Fox News wants Gavin Newsom to pay its lawyers
FOX NEWS WANTS NEWSOM TO PAY COURT COSTS
Attorneys for Fox News are asking a Delaware court to force Gov. Gavin Newsom to pay their legal fees as part of the network’s bid to get Newsom’s $787 million defamation lawsuit dismissed.
Newsom sued Fox in June, arguing that anchors like Jesse Watters defamed him by saying he lied about having a June 7 phone call with President Donald Trump hours before the Pentagon dispatched troops to Los Angeles to subdue protests. Fox filed in August to dismiss, arguing that Newsom had sued in Delaware to find a sympathetic judge despite none of the parties having ties to the state, and that its reporters were protected by free speech laws. Fox is headquartered in New York, but incorporated as a business in Delaware.
Fox is now asking Newcastle County Superior Court to dismiss the suit and force Newsom to pay its legal costs. In a Monday filing, its attorneys argued that his lawsuit is violating California’s anti Strategic Lawsuit Against Public Participation law. which protects news outlets from litigation aimed at silencing dissent. In August, Newsom amended his original complaint to remove a part that claimed harm under the state’s Unfair Competition law, which bans businesses from using false advertising.
“Newsom’s decision to abandon his meritless UCL claim makes Fox News a ‘prevailing defendant’ under California’s anti-SLAPP law and entitles Fox News to a mandatory award of the attorneys’ fees it incurred addressing the UCL claim,” the network’s lawyers wrote in their new filing.
“Fox is offering the same arguments in defense of their actions that led them to pay Dominion $787 million,” said Newsom spokesperson Nathan Click. “We expect the same outcome.”
The sum Newsom is seeking is identical to the settlement Fox had to pay Dominion Voting Systems after knowingly broadcasting false reports that Democrats had used the company’s machines to help Joe Biden win the 2020 election.
TRUMP: TAX FOREIGN MOVIES 100%
Via David Lightman...
President Donald Trump said Monday he wants to impose a 100% tariff on movies made outside the United States.
“Our movie making business has been stolen from the United States, by other countries, just like ‘stealing candy from a baby,’” he posted on his Truth Social site. “California, with its weak and incompetent governor, has been especially hard hit.”
While Sen. Adam Schiff, D-Calif., wants to promote film production in California, he said that tariff is not the big answer.
“I strongly support bringing movie making back to California and the U.S. Congress should pass a bipartisan globally-competitive federal film incentive to bring back production and jobs,” the senator said, “rather than levy a tariff that could have unintended and damaging consequences.”
Rep. Laura Friedman, D-Glendale, a former film and television executive, had similar views. Trump’s tariff, she said, “will raise costs for consumers.”
She cited her own background and her district, saying, “I know what will work, without harming consumers: a national film tax credit. It’s working in California and it will work across the country.”
PRIVATE COMPANY FORMALIZES $130M ICE CONTRACT FOR CA CITY FACILITY
The largest private prison company in the United States announced Monday that it had contracted with Immigration and Customs Enforcement to house people in a Kern County facility whose staff members have been criticized for allegedly delaying detainees’ medical treatment.
CoreCivic said that it had formalized a $130 million contract with ICE through August 2027 to house migrants at the California City Detention Center. The center used to house state inmates until March 2024, when Gov. Gavin Newsom terminated the lease, citing budget constraints.
CoreCivic’s ICE contract began Sept. 1, but the company admitted to the Fresno Bee earlier this month that it had quietly opened the facility last month, flouting permitting requirements. The company said Monday it had also netted an ICE contract for a facility in Leavenworth, Kan.
“The geographic locations of each of these facilities will enhance our ability to support our government partner in its effort to enforce immigration laws in areas of need across the United States,” said chief executive Damon Hininger.
CoreCivic is one of a handful of private prison companies that have benefitted handsomely under the Trump administration’s mass campaign to expel undocumented immigrants from the U.S.
QUOTE OF THE DAY
“You’re already paying more for eggs, coffee, toys, shoes, electricity, furniture, cars, and flights. Now, Trump wants to raise taxes to see the movies. PAY MORE AND ENJOY NOTHING. That’s Donald Trump’s America.”
—Gov. Gavin Newsom on President Donald Trump calling for 100% tariffs on foreign-made movies.
Best of The Bee:
- Gov. Gavin Newsom signs AI regulations, bucking Big Tech, via Lia Russell
- Here’s what stays open and available during a federal government shutdown, via David Lightman
- Sacramento courthouse immigration stops, some violent, detailed in legal filing, via Sharon Bernstein
This story was originally published September 30, 2025 at 4:55 AM.
