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Details from a recent deposition of conservative media mogul Rupert Murdoch show him admitting that he knew Fox News hosts were pushing disinformation about the 2020 presidential election.
According to reports, Murdoch made the admission during a deposition last month as part of a $1.6 billion defamation lawsuit brought against Fox News by Dominion Voting Systems. “They endorsed,” he said when asked directly about those false claims supporting former President Donald Trump’s claim that the election was “stolen” made by Sean Hannity, Lou Dobbs, Maria Baritromo, and Jeanine Pirro.
“I would have liked us to be stronger in denouncing it in hindsight,” he continued, saying that he could’ve stopped the further advancement of those false claims about Dominion through appearances by Rudy Giuliani on Fox News programs, “But I didn’t.”Part of Dominion’s lawsuit alleges that the upper-level execs at Fox News allowed the deception to take place because of their fears that viewers would then leave them behind and turn to competitors such as Newsmax and OANN who were more avid supporters of Trump.
The 91-year-old was pressed by lawyers representing Dominion if he doubted Trump’s claims. “Yes. I mean, we thought everything was on the up-and-up.”, he said. He followed that up by denying that the network was fully behind endorsing those falsehoods. “Not Fox,” he said. “No. Not Fox.” Dominion has alleged that whatever pushback was present was lukewarm, even suggesting that Trump took some direction from what the network was dictating in terms of his actions.
The filing is the latest damning revelation from the case that the voting system brought against Fox News, with a monthlong trial set for April 17th by a Delaware court judge. The evidence accumulated bolsters Dominion’s claims of defamation to hold up even by the merits of the Supreme Court. Lawyers for Fox on Monday (February 27th) said that they felt that much of what Dominion cited as evidence was relevant. “Dominion’s lawsuit has always been more about what will generate headlines than what can withstand legal and factual scrutiny,” their statement read. Legal observers feel that Murdoch’s testimony under oath makes it more likely that Fox News will look to settle the suit out of court.
