A businessman from Venezuela has filed a defamation lawsuit against Fox News, its former host Lou Dobbs, and its current host Sidney Powell, accusing them of defaming him in an election-rigging scheme.
The businessman says that he was wrongly accused of being involved in a conspiracy to rig the 2020 presidential election in favor of President Joe Biden.
In media appearances and social media posts, Powell and Dobbs pushed elements of a false theory that claimed that the "COO" of an operation to rig votes for the now-dead Hugo Chavez was a man named Khalil.
Smartmatic has accused the Venezuela government of tampering with the results of elections that used its software.
The 2020 election was preceded by the fraudulent Venezuela election results, which was described by Dobbs as a "cyber Pearl Harbor" and "electoral 9-11". Powell continued to push the conspiracy theory in a November 8, 2020 appearance on Fox News' "Lou Dobbs Tonight."
In the lawsuit, he denied that he was associated with any of the companies. The lawsuit states that neither Powell nor Dobbs reached out to Khalil before making their allegations.
The lawsuit was filed in New York State court. The case was assigned to a federal court in Manhattan, which has jurisdiction over it, because the person in question is a Venezuela citizen.
An attorney for Powell didn't respond to Insider's request for comment. Powell's appearance on the Fox News show days after Biden won the presidential election has been the center of several defamation lawsuits that Fox News has fought in court.
In February, Smartmatic sued Fox News and several other hosts for defamation. After Fox News canceled "Lou Dobbs Tonight", the host announced the launch of a new show on his own. A New York state judge is considering a motion from Fox News.
The lawsuit was filed against Fox News. A Delaware judge denied Fox News's motion to dismiss the lawsuit.
