A Delaware court just denied Fox News’ motion to dismiss Dominion Voting Systems’ billion-dollar defamation case over the network’s lies about voter fraud in the 2020 election. And now, the network that couldn’t stop hyperventilating about Hillary Clinton’s emails could have a multi-billion-dollar email problem of its own contained in the emails of Rupert Murdoch and Lachlan Murdoch.
Last month, I wrote for Crooks and Liars about Dominion Voting Systems extending its legal action to Fox Corp., the parent company of Fox News, in order to combat stonewalling about the Murdochs’ role(s) in promoting the lie that Dominion voting machines rigged the election. You probably recall that Dominion and Smartmatic had already sued Fox over its election lies to the tune of $1.6 billion and $2.7 billion, respectively.
It’s not clear to me if Smartmatic joined the second lawsuit but, according to Reuters, the two are seeking emails from the Murdoch father and son.
Smartmatic and Dominion are seeking communications from Fox Corp Chairman Rupert Murdoch and his son Lachlan, the company's executive chairman and chief executive, to help prove that Fox News either knew statements it aired were false, or acted with reckless disregard for whether they were true or false.
Legal experts think it’s unprecedented to try to hold top executives responsible for what their guests and hosts say on the air, Reuters reported. But since other Fox News coverage refuted the lies, as did Murdoch-controlled newspapers, the Wall Street Journal and the New York Post, Dominion and Smartmatic think that’s evidence that Fox News was pushing disinformation the Murdochs knew or should have known was false.
Fox moved to have the two lawsuits dismissed. Moments ago, Law & Crime reported that Fox's motion was denied in the Dominion case. “If the plaintiff offers ‘some direct evidence’ that the statement ‘was probably false,’ the Court can infer that the defendant ‘inten[ded] to avoid the truth,'” the judge said.
Which means that the quest for the Murdochs’ emails will go forward. More from Reuters:
Dominion said in a September court filing that it has requested internal Fox News documents, including emails, text messages, and notes exchanged between employees who produced segments about Dominion. An unnamed Fox representative testified on Dec. 8 about the company's internal communications systems.
I would like nothing better than to see the Murdochs be forced to pay up bigly for the lies they promoted that also helped pave the way for the January 6th insurrection. The lies continue with the network’s dishonest recasting of those events. In naming the January 6 lies the 2021 Lie of the Year, PolitiFact noted that they pose a bigger threat to our democracy than the actual insurrection.
The fact that the Murdochs’ emails could be the smoking gun would just make it all the sweeter. I’ll bet Hillary Clinton would agree.
(Murdoch image via screen grab)
My definition of beer mats is that they are table coasters and the idea of maga-flavoured mats was just as disgusting as the mats found in bars after years of absorbing spilled beer and disgusting liquids that I won’t mention. Snail bait refers to arsenic-containing nuggets.
While the former are of no conceivable use to anyone, the latter give me a chance to eat my salads fresh from the garden.
Now, I’d never heard of beer mat being a synonym for door mat: that would of course make them useful. Especially after stepping in dog doodoo.
I Googled beer mat and got a table coaster or door mat, and snail bait is pesticide. Correct or something more?
PS to John McKee: those beer mats sound awful. How about making snail bait instead?
Big enough for the Murdochs and all they’ve got
Keep it boiling for a hundred years or more
Turn out magat flavoured beer-mats by the score.
