Of all the distortions and paranoia promoted by Tucker Carlson on his canceled Fox News show, the most looming is that an Arizona man who worked as an undercover government agent was accused of sabotage. It is a conspiracy theory that he instigated the attack on the Capitol on January 6, 2021. and discredit former President Donald J. Trump and his political campaign.
What is known about this man — who went by the name of Ray Epps and voted for President Trump twice — is that he attended the Washington demonstrations that day and the night before. Cameras caught him urging the crowd to march with him into the Houses of Parliament. On another occasion, however, he pleads for calm when it becomes clear that the situation is becoming violent. He has been seen slipping through the barricaded lines of the Capitol Police, but he never actually enters the Capitol.
Federal prosecutors did not indict Epps, instead focusing on more than 1,000 other demonstrators who committed violence and trespassed inside the Capitol. But a major Justice Department investigation into the attack is still ongoing, and Epps could still face charges.
But for more than 18 months, Mr. Carlson argued that the absence of charges against Mr. Epps meant only one thing: that he was protected because he was a secret agent for the government. Carlson told the audience that “there was no rational explanation” for why the “mysterious figure” who “helped stage the mutiny” was not prosecuted.
He repeated Mr. Epps’ name over and over for about 20 episodes, engraving his name on viewers’ minds.
Epps served in the Marine Corps, but said in a deposition before the committee on Jan. 6 that he had never otherwise served as a representative of any government agency. He and his wife, Robin, sold their wedding business and ranch, fled Arizona, and moved to another state after receiving death threats from people they believed to be conspiracy theories. hidden. And given that prosecutors are still investigating new cases related to Jan. 6, his legal danger isn’t over just yet.
Attorneys representing Mr. Epps and his wife are now planning to sue Fox News for defamation. “We told Fox in March that if they didn’t issue a formal apology on air, they would do everything in their power to protect the rights of the Epps,” said a lawyer for Mr. Epps, who ordered the station to stop. said Michael Teter. And a letter asking for an apology and retraction on air. Mr. Teter began preparing a lawsuit after Mr. Fox did not contact him about his demands. “That remains our intention.”
Epps declined to comment on potential lawsuits. A Fox News spokeswoman declined to comment.
Carlson also declined to comment. But he continues to promote the fallacy that the Jan. 6 attacks were caused by anti-Trump elements within the government. Carlson said on a podcast last week that the riot “wasn’t a mutiny” and that the crowd that day was “filled with federal agents.”
First Amendment experts say Epps has a leading defamation lawsuit. The lawsuit is reminiscent of the lawsuit the agency recently settled with Dominion Voting Systems for his $787.5 million settlement, which is the result of many long-running false statements made on the Fox News show. centered around the example of
If Epps moves forward, the lawsuit will create new legal issues and reputational blemishes for conservative networks. Conservative networks are facing a growing list of lawsuits related to broadcasting false claims about the 2020 election and its implications. Among them are his $2.7 billion lawsuit from Smartmatic, his second technology company with voting rights, and his two separate lawsuits by Fox Corporation shareholders. Another lawsuit from Mr. Carlson’s former producer was settled by Fox for $12 million, alleging it tolerated and encouraged a toxic workplace.
Epps’ defamation lawsuit will provide further evidence of how Mr. Carlson continues to cause headaches for Fox even after the agency removed him from his caster duties. Fox executives pulled him off the air after his text messages, released as part of the Dominion lawsuit, revealed he had expressed hateful and racist sentiment.
On air, Carlson’s actions began to irritate Fox executives like Fox CEO Lachlan Murdoch, but Carlson continues to push conspiracy theories about January 6. has drawn condemnation from Republican lawmakers, including Senator Mitch McConnell. Mr. Carlson had planned to air another segment about Mr. Epps the day he was informed the show had been cancelled. according to In a tweet by Chadwick Moore, the official biographer of the organizer.
Defamation laws, by design, lean heavily in favor of the press, and unless there is evidence that the defendant knew or acted in concert that the statement was false, it could not be subject to media coverage. It is difficult to hold many public figures accountable for defamation. A reckless disregard for the truth. Epps can allege that from October 2021 to March 2023, Carlson repeatedly made unsubstantiated statements about himself or statements that were simply explained or contradicted facts reported in numerous reports. You can.
Rodney Smora, dean of the Vermont Law School and defamation expert, said, “His challenge is that if he were to sue, it would be inherently strangely implausible and reckless. Let the judge say that only people who are ignorant can circulate it.” He consulted with Dominion when it filed a lawsuit against Fox News.
“Any lawsuit is not easy,” Smora added. “But in my view, this lawsuit is certainly viable.”
The attack on Mr Epps began circulating online in a video taken the night before the Capitol raid. Epps is seen yelling on the streets of Washington during a pro-Trump protest that he intends to march into the Capitol. After a few seconds of silence, he added, “Peacefully.” Some in the crowd start shouting “Federation!” Commonwealth! Federal Government! Alluded to him as a government official trying to lure Trump supporters into crime.
Another video, shot on January 6, also shows Mr Epps urging people to march towards the Houses of Parliament. And just before the men and the mob overpowered the police and breached the security perimeter around the Capitol grounds, he bent down and whispered in the man’s ear. It’s hard to hear what Mr. Epps is saying in the video.
Law enforcement quickly took note of Epps’ suspicious behavior and put his photo on an online wanted list. Epps said he called the FBI’s National Threat Operations Center shortly after the alert went off, and phone records show he spoke with officials there for nearly an hour.
When the agency removed him from its list in the spring of 2021, months after officials formally interviewed him and his son, Carlson and others said Epps’ disappearance and lack of criminal charges were evidence that the government was protecting him. claimed to mean .
On his show, Mr. Carlson claimed Mr. Epps was a liar and demanded that he be arrested. In one corner just before Fox News canceled Mr. Carlson’s show in April, Mr. Carlson showed viewers an image of the FedEx logo changed to “FedEpps.”
The fact that Mr. Epps was not indicted is largely consistent with hundreds, if not thousands, of individual decisions made by the Justice Department in its extensive investigation into the Capitol attack.
Only a small number of people who breached the Capitol fence but did not enter the building have been charged, and no defendants have been charged with sedition. Proving sedition against Mr. Epps will be particularly difficult, given the following: Although he finally tried to defuse the crowd’s tension, And since his loudest exhortation to enter the building came on the eve of the attack, it was almost impossible to show that his words had any immediate effect.
Mr. Epps whispered to the man on the day of the attack, and his answers are divided into three parts. In an interview conducted by the FBI with a man who spoke with Epps, he said: Ryan Samsellin an interview with Mr. Epps’s own authorities. and in a podcast interview with a co-defendant in Mr. Samsel’s case. All three said Epps urged Samsel to calm down.
“He walked up to me and said, ‘Hey,’ and all he said was, ‘Relax, the police are doing their job,'” Samsell said, according to a transcript of an interview with the FBI.
In his legal defense, Mr. Carlson could point to contradictions in Mr. Samsel’s account. It also noted that Epps texted his family long after the riots ended, saying they helped “organize” the movement of people to the Capitol.
(In recent weeks, Mr. Samsell abruptly changed his story. From prison, he began calling reporters, mostly right-wing media, claiming that he had lied to the FBI and had been told by Mr. Epps to drop the investigation. Samsell confirmed to the New York Times that he did not provide the new story under oath to prosecutors.)
If the only people to whom Epps supposedly lost respect were those who thought January 6 was a legitimate cause, the unresolved legal question of whether Epps really suffered reputational damage. There is also a problem.
David A. Logan, former dean of Roger Williams Law School, said, “If I were Tucker Carlson’s attorney, Epps could sue for defamation when people who didn’t like Epps were criminals. It raises the question of whether we should.” ? “
Pointing to hypotheses such as a man who sued over false allegations of being gay and an anti-abortion activist who claimed he was wrongfully accused of having an abortion, he said, “Courts are struggling with this very issue. There are,’ he added.
Mr. Carlson could also rely on the vague and indirect language he sometimes used to describe Mr. Epps. For example, he said on various occasions that he wasn’t sure Epps was actually a double agent, admitting that “we don’t know anything about him.”
If Mr. Epps is indicted, it could make reputational damage claims even more difficult and complicate defamation lawsuits. Professor Ronnell Andersen-Jones said, “Because defamation claims are central to defamation lawsuits, it is certainly possible to prove that you have suffered a detrimental loss if your reputation has already been harmed by truthful information. can be difficult,” he said. Graduated from the University of Utah SJ Queenie School of Law. “But the questions are often complicated.”
Logan said lawyers will only know how strong their position is if a judge allows the case to continue.
“Unlike Dominion, we cannot be certain that Tucker Carlson had doubts about the veracity of the allegations unless Mr. Epps filed a lawsuit and obtained extensive evidence,” Logan said. “Or perhaps similar suspicions have risen up the corporate chain.”
