Fox Corp. Chairman Rupert Murdoch can be forced to testify in the Fox News defamation trial scheduled to start on April 17, a judge said Wednesday.
Dominion Voting Systems filed a $1.6 billion defamation suit against Fox News in the wake of the 2020 presidential election, after network hosts and guests pushed false conspiracy theories linking Dominion to voter fraud. Fox News, which contends it was just reporting on the conspiracies rather than presenting them as factual, submitted a letter on Tuesday with the names of potential witnesses, including hosts Sean Hannity, Tucker Carlson, and Maria Bartiromo and Fox News Chief Executive Suzanne Scott; Rupert Murdoch and his son, Fox Corp. CEO Lachlan Murdoch, were not on the list.
On Wednesday, Dominion submitted a letter to Judge Eric Davis of Delaware Superior Court, who is overseeing the trial, writing that Fox News previously said the Murdochs could be compelled to give in-person testimony. In response, Davis said if Dominion issues a subpoena for Rupert Murdoch or any other corporate officer, he "would not quash it" and "would compel them to come." Dominion and Fox News have both "made these witnesses very relevant," he added.
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Fox News had argued that Rupert Murdoch and other network executives didn't need to testify because they already gave filmed depositions, and in a statement Wednesday, a Fox Corp. spokesperson said Dominion "demanding witnesses who had nothing to do with the challenged broadcasts is just the latest example of their political crusade in search of a financial windfall."
During the discovery process, emails and messages from Fox News hosts and executives were made public, showing that privately, many didn't believe in the conspiracies about voter fraud being peddled, and mocked the people pushing them; host Tucker Carlson, for example, called Sidney Powell, a lawyer for former President Donald Trump, a "complete nut."
-
White House fires new CDC head amid agency exodusSpeed Read CDC Director Susan Monarez was ousted after butting heads with HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. over vaccines
-
Twelfth Night or What You Will: a 'riotous' late-summer jamboreeThe Week Recommends Robin Belfield's 'carnivalesque' new staging at Shakespeare's Globe is 'joyfully tongue-in-cheek'
-
August 28 editorial cartoonsCartoons Thursday’s political cartoons include Taylor Swift's wedding bells, Donald Trump's objections to mail-in voting, and thoughts and prayers
-
New York court tosses Trump's $500M fraud fineSpeed Read A divided appeals court threw out a hefty penalty against President Trump for fraudulently inflating his wealth
-
Trump said to seek government stake in IntelSpeed Read The president and Intel CEO Lip-Bu Tan reportedly discussed the proposal at a recent meeting
-
Switzerland could experience unique economic problems from Trump's tariffsIn the Spotlight The current US tariff rate on Switzerland is among the highest in the world
-
US to take 15% cut of AI chip sales to ChinaSpeed Read Nvidia and AMD will pay the Trump administration 15% of their revenue from selling artificial intelligence chips to China
-
Jaguar's Adrian Mardell steps down: a Maga maulingSpeed Read Jaguar Land Rover had come under fire for 'woke' advertising campaign
-
NFL gets ESPN stake in deal with DisneySpeed Read The deal gives the NFL a 10% stake in Disney's ESPN sports empire and gives ESPN ownership of NFL Network
-
Is Trump's tariffs plan working?Today's Big Question Trump has touted 'victories', but inflation is the 'elephant in the room'
-
Samsung to make Tesla chips in $16.5B dealSpeed Read Tesla has signed a deal to get its next-generation chips from Samsung
