Ray Epps sues Fox News and Tucker Carlson for ‘defamatory attacks’ after January 6

The man at the center of a right-wing conspiracy theory surrounding January 6 and the attack on the US Capitol has filed a defamation lawsuit against Fox News and Tucker Carlson for amplifying a ‘fantastical’ story alleging he is an undercover federal agent who incited a riot. A lawsuit from Ray Epps follows a cease-and-desist letter sent to the network earlier this year, demanding that Carlson retract his ‘false and defamatory’ statements about him and deliver a ‘formal on-air apology’ for the ‘lies’ he promoted. ‘Fox’s role in creating and disseminating destructive conspiracy theories has already been well documented,’ according to the lawsuit filed in Delaware Superior Court on 12 July. Mr Epps and his wife Robyn – who both voted for Donald Trump and were ‘loyal’ viewers of Fox and its now-former most-watched personality – were subject to campaign of ‘falsehoods’ that ‘have destroyed Ray’s and Robyn’s lives.’ The lawsuit follows a historic $787m settlement between the Fox and Dominion Voting Systems, which accused the network of spreading false statements about its business in the aftermath of the 2020 presidential election. Fox also has settled a lawsuit from a former producer for Carlson for $12m after she accused the company of ‘fostering a toxic workplace’ where ‘truth remains a fugitive’. Though he joined the crowd on January 6, Mr Epps did not enter the Capitol, and he has not been charged with a crime – fuelling accusations from Carlson and others that federal prosecutors are protecting him. On his now-former program, Carlson said there is ‘no rational explanation’ why this ‘mysterious figure’ who ‘helped stage-manage the insurrection’ had not yet been charged. ‘Fox repeatedly published defamatory falsehoods about Epps, including by broadcasting and rebroadcasting defamatory statements by Tucker Carlson who devoted over two dozen segments to Epps and by republishing those falsehoods’ across Fox platforms, according to the lawsuit. Those claims have also been echoed by Republican members of Congress making Mr Epps the subject of legislative hearings – including on the day of the lawsuit’s filing, as House Republicans grilled FBI director Christopher Wray about alleged federal agents at the scene of the attack. ‘I will say this notion that somehow the violence at the Capitol on January 6 was part of some operation orchestrated by FBI sources and agents is ludicrous and is a disservice to our brave, hardworking dedicated men and women,’ Mr Wray said in his sworn testimony to the House Judiciary Committee. More than 1,000 people have been arrested in connection with the riots, including more than a dozen people who have been found guilty on treason-related charges for conspiring their attack and 350 people who were convicted of assaulting or resisting law enforcement. This is a developing story