Ray Epps Sues Fox After Tucker Carlson Lies Ruined His Life

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Trump Voter Sues Fox News After Tucker Carlson Lies Ruined His Life: Ray Epps and his wife had to move off their Arizona farm after the former host pushed a conspiracy that he was working with the FBI on Jan. 6
by Ryan Bort
Rolling Stone
July 12, 2023

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Ray Epps, in the red Trump hat, center, gestures to others as people gather on the West Front of the U.S. Capitol on Wednesday, Jan. 6, 2021 in Washington, D.C. KENT NISHIMURA/ LOS ANGELES TIMES/GETTY IMAGES

RAY EPPS, A two-time Trump voter from Arizona who found himself at the center of a wild Jan. 6 conspiracy, is suing Fox News for defamation.

The lawsuit alleges that the network, particularly its former star host Tucker Carlson, painted Epps as an undercover federal agent in order to push a conspiracy that the FBI helped orchestrate the riot at the Capitol in order to vilify Trump and his supporters.

“In the aftermath of the events of January 6th, Fox News searched for a scapegoat to blame other than Donald Trump or the Republican Party,” the suit reads. “Eventually, they turned on one of their own, telling a fantastical story in which Ray Epps — who was a Trump supporter that participated in the protests on January 6th — was an undercover FBI agent and was responsible for the mob that violently broke into the Capitol and interfered with the peaceful transition of power for the first time in this country’s history.”

The conspiracy theory, which Carlson pushed repeatedly on his show, stems from a video of Epps telling protesters the night before the attack to peacefully enter the Capitol the following day. Onlookers then start chanting “Fed! Fed! Fed!” Epps is also seen on video on Jan. 6 encouraging people to march to the Capitol. Epps has not been arrested for his involvement, and Carlson and others have alleged the Justice Department is protecting him because he was working for the FBI.

The lawsuit — which was filed in the same Delaware court as the defamation suit Fox settled with Dominion Voting Systems for $787.5 million — alleges that Epps got caught up in the narrative that the election was stolen. “Epps is a poorly cast villain for Fox and Mr. Carlson,” it reads. “Prior to 2022, Epps had consistently voted Republican. He is a former Marine who voted for Donald Trump twice. He was an avid and loyal Fox viewer and a fan of Mr. Carlson’s. When Fox, through its on-air personalities and guests, told its audience that the 2020 election had been stolen, Epps was listening. He believed Fox. And when Epps kept hearing that Trump supporters should let their views be known on January 6th in Washington, D.C., Epps took that to heart.”

Carlson’s lies have totally upended Epps’ life, with the lawsuit noting that he and his wife have “received threatening voicemails, emails, and text messages.” The Epps had to hire security to protect their farm in Arizona, but the harassment became so intense that they were forced to move at great personal cost. Epps' wife even had to give up her dog breeding business. “The emotional and psychological effects of the threats and attacks cannot be overstated,” the lawsuit reads. “Indeed, they may very well dwarf the economic consequences.”

Carlson’s lies about Jan. 6 have spread well beyond Fox. Republicans on the House Judiciary Committee pushed the idea that the FBI was behind the attack during a hearing on Wednesday featuring FBI Director Christopher Wray. “This notion that somehow the violence at the Capitol on Jan. 6 was part of some operation orchestrated by FBI sources and agents is ludicrous,” Wray said when asked about Epps.

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Fox News sued for defamation by two-time Trump voter Ray Epps over Jan. 6 conspiracy claims
by Scott Macfarlane
CBS News
JULY 12, 2023 / 6:31 PM / CBS NEWS

Ray Epps, a frequent subject of Fox News segments and a Trump supporter who became the subject of conspiracy claims, is suing Fox News for defamation.

The suit, which was filed in Delaware Superior Court, accuses Fox of "creating and disseminating destructive conspiracy theories" and of recklessly disregarding the truth.

Epps' suit alleges Fox News used Epps as a "scapegoat" after the Jan. 6, 2021, assault on the U.S. Capitol and told "a fantastical story in which Ray Epps — who was a Trump supporter that participated in the protests on January 6th — was an undercover FBI agent and was responsible for the mob that violently broke into the Capitol and interfered with the peaceful transition of power for the first time in this country's history."

Epps voted for Trump in both 2016 and 2020 and acknowledged being amid the mob outside the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. He said Fox News provided a platform and an audience for claims that Epps was a federal agent "planted as a provocateur to trigger the Capitol violence."

His civil suit makes specific allegations about former Fox News host Tucker Carlson. The suit said, "Fox, and particularly Mr. Carlson, commenced a years-long campaign spreading falsehoods about Epps. Those lies have destroyed Ray's and (his wife's) lives. As Fox recently learned in its litigation against Dominion Voting Systems, its lies have consequences."

After the Capitol riot, Carlson spoke about Epps on his Fox News show over 20 times.

"Ray Epps? He is on video several times encouraging crimes, riots, breaches of the Capitol," Carlson said in one segment.

Epps told Bill Whitaker on CBS' "60 Minutes" earlier this year that he went to the Capitol because he believed the election had been stolen from Trump. On Jan. 5, 2021, the night before the riot, he went to a rally and said, "Tomorrow, we need to go into the Capitol! Into the Capitol!" Trump supporters responded, "What?" And Epps added, "Peacefully!" That was met with cries of "Fed Fed Fed! Fed!" He explained to Whitaker that he meant that there should be peaceful protests at the Capitol, but admits, "I said some stupid things."

On Jan. 6, he was seen in video at the Capitol pulling aside and saying something to one rioter. Conspiracists say he was giving marching orders, because seconds later, the first Capitol police officer went down. Epps told CBS that when he saw the violence, he instead wanted to calm things down. He was never seen committing an act of violence that day or entering the Capitol. He later spoke with the FBI, and in the summer of 2021, the FBI removed his photo from its website.

Carlson took note of the photo's removal. And Trump responded, too: "How about the one guy? Go in, in. Go in! Epps. Get in there! Go! Go! Go! Nothing happens to him."

Epps said the threats and harassment that followed forced him to sell his ranch outside Phoenix. He and his wife now live in hiding in a 300-square foot recreational vehicle, somewhere in the Rocky Mountains.

The FBI said in a statement to "60 Minutes" in April, "Ray Epps has never been an FBI source or an FBI employee."

Epps reveals in his civil suit that he expects to face criminal charges for his role in the mob at the Capitol. The suit said, "In May 2023, the Department of Justice notified Epps that it would seek to charge him criminally for events on January 6, 2021 – two-and-a-half years later. The relentless attacks by FOX and Mr. Carlson and the resulting political pressure likely resulted in the criminal charges."

In the suit, Epps states he is not a federal agent but had been a loyal Fox News viewer and Trump supporter. His suit alleges, "Had the Department of Justice charged Epps in 2021, Mr. Carlson would have hailed Epps a hero."

Epps' suit seeks a trial and compensatory and punitive damages from Fox.

Requests for comment from Fox and Epps's civil attorneys were not immediately returned.

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Man named by Tucker Carlson in conspiracy theory sues Fox News for defamation
by Stephen Battaglio
Los Angeles Times
July 12, 2023 1:52 PM PT

Fox News is facing a new defamation lawsuit from a protester at the Jan. 6, 2021, U.S. Capitol riots who said the network falsely identified him as an FBI informant.

Ray Epps, who now lives in Utah, was repeatedly described by then-Fox News host Tucker Carlson as a federal agent who helped instigate the insurrection on the Capitol that attempted to stop the certification of the election of President Biden.

Carlson made the comments on his program over a period of nearly two years and in a series called “Patriot Purge” that streamed on Fox Nation in 2022, according to Epps’ lawsuit. The falsehoods about Epps were referenced by other commentators on the network, the complaint said.

The lawsuit filed Wednesday in a Delaware federal court said Fox aired the false and defamatory statements about Epps with “actual malice with knowledge of falsity or reckless disregard for truth or falsity.” Epps is seeking unspecified compensatory and punitive damages.

A representative for Fox News had no comment on the lawsuit.

The suit is the latest legal headache for Rupert Murdoch’s conservative network, which in April paid $787.5 million to settle a defamation claim made by Dominion Voting Systems.

The company said Fox News aired false statements about Dominion when covering former President Trump’s charges of fraud in the 2020 election. Fox News faces a similar $2.7 billion suit from voting machine software maker Smartmatic.

Fox News recently paid $12 million to producer Abby Grossberg to settle her lawsuit claiming discrimination and a hostile workplace while working for Carlson. Grossberg was also the producer for anchor Maria Bartiromo, a major offender in the Dominion case.

Epps was at the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. He was a staunch supporter of former President Trump and an avid viewer of Fox News.

But Epps, who testified under oath to the House committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack by Trump protesters, denied any involvement with the FBI, which has also stated publicly that he had no association with the bureau.

Epps testified that he has never worked for the government or any other law enforcement agency at the time. Still, Carlson persisted in describing Epps as a principal in what he described as a false flag operation in which the government incited the riot that occurred that day, an unfounded conspiracy theory.

Epps said the false statements on “Tucker Carlson Tonight,” once the most-watched prime-time program on cable news, had a devastating effect on him and his wife Robyn.

“Ray and Robyn received threatening voice mails, emails, and text messages because of Mr. Carlson’s lies about Epps,” the suit stated. “People began driving past their farm brandishing weapons and shooting onto their property.”

On an April 23 edition of the CBS news magazine “60 Minutes,” Epps went public with how the false claims by Carlson had caused emotional distress, ruined his Arizona-based business and led to death threats.

The following day, Fox News pulled Carlson’s top-rated program from its prime-time schedule. Carlson remains on the Fox News payroll and cannot work for another media outlet while he is still under contract, although he has attempted to do an occasional program on Twitter that has generated far less attention.

“Fox knew it needed a scapegoat for January 6th that would help absolve itself and would appeal to its viewers,” according to the suit. “It settled on Ray Epps and began promoting the lie that Epps was a federal agent who incited the attack.”

Epps said the information he took in from Fox News inspired him to attend the protests by Trump supporters who believed the election was rigged. He is seen on video encouraging demonstrators to march with him and enter the Capitol. He is seen going past a police barricade into a restricted part of the Capitol grounds.

“When Fox, through its on-air personalities and guests, told its audience that the 2020 election had been stolen, Epps was listening,” the suit said.

According to reports, Epps may still be indicted for his participation in the Jan. 6 riot.

Carlson insisted to viewers that Epps was the central figure in the Jan. 6 riot, but was removed from the FBI’s most-wanted list and never charged. When the Jan. 6 committee stated that Epps did not work for the FBI, Carlson told viewers the committee was lying.

Stephen Battaglio writes about television and the media business for the Los Angeles Times out of New York. His coverage of the television industry has appeared in TV Guide, the New York Daily News, the New York Times, Fortune, the Hollywood Reporter, Inside.com and Adweek. He is also the author of three books about television, including a biography of pioneer talk show host and producer David Susskind.

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Fox News hit with another defamation lawsuit — this one over Jan. 6 allegations
by David Folkenflik
NPR
Heard on All Things Considered
Updated July 12, 20236:41 PM ET

Fox News has been hit with yet another defamation lawsuit, this time by Ray Epps, a former U.S. Marine turned Arizona wedding venue operator who was in Washington on Jan. 6, 2021.

The suit centers on the statements of Fox's former primetime star, Tucker Carlson, who repeatedly placed Epps, a supporter of then-President Donald Trump who says he sought to stave off any bloodshed, at the center of the violent siege on the U.S. Capitol.

Carlson's guests and his own remarks conveyed with seeming certitude that Epps helped instigate the violence unleashed that day and also that he must have been collaborating with a federal agency to do so. Yet Carlson never presented viewers with any concrete evidence of the claims.

"In the aftermath of the events of January 6th, Fox News searched for a scapegoat to blame other than Donald Trump or the Republican Party," the lawsuit begins. "Eventually, they turned on one of their own, telling a fantastical story in which Ray Epps — who was a Trump supporter that participated in the protests on January 6th – was an undercover FBI agent and was responsible for the mob that violently broke into the Capitol and interfered with the peaceful transition of power for the first time in this country's history."

Other Fox stars also picked up the call, including Laura Ingraham and Will Cain.

Fox and Carlson did not respond to requests for comment on Wednesday. Carlson was not formally named as a defendant in the lawsuit.

Attorney says Epps fled home out of fears for his family's safety

According to Epps' attorney, Michael Teter, Epps and his wife were Fox viewers and Carlson fans whose lives were turned upside down by the network.

"Fox News and in particular Tucker Carlson spent a good part of two years lying about Mr. Epps's involvement in January 6th, creating a fictitious story and narrative about him that is wholly untrue," Teter tells NPR. "And because of that he has faced harassment and threats from Fox viewers and others that have ruined his life."

Epps has said he and his wife had to sell their home — and give up their wedding business — and move to a mobile home in Utah.

"He believed in Donald Trump and he believed the lies that Fox told," Teter says. "The fact that then Fox would take one of their viewers and turn him into the villain of one of their conspiracy theories demonstrates what we've known for a while, which is Fox News does not care [about its viewers]."

"It cares about making money," Teter says. "And it will lie to them. It will discredit them. And ultimately it will ruin their lives if they see a profit for them to be made."

A growing list of lawsuits against Fox News over election-related falsehoods

Epps' suit is just the latest legal front against Fox, the result of its lurching embrace of Trump's false claims that he had been cheated of victory in the 2020 race.

Fox was the first television network to project that Democratic nominee Joe Biden would win Arizona. The call outraged many of its core viewers, who defected to other right-wing outlets.

As contemporaneous reporting and documents and testimony in a later court case would demonstrate, executives and stars amplified the increasingly outlandish claims in order to win back those viewers.

That decision proved costly and fateful to its credibility, as Fox hosts and executives agreed to air claims they knew to be false, and to its bottom line.

Fox News paid $787.5 million earlier this year to settle a defamation claim brought by a voting-technology company called Dominion Voting Systems, which was frequently placed at the center of those groundless conspiracy theories.

Plaintiffs who sue media organizations for defamation face long odds. They must prove not only that the claims made about them were false and harmful, but that the people spreading those claims knew they were false, or should've known and recklessly disregarded the truth.

Yet Fox's settlement with Dominion, just moments before opening statements in the trial were to begin, gives others reason to hope.

"The Dominion settlement has emboldened other targets of Fox's coverage to sue, and that's not good news for Fox," says Tom Wienner, a retired corporate litigator who followed the Dominion case at NPR's request.

Epps' suit is being heard in the same venue, Delaware Superior Court.

Fallout from a $787.5 million legal settlement

Days after the Dominion settlement, Fox stripped Carlson of his primetime show, seeking to sideline him until his current contract ends, which is after the upcoming elections. According to Chadwick Moore, who has written a biography of Carlson, his show was to focus once more on Epps the evening that he was ousted.

Carlson was one of the primary defendants in the Dominion suit, which showed him to be privately attacking the network's reporters for publicly contradicting Trump even though, as he acknowledged, they were correct.

"The Dominion suit... demonstrates a pattern on Fox that they have engaged in lies about the 2020 election, seeking to placate their viewers," Teter says. "They wanted the frustration — the anger — that their viewers expected, to continue to have them watching Fox News."

Late last month, Fox paid $12 million to settle a lawsuit from a former senior producer for Carlson who alleged his show's work environment was replete with bigotry and misogyny in her own civil suit. She had separately alleged that attorneys for the network and its parent company, Fox Corp., had pressured her to lie to defend Carlson and male executives in sworn testimony. Fox vigorously contested the allegation of misconduct by its legal team but backed down from its initial defenses of the work environment on Carlson's show.

Meanwhile, Fox faces another lawsuit for $2.7 billion from a second voting tech company, Smartmatic. And investors have brought a pair of lawsuits, arguing that top officials and board members at Fox Corp. failed to exercise appropriate control over the network.

Fox seeks to have Epps case moved to another venue

Fox News and Fox Corp endured tough sledding in the Delaware Superior Court during the Dominion case. After months of being asked by Dominion, for example, Fox's attorneys belatedly acknowledged that Fox Corp. founder and chairman Rupert Murdoch also held the title of executive chairman of Fox News.

Delaware Superior Court Judge Eric M. Davis, who oversaw the Dominion case, chastised Fox's attorneys on that score and several others. And Davis has been assigned related cases. It is perhaps unsurprising that Fox's attorneys have filed a legal notice seeking to have the Epps case moved to federal court in Delaware.

Other Fox hosts stoked the emotional fires that fueled the January 2021 protests to a greater degree than Carlson. Yet after the siege, Carlson quickly embraced a series of contradictory conspiracy theories. He argued that the brutal attack was essentially a rally that got a bit rowdy. And he also claimed that the federal government and antigovernmental protesters from Antifa instigated it.

Epps became a touchstone in reconciling those so far baseless theories. Carlson's claims, presented on his show and in a three-part series called Patriot Purge on the Fox Nation streaming service, led to the resignations of two Fox commentators, Jonah Goldberg and Stephen Hayes. Anchor Bret Baier and then-Fox News Sunday host Chris Wallace objected to top network officials. Wallace signed with CNN shortly after.

As recently as this March, however, Carlson once more invoked the specter of federal involvement in the attack on the Capitol.

"A lot of this was clearly influenced by federal agents or informants. It was. Ok?" Carlson told viewers. "But I did not want to suggest someone was a federal agent or informant unless I knew for a fact because you really could get someone in trouble."

"It's very clear, something very strange is going on with Ray Epps," he said. "I mean, don't lie to my face. The Ray Epps thing isn't, isn't organic, sorry."