Top Democrats pressure Murdoch, Fox News over false election fraud claims

Two apical Democrats successful Congress are calling connected Fox Corp Chairman Rupert Murdoch and the enactment of Fox News "to halt spreading mendacious predetermination narratives and admit connected the aerial that they were incorrect to prosecute successful specified negligent behavior."

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, some Democrats from New York, sent a missive this week to Murdoch and Fox News leadership. The missive comes days aft further revelations successful Dominion Voting Systems' $1.6 cardinal defamation lawsuit against Fox Corp and its TV networks.

"As noted successful your deposition released yesterday Tucker Carlson, Sean Hannity, Laura Ingraham, and different Fox News personalities knowingly, repeatedly, and dangerously endorsed and promoted the Big Lie that Donald Trump won the 2020 statesmanlike election," the lawmakers wrote successful the letter, which was released Wednesday.

Trump has repeatedly dispersed mendacious claims that the predetermination was stolen from him. His attempts to unit a apical authoritative successful Georgia to "find" votes for him are the taxable of a transgression probe successful that state, which Trump mislaid to Democrat Joe Biden.

Earlier this week, Dominion filed tribunal papers that revealed parts of the testimony from Murdoch and different apical Fox Corp leadership. In his deposition, Murdoch acknowledged that immoderate of Fox's apical TV hosts endorsed mendacious predetermination fraud claims.

When Murdoch was asked if helium was "now alert that Fox endorsed astatine times this mendacious conception of a stolen election," Murdoch responded, "Not Fox, no. Not Fox. But possibly Lou Dobbs, possibly Maria [Bartiromo] arsenic commentators," according to tribunal papers.

"Some of our commentators were endorsing it," Murdoch said successful his responses regarding predetermination fraud during the deposition. "They endorsed." Murdoch and different apical Fox executives besides remained adjacent to Fox News CEO Suzanne Scott during the predetermination coverage, according to the tribunal papers.

A typical for Fox didn't instantly respond to petition for comment.

On Monday, erstwhile the tribunal papers were filed, a Fox News typical said successful a connection that Dominion mischaracterized the facts by cherry-picking soundbites: "When Dominion is not mischaracterizing the law, it is mischaracterizing the facts."

Dominion sued the right-wing cablegram networks, Fox News and Fox Business, and its genitor company, arguing the networks and its apical anchors made mendacious claims that Dominion's voting machines rigged the results of the 2020 election. Fox News has consistently denied that it knowingly made mendacious claims astir the election.

In tribunal papers filed successful February, the genitor institution said that the past twelvemonth of find has shown Fox Corp. played "no relation successful the instauration and work of the challenged statements – each of which aired connected either Fox Business Network oregon Fox News Channel."

Murdoch and his son, Fox CEO Lachlan Murdoch, successful summation to Fox's main ineligible and argumentation serviceman Viet Dinh and Paul Ryan, the erstwhile Republican talker of the House and a Fox committee member, person each been questioned successful caller months.

The revelations that person travel retired successful tribunal papers successful caller weeks stem from months of find and depositions. Top Fox TV personalities, including Tucker Carlson and Sean Hannity, also faced questioning.

The faces of Fox News and Fox Business besides expressed disbelief successful Sidney Powell, a pro-Trump lawyer who aggressively promoted claims of predetermination fraud astatine the time, according to tribunal papers. Ryan said that "these conspiracy theories were baseless," and that the web "should labour to dispel conspiracy theories if and erstwhile they popular up."

The suit has been closed watched by First Amendment watchdogs and experts. Libel lawsuits typically absorption connected 1 falsehood, but successful this lawsuit Dominion cites a lengthy database of examples of Fox TV hosts marque mendacious claims adjacent aft they were proven to beryllium untrue. Media companies are often broadly protected by the First Amendment. Fox News has said successful earlier statements "the halfway of this lawsuit remains astir state of the property and state of speech."

A presumption league is slated for adjacent week, portion the proceedings is acceptable to statesman successful mid-April.

Read the missive below:

Dear Mr. Rupert Murdoch et al:

As noted successful your deposition released yesterday Tucker Carlson, Sean Hannity, Laura Ingraham, and different Fox News personalities knowingly, repeatedly, and dangerously endorsed and promoted the Big Lie that Donald Trump won the 2020 statesmanlike election. Though you person acknowledged your regret successful allowing this sedate propaganda to instrumentality place, your web hosts proceed to promote, spew, and perpetuate predetermination conspiracy theories to this day.

The enactment of your institution was alert of the dangers of broadcasting these outlandish claims. By your ain account, Donald Trump's predetermination lies were "damaging" and "really brainsick stuff." Despite that shocking admission, Fox News hosts person continued to peddle predetermination denialism to the American people.

This sets a unsafe precedent that ignores basal journalistic fact-checking principles and nationalist accountability. This is adjacent much alarming aft Speaker McCarthy is reportedly allowing Tucker Carlson to reappraisal highly delicate information camera footage of the events surrounding the convulsive January 6 insurrection.

We request that you nonstop Tucker Carlson and different hosts connected your web to halt spreading mendacious predetermination narratives and admit connected the aerial that they were incorrect to prosecute successful specified negligent behavior.

As evidenced by the January 6 insurrection, spreading this mendacious propaganda could not lone embolden supporters of the Big Lie to prosecute successful further acts of governmental violence, but besides profoundly and broadly weakens religion successful our ideology and hurts our state successful countless different ways.

Fox News executives and each different hosts connected your web person a wide choice. You tin proceed a signifier of lying to your viewers and risking ideology oregon determination beyond this damaging section successful your company's past by siding with the information and reporting the facts. We inquire that you marque definite Fox News ceases disseminating the Big Lie and different predetermination conspiracy theories connected your network.