Byron York Downplays Hillary’s Hint of a Libel Lawsuit Against Fox News: ‘Can You Imagine the Discovery in a Case Like That?’
Byron York, the Washington Examiner’s Chief Political Correspondent, downplayed Hillary Clinton’s hint at a possible lawsuit against former President Donald Trump and Fox News for defamation.
During Clinton’s Thursday speech at the New York State Democratic Convention, she said “they’re getting awfully close to actual malice in their attacks” — referring to Trump and Fox.
York weighed in on Fox Business Tonight shortly after, saying, “But one thing that was fascinating in the speech was when she was talking about her grievances against the, quote, right-wing, she used the phrase ‘actual malice’ to talk about the press which is a legal phrase, it’s the legal standard for libel for someone who’s a public figure to sue a publication.”
“Now, I can’t imagine she would actually sue a publication, can you imagine the discovery in a case like that?” York continued, referring to the pre-trial phase in a lawsuit in which each party investigates the facts of the case and can obtain evidence from the other party.
While York said a “publication,” he was apparently referencing Clinton’s line during the speech in which she called out Fox News by name, saying, “Fox leads the charge with accusations against me.”
“But it was interesting that she used the phrase at all,” York concluded.
Dagen McDowell responded, saying, “that she is essentially threatening the press and Fox with legal action.
McDowell continued, saying, “And it’s all in the court filings. Like, anybody can go and read what these filings are.”
Clinton accused former Trump and Fox News on Wednesday of “desperately spinning up a fake scandal to distract from his real ones.”
Trump has accused Clinton of spying and even claimed that alleged spying was part of a broader effort to “undermine” the 2020 presidential election.
The Durham investigation has so far not alleged any spying. Durham’s findings and court filings claim that a Clinton-linked lawyer obtained non-public data from the White House and Trump’s servers – albeit not in an illegal manner.
The lawyer in question, Michael Sussmann, was charged last year by Durham with lying to the FBI. As Insider explains, the charges stem from Sussman “trying to get the FBI to investigate an allegation that the Trump campaign used a secret email server to communicate with Russia’s Alfa Bank during the 2016 campaign. The FBI has not uncovered any evidence of such a connection.”
An article published on FoxNews.com that helped spur the “Hillary spying” narrative features a misleading headline declaring, “Clinton campaign paid to ‘infiltrate’ Trump Tower, White House servers to link Trump to Russia, Durham finds.”
It should be noted that Durham’s filing does not contain “infiltrate” as the Fox News headline suggests. Later in the article, it is noted that the word was used by former Trump administration official Kash Patel.
Watch the full clip above via Fox Business
