Trump supporter Ray Epps sues Fox News for defamation over Jan. 6 "falsehoods"
Ray Epps, in the red Trump hat (C), gestures to a line of law enforcement officers in front of the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, in Washington, D.C. Photo: Kent Nishimura/Los Angeles Times via Getty Images
Fox News was sued for defamation Wednesday by Trump supporter Ray Epps, who alleges the network and host Tucker Carlson spread a "fantastical story" about him.
Driving the news: Epps, who emerged at the center of right-wing conspiracy theories after he participated in the Jan. 6 Capitol riot, accuses Fox News and Carlson in his lawsuit of "spreading falsehoods" that he was an undercover FBI agent and was responsible for inciting the riot.
- "Just as Fox had focused on voting machine companies when falsely claiming a rigged election, Fox knew it needed a scapegoat for January 6th," the complaint states.
- "It settled on Ray Epps and began promoting the lie that Epps was a federal agent who incited the attack on the Capitol."
- The lawsuit alleges that Carlson "commenced a years-long campaign spreading falsehoods about Epps."
- Fox News did not immediately respond to Axios' request for comment.
The big picture: The lawsuit comes just months after Fox News settled with Dominion Voting Systems for over $787 million related to false statements it made on air about Dominion.
- The baseless conspiracy theory that named Epps as a covert FBI agent who helped incite the Jan. 6 attack was pushed by right-wing media outlets and Republican politicians. It prompted death threats toward Epps, he told the New York Times last year.
Go deeper: Scoop: Fox News says Tucker Carlson breached his contract