Trump Supporter Sues Fox for Destroying His Life With January 6 Conspiracy

Fox already shelled out $787.5 million in a defamation lawsuit to avoid further interrogation into its ranks—and now it’s being sued for defamation once again.

Ray Epps, a Trump supporter who has been bizarrely propped up by conspiracy theorists as being the leader of an FBI plot to incite the January 6 insurrection, filed a lawsuit against Fox on Wednesday, accusing the company and former host Tucker Carlson of defamation.

Figureheads on the right—including Carlson—have long been propagating the unfounded notion that the January 6 attack was essentially an “op” put on by federal agencies. Epps has been a central victim to the conspiracy.

The two-time Trump voter did take part in demonstrations in the nation’s capital on January 5 and 6. He was even seen on camera urging a crowd to march and enter the Capitol with him, though he apparently never got inside. At other points, he was seen urging for calm as things turned violent. Not the kind of behavior of someone looking to cleanly incite and entrap rioters.

Nevertheless, Epps has become a target in the years since. On numerous occasions, Carlson whipped up the focus on Epps, directing the ire of his millions of viewers to the Arizona man.

“Fox’s lies about Epps reached hundreds of millions of people and caused enormous harm to Epps,” the lawsuit reads, accusing Fox of running a “years-long campaign spreading falsehoods” about Epps that “destroyed” his life.

Epps is described as a formerly “avid and loyal Fox viewer and fan of Mr. Carlson’s,” whose presence at the January 6 attack at all was inspired “by the lies broadcast by Fox asserting the election had been stolen.”

The conspiracy theory has become popular among Republican lawmakers, some of whom even cited it in a House judiciary hearing just hours before the lawsuit was announced.

The new lawsuit follows Fox’s whopping $787.5 million settlement with Dominion Voting Systems, after the network was sued for its lies surrounding the 2020 election and voting systems like Dominion’s. It also comes after the network also reached a $12 million settlement with former producer Abby Grossberg, who accused Fox of hosting a workplace environment rife with discrimination and rampant sexism, and of coercing her into providing false testimony in the Dominion case.

Meanwhile, the network still faces a gargantuan $2.7 billion defamation lawsuit from Smartmatic USA, another voting systems company that alleges Fox made “over 100 false statements and implications about the company.”

“Dominion’s litigation exposed some of the misconduct and damage caused by Fox’s disinformation campaign. Smartmatic will expose the rest,” Smartmatic attorney J. Erik Connolly said in April. “Smartmatic remains committed to clearing its name, recouping the significant damage done to the company, and holding Fox accountable for undermining democracy.”

FBI Director Christopher Wray had a simple response for Republicans who insisted that Americans think the bureau has become far too politicized: applicants for FBI jobs from their states are up. A lot.

Wray testified before the House Judiciary Committee on Wednesday, where he faced repeated questions from angry Republicans about whether the FBI targets the GOP, specifically former President Donald Trump. Wray, of course, denied their accusations, which prompted several lawmakers to insist that his stance is why no one trusts the FBI anymore.

“People trusted the FBI more when J. Edgar Hoover was running the place than when you are,” Florida Representative Matt Gaetz charged. “And the reason is because you don’t give straight answers.”

“It appears as though you’re whitewashing the conduct of corrupt people,” Gaetz said, referring to Republicans’ repeated and as yet fully-unproven claims that the Biden family has accepted bribes.

“Respectfully, congressman, in your home state of Florida, the number of people applying to come work for us … is up over 100 percent since I started,” Wray replied.

“We’re deeply proud of them, and they deserve better than you,” Gaetz snapped at the Trump appointed-FBI director.

Later, Texas Representative Wesley Hunt cited an NBC poll that found only 37 percent of Americans have a positive view of the FBI. “I think I know why,” Hunt said. “Here’s what the American people know and believe about the FBI today, sir. If you are a Trump, you will be prosecuted. If you are a Biden, you will be protected. And the American people that I represent are sick and tired of this double standard.”

“I worry less about NBC polls or polls by any other news outlet,” Wray said. “But I will tell you that the number of people in Texas applying to work for us since I’ve been in this job has gone up 93 percent. In fact, we have more applicants from the state of Texas annually in the last several years than any other state in the country.”

“That makes sense, because Texas is the greatest state in the country,” said Hunt.

“I think that speaks very well of the view of Texans about the FBI,” Wray concluded.

According to conservatives, the problem with the military is not the endless war, the relentless global policing, the innocent lives wrapped up in struggles of territory and greed, nor even the trillions that back it all. The problem is the military is just too woke.

Republicans have submitted hundreds of amendments to the national defense authorization bill, hoping to pass their extreme priorities into law.

It’s not yet clear when we’ll have the final list of amendments to be voted on, as Republicans are pushing the House Rules committee for more to be added for consideration.

Still, here are some of the most radical amendments Republicans have been focusing on:

Banning Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion

One amendment, introduced by Representatives Greg Steube and Claudia Tenney, would prohibit “the use of Federal funds for any DEI activity in the Armed Forces, National Academies, and Department of Defense (DOD).”

Apparently, it’s okay for the Supreme Court to carve out an affirmative action exception for the military, but it’s not okay to have a conversation about those recipients being treated decently.

Limiting Service Members’ Access to Abortion

Another amendment, backed by scores of Republicans, would prohibit “the Secretary of Defense from paying for or reimbursing expenses relating to abortion services.” That would overturn current Defense Department policy that helps military members who are seeking abortion, but are stationed in a state where it is banned, with their travel expenses.  

What better way to affirm that soldiers are pawns for the American empire than by insistently eroding their bodily autonomy in whatever way you can?

Banning Books

Representatives Lauren Boebert, Eli Crane, Josh Brecheen, and Mary Miller wanted to ensure the whole of the far-right agenda got representation, introducing an amendment to prohibit “Department of Defense Education Activity schools from purchasing and having pornographic and radical gender ideology books in their libraries.”

Surely, a very real problem that merits even seconds on the floor of the United States Congress, as it grapples with the billions it dedicates towards policing the world.

Prohibiting Funds for Climate Change

Several other amendments focused on climate, calling to prohibit federal funds to support green energy efforts, and another outright prohibiting the Defense Department “from carrying out Biden’s climate change executive orders.”

After all, why would we even consider defining “public service” to mean serving the public who is drowning in floods, collapsing in the heat, and choking in the smog?

Restrictions on Military Aid for Ukraine, but not Saudi Arabia or Israel

And of course, Republicans found a way to target military aid for Ukraine in a way they certainly did not with Israel or Saudi Arabia.

Representative Wesley Hunt introduced an amendment to stop any funding for Ukraine “unless an equal amount is made available to the Secretary of Homeland Security for the construction of physical barriers along the southern border.” (Funny, given a separate, to-be-voted on amendment from Representative Brecheen and Representative Dale Strong “to use, transfer or donate excess border wall construction materials.”)

Meanwhile, Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene introduced a slew of Ukraine-related amendments, including ones to outright ban funding for Ukraine until a “diplomatic solution” is reached, and striking $300 million of funding. She also submitted one calling for the U.S. to withdraw from NATO.

While Republicans were eager to terminate aid to a nation fighting off invasion, they were just as eager to protect another occupying nation. An amendment introduced by Representatives Scott Perry, Bob Good, and Crane would bar “funding to any organization or any country that has labeled Israel as an “apartheid” state.” A United Nations investigator accused Israel of apartheid last year.

There are plenty of issues with America’s defense spending priorities, namely, that it has always been so bloated, and so used for ill ends. And despite this historical and ongoing legacy, and despite where those trillions of dollars could go instead, the military budget has generally maintained an upward trend. Nevertheless, Republicans are introducing amendments that ignore any of those broader issues, instead projecting their radical domestic agenda onto the military.

The Ku Klux Klan has been posting flyers all over Kentucky since March, a frightening sign of how emboldened the far right is becoming.

Kentucky’s Republican attorney general Daniel Cameron, who is also his party’s nominee for governor, has not yet publicly commented on the flyers. Cameron did not respond to The New Republic’s request for comment.

The flyers first started to gain statewide attention in May, when residents of Louisville posted about it on social media. At least two different flyers were left in neighborhoods in and around the city. One warned “race traitors, mixed breeds, communist, homosexuals, and all other walks of Godless degeneracy” that the “Klan is back.” Another flyer referred to multiracial people as “mongrels” and listed Bible quotes to push anti-LGBTQ sentiment.

Things picked up in June, when residents near Lexington reported that another chapter of the KKK had distributed flyers advertising themselves as a sort of neighborhood watch. The flyers encouraged people to report “crime and drug dealers” to the KKK. Lexington NAACP President Whit Whitaker expressed concerns that the Klan intended to use these reports to attack Black people.

Two alleged Klansmen were handing out KKK recruitment cards in Corbin when they crossed paths with an LGBTQ rights rally that was protesting Kentucky’s now-blocked anti-transgender laws. The pair began shouting abuse at the crowd, and one even held up a gun.

The most recent incidents were just last week, when people in Fern Creek and Ashland found KKK flyers spread around their neighborhoods. The flyers in Ashland specifically said the group was seeking to recruit “white-American” citizens who are Christian and at least 18 years old.

The flyers are a clear sign of how brazen far-right groups have become. The Proud Boys have also begun distributing flyers around Kentucky. And it’s no surprise that such extremist organizations feel that they can come out into the open.

Former President Donald Trump vigorously embraced stances against LGBTQ people and people of color, specifically Latin American immigrants and Muslims. He famously told the Proud Boys to “stand back and stand by” during a 2020 presidential debate. Members of far-right groups felt Trump had personally called on them to go to Washington on January 6 and stop the 2020 election results from being certified.

And the vast majority of Republican leaders have done nothing to push back. Ron DeSantis—who is currently in second place for the GOP presidential nomination, after Trump—has openly embraced anti-LGBTQ bigotry in policies and in his campaigning.

California Representative Ted Lieu thoroughly debunked the Republican talking point that the FBI has been weaponized against them by pointing out the obvious: The Trump administration was already packed with “criminals.”

FBI Director Christopher Wray testified before the House Judiciary Committee on Wednesday. He faced repeated questions from Republicans about whether the FBI targets the GOP, specifically former President Donald Trump. Wray, of course, denied their accusations.

But Lieu offered the most striking defense of the bureau when he listed how many members of Trump’s inner circle had been convicted. Lieu asked Wray about Roger Stone, Elliott Broidy, Michael Cohen, Paul Manafort, Rick Gates, and George Papadopoulos, all of whom were found guilty of various crimes in federal court.

Lieu pointed out that all of the advisers were prosecuted by Trump appointees: Bill Barr, Matthew Whitaker, and Jeff Sessions. Wray, who was already leading the FBI at the time, is also a Trump appointee.

“What these facts show is we don’t have a two-tiered system of justice,” said Lieu, referring to a favorite Republican talking point regarding Trump’s federal indictment. “We have one Department of Justice that goes after criminals regardless of party ideology.”

“It is not the fault of the FBI that Donald Trump surrounded himself with criminals.”