A former Biden administration official who oversaw a federal initiative against alleged disinformation filed a civil lawsuit against Fox News on Wednesday, alleging that the news outlet defamed her and damaged her career.
“By particular, Fox described Jankowicz as moronic, an embarrassment to her parents and employers, and a ‘self-obsessed social media neophyte,’” reads the complaint, filed in the Delaware Superior Court on May 10.
Jankowicz’s lawyers allege that the purpose of these descriptions was “neither news nor political commentary,” but was intended to “denigrate Jankowicz’s character and professional reputation, particularly since they continued long after Jankowicz’s resignation from government.”
“They hired some Mary Poppins lookalike Nina Jankowicz to silence anyone who criticized the Biden administration,” Carlson said, as cited by the complaint. “Better wake up and get involved, or your future will consist of asking permission to exercise your own most basic rights from people like that.”
Jankowicz’s Claims
To prove that Fox News defamed her, Jankowicz is required to establish that Fox News’s broadcasted statements were falsehoods purporting to be fact, caused harm to her, and neglected to behave with reasonable care as a media company.For the falsehood element, Jankowicz’s lawyers say in the complaint that Fox News hosts promulgated alleged lies in “three critical ways,” including: that Jankowicz intended to censor American’s speech, that she was fired from her post, and that she wanted to give verified Twitter users the power to edit others’ tweets.
The complaint writes that “Jankowicz has never advocated against individuals sharing their views and has publicly condemned censorship as ineffective against disinformation” and that Fox News hosts allegedly knew this position but continued to portray her as a proponent of censorship.
“The statements were made with actual knowledge of their falsity or with reckless disregard of the same,” the complaint reads.
Additionally, the complaint writes that Jankowicz, during the period she was eight months pregnant, “received death threats every day” that her lawyers say were encouraged by Fox’s broadcast and that, as a result, she was forced to resign from her government post.
Jankowicz now is no longer able to “engage in her hobbies, including community theater, as a result of her fear that the threats of violence will come to fruition,” the complaint reads.
On these grounds, Jankowicz is seeking unspecified damages for “economic, emotional, reputational” harm.
In response to a press inquiry from The Epoch Times, a spokesperson from Fox News did not address the merits of Jankowicz’s claims. The spokesperson pointed to a court filing by Fox filed on May 11 that requested the court to move the case to a federal court, citing jurisdictional issues.
The Epoch Times has contacted Jankowicz’s lawyers for comment.
