Fox News settlement doesn't stop special master probe that could end in obstruction charges: legal expert
Former FBI general counsel Andrew Weissmann said Tuesday that a special master investigation into Fox News could likely continue despite the settlement between Dominion Voting Systems and the conservative network.
Fox was found to have withheld evidence in the case that should have been part of the discovery process.
Delaware Superior Court Judge Eric Davis announced Tuesday that he was appointing Delaware litigator John Elzufon to oversee the investigation into whether Fox News followed discovery demands.
Last week, Davis sanctioned Fox and its parent company Fox Corp. for not turning over evidence in a timely fashion. It was then that Davis acknowledged that he was considering a special master. On Tuesday morning, that is exactly what happened.
"We do have — the judge appointed today, a special master, by the way, that could continue," said Weissmann during an MSNBC appearance.
It prompted host Nicolle Wallace to ask if that could have been an incentive for Fox News to settle.
"Well, absolutely," he agreed. "Worst case scenario, we don't know if this is the case, the worst case scenario, the special master has free rein to take depositions anew. And on Fox's dime. And that means the worst case is that was not inadvertent that somebody said, 'we're not producing this,' or 'we're going to produce this late in the day.'
"I think there are ethical lawyers involved and I think when they would hear about that I'm pretty sure they would say, I'm not losing my Bar ticket over this. But that doesn't mean there aren't people at Fox who are deliberately keeping stuff away from Dominion. If that's the case, just to be clear, that's a crime. To obstruct the case."
Wallace mentioned another lawsuit filed by former Fox News staffer Abby Grossberg who claimed Fox's lawyers coerced her into giving misleading testimony in the Dominion case.
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