New court documents from the lawsuit by Dominion Voting Systems against Fox News were released on Monday, revealing even more details about the head of the network allegedly prioritizing money over truth.
Reuters reported ahead of the document drop that each side is submitting a filing saying that they oppose the other's motion for summary judgment, which would prevent an actual trial.
"Dominion sued Fox News Networks and parent company Fox Corp in March 2021 and November 2021 in Delaware Superior Court, alleging the cable TV network amplified false claims that Dominion voting machines were used to rig the 2020 election against former President Donald Trump, a Republican who lost to Democratic rival Joe Biden," said the report.
By contrast, Dominion argues that the internal communications and depositions from Fox personnel "prove the network knowingly spread falsehoods about Trump's loss in the 2020 U.S. presidential election in order to bolster its ratings."
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Fox claims that the statements by Trump's lawyers were "newsworthy" and that's why the information was reported. Other networks reported the claims but with a disclaimer that the conspiracies were false or unsubstantiated.
In one excerpt from Rupert Murdoch's deposition, "Rupert confirmed that he could tell FNN to stop running Lindell's advertisements, 'But I'm not about to.' ... and when asked why Fox continues to give a platform to Lindell — who continues to this day to spout lies about Dominion — Murdoch agreed that 'It is not red or blue, it is green." ... Lindell brought—and brings— Fox a lot of green. He also predictably brought the same lies about Dominion to Fox's viewers that had been peddled on Fox's 'alternate reality machine' for months."
At one point, the documents have an exchange between Murdoch and the lawyers where he dodges questions about the network taking the position around the election being stolen.
Question "You are aware now that Fox did more than simply host these guests and give them a platform, correct?"
Murdoch answer: "I think you've shown me some material in support of that."
Question: "In fact, you are now aware that Fox endorsed at times this false notion of a stolen election?"
Murdoch answer: "Not Fox, no. Not Fox. But maybe Lou Dobbs, maybe Maria, as commentators."
Question: "We went through Fox hosts Maria Bartiromo, yes?"
Murdoch answer: "Yes. C'mon."
Question: "Fox host Jeanine Pirro?"
Murdoch answer: "I think so."
Question: "Fox Business host Lou Dobbs?"
Murdoch Answer: "Oh, a lot."
Question: "Fox host Sean Hannity?"
Murdoch: "A bit."
Question: All were in that document; correct?"
Murdoch: "Yes, they were."
Question: "About Fox endorsing the narrative of a stolen election; correct?"
Murdoch: "No. Some of our commentators were endorsing it."
Question: "About their endorsement of a stolen election?"
Murdoch: "Yes. They endorsed."
In a statement emailed to Raw Story after publication of the piece, Fox News said: "Dominion’s lawsuit has always been more about what will generate headlines than what can withstand legal and factual scrutiny, as illustrated by them now being forced to slash their fanciful damages demand by more than half a billion dollars after their own expert debunked its implausible claims. Their summary judgment motion took an extreme, unsupported view of defamation law that would prevent journalists from basic reporting and their efforts to publicly smear FOX for covering and commenting on allegations by a sitting President of the United States should be recognized for what it is: a blatant violation of the First Amendment.”
