The top two Democrats in Congress are calling for Fox Corp President Rupert Murdoch and Fox News management “stop spreading false election stories and admit on television that they were wrong to engage in such negligent conduct.”
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, both Democrats from New York, sent a letter this week to leader Murdoch and Fox News. The letter arrived a few days later reveal more in the Dominion Electoral System‘ $1.6 billion defamation lawsuit against Fox Corp and its television networks.
“As noted in your affidavit released yesterday, Tucker Carlson, Sean Hannity, Laura Ingraham, and other Fox News personalities have knowingly, repeatedly, and dangerously endorsed as well as promote the Big Lie that Donald Trump has won the 2020 presidential election,” the lawmakers wrote in the letter, released on Wednesday.
Trump has repeatedly falsely claimed that the election was stolen from him. His efforts to pressure a top official in Georgia to “seek” his vote were the subject of a criminal investigation in that state, to which Trump lost to Democrat Joe Biden.
Earlier this week, Dominion filed court papers that reveal parts of testimony from Murdoch and other top Fox Corp executives. In his testimony, Murdoch admitted that some of Fox’s top TV hosts endorsed false claims of election fraud.
When Murdoch was asked if he “knows that sometimes Fox espouses the misconception of a stolen election,” Murdoch replied, “Not Fox, no. Not Fox. But it could be Lou Dobbs, possibly Maria [Bartiromo] as a commentator,” according to court papers.
“Some of our commentators have endorsed that,” Murdoch said in his response regarding election fraud during the impeachment process. “They agreed.” Murdoch and other top Fox executives also remained close to Fox News CEO Suzanne Scott during coverage of the election, according to court documents.
A representative for Fox did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
On Monday, when the court papers were filed, a Fox News representative said in a statement that Dominion misrepresented the facts by selectively sounding: “When Dominion did not misrepresent the law , it’s a misrepresentation.”
Dominion sued the right-wing cable networks, Fox News and Fox Business, as well as its parent company, arguing that the networks and their top hosts made false claims that the Dominion’s vote rigged the results of the 2020 election. Fox News has repeatedly denied that it knowingly made false statements about the election.
In court papers filed in February, the parent company said that the past year of findings showed that Fox Corp. “played no role in the creation and publication of the challenged statements – all of which were broadcast on Fox Business Network or the Fox News Channel.”
Murdoch and his son, Lachlan Murdoch, CEO of Fox, along with Fox’s chief legal and policy officer Viet Dinh and Paul Ryan, former Republican speaker of the House and board member of Fox, have all been questioned in recent months.
The revelations made in court papers in recent weeks stem from months of discovery and deposition. Fox TV’s top personalities, including Tucker Carlson and Sean Hannity, also faced with the question.
The faces of Fox News and Fox Business also expressed distrust of Sidney Powell, a pro-Trump attorney who actively promoted allegations of election fraud at the time, according to documents by Fox News. court. Ryan said that “these conspiracy theories are baseless” and that the network “should work to dispel conspiracy theories if and when they appear.”
The case was closed by First Amendment watchdogs and experts. The defamation lawsuits often focus on one wrongful act, but in this case, Dominion cites a long list of examples of Fox TV hosts making false claims even after when they are proven to be untrue. Media companies are generally widely protected by the First Amendment. Fox News said in earlier statements “the core of this case remains about freedom of the press and freedom of expression.”
A status conference is expected next week, while testing will begin in mid-April.
Read the letter below:
Dear Mr. Rupert Murdoch and associates:
As noted in your deposition released yesterday, Tucker Carlson, Sean Hannity, Laura Ingraham and other Fox News personalities have knowingly, repeatedly, and dangerously endorsed as well as promote the Big Lie that Donald Trump won the 2020 presidential election. Although you’ve admitted your regrets for allowing this egregious propaganda operation, the organizers Your network organization continues to promote, spread, and perpetuate election conspiracy theories to this day.
Your company’s management is already aware of the dangers of making these outrageous claims. According to your own account, Donald Trump’s election lies were “a harmful thing” and a “really crazy thing.” Despite that shocking admission, Fox News hosts continue to sell election denialism to the American people.
This sets a dangerous precedent that ignores basic fact-checking principles of journalism and public accountability. This was made even more alarming after Speaker McCarthy allegedly allowed Tucker Carlson to review highly sensitive security camera footage of the events surrounding the January 6 violent uprising.
We ask you to direct Tucker Carlson and other hosts on your network to stop spreading false election stories and to admit on television that they were wrong to engage in careless conduct. so.
As evidenced by the January 6 uprising, this spread of false propaganda not only encouraged supporters of the Big Lie to engage in further acts of political violence, but also deeply weakened widespread faith in our democracy and harms our country in countless other ways.
The CEO of Fox News and all the other hosts on your network have the obvious choice. You can continue your pattern of deceiving your audience and risking democracy, or pass this damaging chapter in your company history by siding with the truth and reporting the truth. We ask that you ensure that Fox News stops spreading the Big Lie and other election conspiracy theories on your network.
