Newsom seeks $787 million in damages from Fox News
The governor accuses the broadcaster of defamation in a series of reports on his phone call with Donald Trump in early June shortly before the tycoon deployed the National Guard in Los Angeles
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California governor Gavin Newsom has sued Fox News accusing the broadcaster of defamation in a series of reports about his phone call with Donald Trump in early June shortly before the tycoon deployed the National Guard in Los Angeles. The New York Times reports. The lawsuit seeks damages of at least $787 million and an order prohibiting Fox from broadcasting or publishing reports that falsely claim the Democrat lied about his phone call with the US president.
Newsom's lawyers also demanded a live apology from anchor Jesse Watters, author of the report. Trump and Newsom spoke on the phone in the late evening of 6 June in California, which was after 1am on 7 June on the East Coast. On 8 June, the Democrat mentioned the phone call on Msnbc. On 10 June, during a press conference at the White House, a reporter asked the president when he had last spoken to the governor and he replied: 'A day ago'. Newsom then posted a video of this statement on social media denying the call. But the post, according to the governor's lawsuit, was meant to deny that they spoke on 9 June not in general. While, the lawsuit claims, in documenting the sequence of events, Fox News made misleading video montages and false statements accusing the Democrat of lying.
