Fox News CEO Admits Channel Hosts Spread False Information About Alleged Voter Fraud

By Jane C. Timm, Jason Abbruzzese and Kevin Collier -

News Corp. Chief Executive Rupert Murdoch has acknowledged refusing to rein in Fox News anchors who spread false information about alleged voter fraud in the days after the 2020 election, despite privately saying he had little evidence to prove it. support the claims of then-President Donald Trump, according to court documents unsealed Monday.

Murdoch, 91, also admitted that he found the fraud allegations "lies" and "harmful."

A television plays a press conference by then-President Donald Trump at the Fox News studios in New York, in a file photo dated February 17, 2017. Drew Angerer / Getty Images

Fox News was "trying to cross the line between spewing conspiracy theories on the one hand, and calling attention to the fact that they were actually false on the other," the magnate justified when testifying in the lawsuit that the maker of video machines Dominion Voting Systems filed against Fox News filed in March 2021.

Dominion is demanding $1.6 billion from the cable channel in compensation for spreading "lies" that "profoundly hurt" its business.

Fox News has defended its coverage of the 2020 presidential election, calling the lawsuit "baseless."

Murdoch admitted in his statement that some of the presenters, such as Sean Hannity, Lou Dobbs and Maria Bartiromo, had done more than give voice to unsubstantiated allegations of voter fraud.

"Yes," Murdoch said, asked about the question.

They "supported" the fraud allegations, he added.

He also conceded that allowing the CEO of pillow manufacturing company MyPillow, conspiracy theorist Mike Lindell, to talk about theft at the polls was a purely business decision.

[A judge rules that Trump lied when denouncing alleged electoral fraud in 2020]

The court documents containing the Murdoch's testimony were released less than two weeks after a court filing uncovered communications from many Fox News executives, anchors and producers who believed the information provided by Dominion was unsubstantiated.

Among other things, those statements revealed how Fox News' decision to attribute victory in Arizona to then-Democratic candidate Joe Biden sparked a backlash among its viewers, deeply concerned network executives about the impact it could have on your business.

The testimonials also revealed that some Fox News executives were growing concerned about the way the network handled allegations of voter fraud in the days after the election.

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“Hannity is getting terribly close to the [red] line with her comment and her guests tonight,” Viet Dinh, Fox Corp. legal and policy director, told Fox News and Fox Corp. executives on Nov. 5, 2020. .

Murdoch also confirmed that he could have exercised more control over the network, most notably by ordering Fox News CEO Suzanne Scott to stop putting Giuliani on screen.

"I could have done it (...) But I didn't," she said, according to court documents.

Murdoch's testimony also offered a new version of his relationship with Trump's son-in-law and adviser, Jared Kushner, to whom he provided "Fox confidential information" about Joe Biden's ads, as well as the debate strategy, the magnate acknowledged. .

However, Murdoch did not help him on election night.

When Fox News determined that Biden had won Arizona, Kushner called him to protest, Murdoch said.

“My friend Jared Kushner called me saying, 'This is terrible,' and I could hear Trump's voice in the background yelling,” Murdoch testified.

"And I said, 'Well, the numbers are the numbers.'"