalized. They're not going to learn a lesson because there's no real punishment here. The only punishment they've had is the embarrassment that they've suffered from having their information released and showing how incompetent and corrupt they are. But the viewers of Fox News, the people already watching the network don't care.

[Bayard]

1. Sickening

The settlement should have also included an admission of guilt from Hannity/Carlson, live on their shows.

[onecaliberal]

2. They didn't stop lying for a second.

Should already be obvious to everyone.

[ancianita]

3. When businesses write off settlements as the cost of doing business, how, exactly, do we taxpayers

make up the difference? My tax rate will be the same no matter how much FOX writes off. I don't get it.

The way I see it, the govt might not have as much discretionary spending, but I don't see taxpayers on the hook for either FOX or the govt having less to spend.

I think Lever incorrectly sees this as a zero sum situation for taxpayers, who are under no obligation to make up any difference whatsoever.

[emulatorloo]

7. It doesn't add up.

[MichMan]

4. Isn't Dominion going to have to pay taxes on it?

[ancianita]

8. No. The loss is a tax write-off. As losses are for most businesses.

[MichMan]

9. Dominion didn't lose, they won a big judgement

Won't they pay taxes on their winnings that will make up for any amount that Fox gets to write off?

[ancianita]

10. Ooof. Sorry. I was thinking about FOX, silly me!

What you say sounds entirely logical, though it's better to find out what IRS laws are on court settlements.

[Freethinker65]

5. But I would imagine insurance rates have gone up astronomically, that is, if any are even willing

So Will Fox be forced to self insure and/or muzzle their attack dogs from the most libelous rants. Honestly, some of the talking heads they employ seem to lack self control.

[emulatorloo]

6. What's Lever News? Googled it, it is owned by "journalist" David Sirota.

I take everything associated with David Sirota with a massive boulder of salt.

He deals in half-truth and innuendo. Have not forgotten his dishonest reporting on Beto falsely claiming Beto was ‘in the pocket of big oil.’ Or his OTT tweet storm on 2016 election night telling progressives to not vote for the Democratic nominee.

[Rhiannon12866]

11. And the thing is, this isn't over.

We've heard that this was the first of six lawsuits coming from Dominion. The two others I've heard mentioned were against Rudy Giuliani and Sidney Powell.