Ray Epps, a former Trump supporter who was present at the Capitol when the January 6 riot occurred, filed a lawsuit accusing Fox News of defamation on Wednesday.
The suit accuses Fox News host Tucker Carlson of promoting the unfounded theory that Epps was an undercover federal agent who entrapped Trump supporters by encouraging them to trespass at the Capitol.
“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, first reported by the New York Times, reads. “It settled on Ray Epps and began promoting the lie that Epps was a federal agent who incited the attack on the Capitol.”
Epps appears in a video taken on January 5 encouraging fellow Trump supporters to enter the Capitol building the following day. He cooperated with investigators and was not prosecuted as a result, according to the FBI. But Carlson and other prominent right-wing voices have argued that Epps may have escaped prosecution because he “helped stage-manage the insurrection” as an undercover agent.
“Now we’ve asked Ray Epps on this show repeatedly to explain why he thinks he’s escaped prosecution, and we’ll ask him once again tonight, and we’ll keep asking because we think it is a very obvious and important question,” Carlson told Fox viewers during one segment in July 2022.
A later interview with Darren Beattie, a right-wing journalist, echoed the allegation calling Epps the “smoking gun of the entire fedsurrection.”
The lawsuit outlined that “Fox’s portrayal of Epps” had caused “significant damages, as a result of the false statements.
“Epps has suffered the single and indivisible injuries discussed previously, including but not limited to: being harassed and receiving death threats; forced to spend money to protect himself and his family; forced to give up his businesses and sell his home; forced to flee and live in isolation; and forced to face financial ruin, loss of income; loss of earning capacity loss of business and business opportunities; suffering, both mental and physical in nature; mental anguish; public humiliation; anxiety; loss of sleep; and loss of appetite,” the claim outlined.
Epps filed his complaint with the Superior Court in Delaware, the same jurisdiction where Fox recently agreed to a blockbuster settlement totaling nearly $800 million in April.
Epps is a U.S. Marine veteran who says he was forced to sell his Arizona ranch and wedding venue business and relocate to a mobile home in a remote part of Utah with his wife after receiving a torrent of death threats.
“Ray is taking the next steps to vindicate his rights by seeking accountability for Fox’s lies that have caused him and Robyn [his wife] so much harm,” Michael Teter, his legal representative, told the Times in a statement.
Neither Fox nor Carlson have yet to issue public statements responding to the lawsuit.