Dominion Voting Sues Fox, Seeking Election Evidence From Murdochs
Rupert Murdoch Documents Sought by Dominion in Election Suit
(Bloomberg) -- Dominion Voting Systems Inc., the company falsely accused of rigging the 2020 presidential election, sued Fox Corp. in an effort to gain access to Chairman Rupert Murdoch’s documents about its coverage of the contest.
Dominion is trying to find out how much Murdoch and his eldest son, Fox Corp. Chief Executive Officer Lachlan Murdoch, were involved in Fox News’s broadcasting of bogus claims that Dominion conspired with foreign hackers to flip millions of votes away from then-President Donald Trump.
Dominion sued Fox News in March, but the network has balked at searching the Murdochs’ documents, Dominion said in a suit filed in Delaware state court.
“Indeed, Fox News has disclaimed any responsibility for searching or producing the Murdochs’ documents, or working to facilitate any discovery from Fox Corporation at all -- despite Fox Corporation’s clear involvement (through Rupert and Lachlan Murdoch, and others) in managing Fox News, including through editorial input and control,” Dominion said.
The searches are warranted because the Murdochs “exert direct control” over editorial decisions at Fox News, which Dominion accused of pushing the conspiracy theory to avoid losing viewers who supported Trump, according to the complaint, filed Monday. The claims were repeatedly made on-air by Rudy Giuliani, one of Trump’s main lawyers in the fight to overturn the election results, and former Trump campaign attorney Sidney Powell.
“The filing today changes nothing of substance in this case,” Fox Corp. said in an emailed statement. “Fox is proud of our 2020 election coverage, which stands in the highest tradition of American journalism, and we will continue to vigorously defend against this baseless lawsuit in court.”
Dominion is fighting to salvage its reputation even as millions of Americans continue to believe the conspiracy theory, which helped trigger the deadly Jan. 6 Capitol riot by a mob of Trump’s supporters.
“This lawsuit is a continuation of Dominion’s efforts to hold accountable all Fox entities that participated in the harmful defamation campaign against Dominion,” the Denver-based company said in a statement on Wednesday.
The suit comes as a judge in Delaware is weighing Fox News’s motion to dismiss the earlier lawsuit on the grounds that the network’s reporting on claims about election fraud is protected by the First Amendment.
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