Gov’t Should Regulate Fox News, Says Former DOJ Official Involved In Mueller Probe

MSNBC legal analyst Andrew Weissmann suggested Friday that the U.S. government should regulate Fox News as a punishment following the outlet’s settlement with Dominion.

Dominion Voting Systems filed a suit against Fox News in 2021 alleging the outlet “deeply damaged” the company’s reputation by knowingly airing false claims that Dominion played a role in stealing the 2020 election. Fox reached a settlement with Dominion on Tuesday for $787.5 million only minutes before the defamation trial was set to begin. Dominion initially demanded $1.6 billion.

Weissmann previously worked at the Department of Justice, where he had a senior role in Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation whether into former President Donald Trump’s 2016 campaign colluded with Russia.

“If you talk to any reputable journalist, whether it’s in television, whether it’s in print media, this is so far beyond the pale in terms of what news is supposed to be,” Weissmann said during the segment. (RELATED: Scarborough Cuts Off Reporter To Defend Newsmax)

Weissmann then argued the Federal Election Commission (FEC) should step in because the settlement was solely about Dominion lawyers getting “damages to their client” and would not lead to a “public apology to defend American democracy or to protect the information flow.”

“And so that’s where you really think the FEC — which did impose a small fine on the National Enquirer — needs to step in. And it can’t be a small fine,” Weissmann said, referring to a fine imposed on the tabloid for colluding with Trump’s campaign to bury the story of an alleged affair between Trump and former Playboy model Karen McDougal.

“You need to have the government step in to have some kind of regulation of that kind of conduct,” Weissmann added.