Former US President Donald Trump, who announced a third run for the presidency in 2024, hosts a New Year’s Eve party at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Palm Beach, Florida on December 31, 2022.
Marco Bello | reuters
within hours of being vandalized by a violent mob US Capital On January 6, 2021, Fox Corp. executives vetoed former President Donald Trump’s attempt to appear on the network’s broadcasts, according to Court documents filed on Thursday,
The documents allege the former president dialed into on-air personality Lou Dobbs’ show on the afternoon of January 6, but officials shut down Trump’s attempts to get on the air.
“Fox declined to air President Trump that evening because ‘putting him on the air would be irresponsible’ and ‘could affect too many people in a negative way,'” the filing said.
The documents were released publicly for the first time this week as part of Dominion Voting Systems. $1.6 billion lawsuit against Fox Corporation and its cable TV network. Dominion filed a defamation lawsuit against Fox and its right-wing cable networks, Fox News and Fox Business, arguing that the network and its anchors made false claims that the company’s voting machines rigged the results of the 2020 election. The lawsuit is pending in Delaware Superior Court.
Dominion, Fox Corp and Fox News filed their motion for summary judgment this week, which disclosed months of discovery and evidence from depositions that had been private until this point. Fox News anchor, as well Top Fox Corp Brass including Rupert Murdoch and Lachlan Murdoch, were inquired in recent months.
The evidence also showed that top Fox News anchors, including Tucker Carlson, Sean Hannity and Laura Ingraham Expressed disbelief on the claims of fraud is being made against the Dominion that it rigged the election. The anchors specifically cast doubt on claims of fraud by pro-Trump attorney Sidney Powell and Trump’s attorney Rudy Giuliani.
According to the documents, Ingraham said in a message to Carlson: “Sydney is a complete nut. No one will work with him. Same with Rudy.”
Fox and its network have vehemently denied the claims. In court papers on Thursday, Fox Corp said it “had no role in the creation and publication of the challenged statements – all of which aired on Fox Business Network or Fox News Channel.”
Meanwhile, Fox News reiterated in court papers that Dominion “fulfilled its commitment to fully inform and comment objectively” on the election rigging claims against Trump.
“Much noise and confusion will be generated by Dominion and their opportunistic private equity owners, but the core of the matter is about freedom of the press and freedom of speech, which are fundamental rights guaranteed by the Constitution and protected by New York. Times v. Sullivan,” Fox said in a statement released Thursday.
Dominion said in court papers that Fox and its hosts felt the pressure of audience reaction on election night in 2020 when it called the state of Arizona for Biden. This pressure was evident in text messages between Fox’s top personalities in the weeks following the election, which continued through January 6.
The night before January 6, Rupert Murdoch told Fox News CEO Suzanne Scott, “It has been suggested that all three of our prime time hosts should independently or together say something like ‘the election is over and Joe Biden Won,” according to court papers. Saying so “would go a long way to bust the myth of Trump that the election was stolen,” he said.
On the evening of January 6, Carlson sent a message to his producer, calling Trump “a demonic force. A destroyer. But he’s not going to destroy us,” court papers show.
The trial has been closely followed by First Amendment watchdogs and experts who point out that defamation lawsuits often center around a lie, but in this case, Dominion cites a long list of examples of the Fox TV host’s false claims. , even if they have been proven to be untrue. Media companies are often widely protected by the First Amendment.
The trial is expected to begin in mid-April.