His father - and the media empire's founder - Rupert Murdoch was scheduled to be deposed over two consecutive mornings earlier this month. Judge Davis compelled Fox News and Fox Corp to produce all material that it is required to in discovery by January 9th and a corporate representative and attorney for each will have to certify that it has shared everything necessary.įox Corp boss Lachlan Murdoch, his son, already sat for a deposition in Los Angeles. The judge also addressed concerns raised by Dominion that Fox News and Fox Corp has failed to share the materials it needs to make its case. In an order issued today, Davis combined the two technically separate, but parallel cases Dominion has brought against Fox News and Fox Corp in Delaware. Judge Davis dismissed Smartmatic's request. That case is not as far along in the legal process as Dominion's. Smartmatic is seeking access some of those heavily redacted or confidential documents for potential use in its own defamation case against Fox, filed in a New York court in 2021. And it appears to be readying a defense in part based on convincing a jury that Dominion cannot prove intent on Fox's part or the financial harm to the firm it claims.ĭuring yesterday's nearly three-hour-long hearing, attorneys also debated whether Smartmatic, another voting tech company and a competitor of Dominion, could intervene in the case. It argues the case is an affront to free speech principles. Hannity made similar remarks saying Trump had lost in private texts with his final White House chief of staff, Mark Meadows in this instance, however, Hannity has sworn under oath that he never believed any of the former president's claims.įox says the allegations were about an inherently newsworthy event–the election–made by an inherently newsworthy source, the sitting president. The remarks by Hannity and Cooper appear to help the voting tech firm's legal team construct its case. To win in court, Dominion must build a defamation case showing Fox stars and decision-makers knew these claims of election fraud were lies, but let them be broadcast anyway, or were negligent in disregarding strong warning signs. Liz Cheney read text messages she said Mark Meadows got during the Jan. The Murdochs and Fox stood by the call of Arizona. Trump denounced Fox and millions of his supporters abandoned the network that month. Dominion alleges that was a concerted effort from the top to bottom of Fox to win back viewers after the network was the first to project the key swing state of Arizona for Biden. Those claims were broadcast on conservative media, most prominently Fox News, after Election Night. Dominion alleges it was unjustly damaged by the false claims that its machines were intentionally rerouting Trump's votes for Joe Biden. Hannity gave airtime to election falsehoods he says he didn't believeĭominion Voting Systems' suit against Fox News and its parent company, Fox Corp, is roiling the network, the corporation and the Murdoch family that controls them both. Those sworn interviews took place during what's called the discovery phase of the case, in preparation for trial, which is scheduled for April. "Tucker Carlson, he tried to squirm out of it at his deposition," Shackelford added, and then alluded to the Fox News star's texts from November and December 2020, when Judge Eric Davis cut Shackelford off. Meade Cooper, Fox News' executive vice president, "confirmed under oath she never believed the lies about Dominion," the Dominion attorney, Stephen Shackelford, Jr., also said. "I did not believe it for one second," Hannity testified, according to an attorney for Colorado-based Dominion Voting Systems, who was offering it as a precise quote. While the depositions happened in August, their statements emerged yesterday in a Delaware Superior Court hearing relating to a series of motions by the two sides in the case. Hannity and a top Fox News executive who oversees prime-time programs told a different story about Trump's false claims of fraud under oath and in front of attorneys, during separate depositions in a $1.6 billion defamation suit. On television, Fox News hosts, stars and guests amplified and embraced such wild and false claims, made by Trump, his campaign lawyers and surrogates, presenting them to millions of viewers. That stands in contrast to what played out on some of Fox's biggest shows – including Hannity's. Fox News host Sean Hannity, a close ally of former President Trump, speaks at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) in August 2022.įox News star Sean Hannity – one of former President Donald Trump's strongest allies on the air and one of his closest advisers off it – admitted under oath that he never believed the lie that Trump was cheated of victory in the 2020 presidential election by a voting tech company.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |