Fox hosts didn't believe Trump 2020 election fraud claims – Rupert Murdoch called it 'crazy stuff'

Rupert Murdoch and Fox News hosts expressed disbelief successful erstwhile President Donald Trump's mendacious predetermination fraud claims, according to grounds released from Dominion Voting Systems' $1.6 cardinal lawsuit against Fox Corp and its cable-TV networks.  

In tribunal papers filed Thursday, substance messages and testimony from depositions amusement that Fox executives and TV personalities were skeptical astir claims that the predetermination betwixt the victorious Joe Biden, a Democrat, and Trump, a Republican. 

The merchandise follows months of find and depositions that person remained backstage until Thursday, erstwhile the companies filed tribunal papers earlier a Delaware justice laying retired each of their cases and unveiling precocious gathered evidence. 

Dominion brought the defamation suit against Fox and its close helping cablegram networks, Fox News and Fox Business, arguing the networks and its anchors made mendacious claims that its voting machines rigged the results of the 2020 election. 

"Really brainsick stuff. And damaging," Fox Corp Chairman Rupert Murdoch said successful an email connected Nov. 19, days aft the election, regarding claims Trump lawyer Rudy Giuliani was making connected Fox News. 

Top Fox News anchors similar Sean Hannity, Tucker Carlson and Laura Ingraham expressed disbelief successful what Sydney Powell, a pro-Trump attorney who had aggressively promoted claims of predetermination fraud, had said astatine the time, too. 

"Sydney Powell is lying," Tucker Carlson said successful a substance connection to his producer. Meanwhile Laura Ingraham said successful a connection to Carlson: "Sidney is simply a implicit nut. No 1 volition enactment with her. Ditto with Rudy."

"It's unbelievably violative to me. Our viewers are bully radical and they judge it," Carlson responded, according to tribunal papers. These messages came successful the weeks pursuing the election. 

Dominion said successful tribunal papers that Fox admitted that Hannity and Lou Dobbs' shows did not "challenge the narrative" that Dominion was liable for rigging the predetermination oregon producing inaccurate results. 

On Thursday, some Fox Corp and Fox News besides filed their ain motions for summary judgment. Fox Corp, which saw its propulsion to person the lawsuit dismissed denied by the court, said successful tribunal papers that pursuing a twelvemonth of discovery, the grounds successful the lawsuit shows it had "no relation successful the instauration and work of the challenged statements – each of which aired connected either Fox Business Network oregon Fox News Channel." 

In caller months Murdoch, arsenic good arsenic his lad Lachlan Murdoch, the Fox Corp CEO, faced depositions arsenic portion of the lawsuit. 

Fox News said erstwhile again successful tribunal papers that it "fulfilled its committedness to pass afloat and remark fairly," connected the claims that Dominion rigged the predetermination against Trump. 

"There volition beryllium a batch of sound and disorder generated by Dominion and their opportunistic backstage equity owners, but the halfway of this lawsuit remains astir state of the property and state of speech, which are cardinal rights afforded by the Constitution and protected by New York Times v. Sullivan," Fox said successful a connection issued Thursday. 

A Dominion spokesperson didn't remark and its private-equity owner, Staple Street Capital, didn't respond to comment. 

"Here, however, overwhelming nonstop grounds establishes Fox's cognition of falsity, not conscionable 'doubts,'" Dominion said successful tribunal papers Thursday, pointing to aggregate defamatory statements. 

Dominion pointed to the assemblage backlash Fox News faced connected the 2020 predetermination nighttime erstwhile it called Arizona for Joe Biden, aboriginal seeing competing close helping networks similar Newsmax instrumentality vantage of the opening with the audience. 

Dominion's findings constituent to hosts including Carlson, Ingraham and Sean Hannity knowing "the menace to them personally." Dominion points to messages Carlson sent to his shaper connected Nov. 5, "We worked truly hard to physique what we have. Those f----ers are destroying our credibility. It enrages me." 

The lawsuit is being watched intimately by First Amendment watchdogs and experts. Libel lawsuits are typically centered astir 1 falsehood. In this lawsuit Dominion cites a lengthy database of examples of Fox TV hosts making mendacious claims adjacent aft they were proven to beryllium untrue. Media companies are often broadly protected by the First Amendment. 

These cases are typically settled retired of tribunal oregon dismissed. But the Delaware justice overseeing the lawsuit has dismissed specified requests. The proceedings is slated to statesman successful mid-April. 

Last week, during a presumption conference, Dominion's lawyer called retired concerns that immoderate evidence, specified arsenic committee gathering minutes and the results of searches of idiosyncratic drives, had yet to beryllium produced by Fox and its TV networks.