Right-wing network OAN reaches settlement with Dominion Voting Systems executive

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Right-wing cable network One America News (OAN) has settled a defamation lawsuit brought by a former Dominion Voting Machines executive over false claims the company had rigged the 2020 presidential election, according to court filings.

Eric Coomer, Dominion’s former top security official, sued OAN and star correspondent Chanel Rion for spreading lies that he and the company had engaged in a massive voter fraud effort to flip votes from Donald Trump to Joe Biden.

A new court filing stated the parties “have fully and finally settled the disputes”, but provided no further details.

Mr Coomer’s defamation lawsuit against the Trump 2020 presidential campaign, and the ex-president’s former lawyers Rudy Giuliani and Sydney Powell, appears to still be unresolved.

Lawyers for Mr Coomer and the network did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Mr Coomer had alleged in a lawsuit brought in a Colorado district court in late 2020 that he became the “face of the false claims” of bogus vote tampering claims as Mr Trump, boosted by far-right media figures, sought to overturn the election results.

In a report titled “Dominion-izing the Vote”, Ms Rion stated that Mr Coomer “could be tried for treason”.

Fellow right-wing network Newsmax settled a defamation lawsuit with Mr Coomer in April 2021, and issued an apology and retraction.

OAN is still facing billion-dollar lawsuits brought by Dominion Voting Machines and Smartmatic over its feverish conspiracy-peddling coverage in the wake of Mr Biden’s 2020 election victory.

In April, Fox News paid $787.5m to settle a defamation lawsuit with Dominion on the day a trial was due to begin.