A voting technology company suing Fox News arguing that fox The leaders of the Corp. with Rupert and Lachlan Murdoch playing the lead roles in the film false claims that technology helped “steal” the 2020 presidential election from former President Donald Trump.
Smartmatic said that the Murdochs, as the ultimate authority of the network’s corporate parent, “are ruled Fox News Network to embrace disinformation after the 2020 US election as a business decision. “
“Rupert and Lachlan Murdoch were front and center in the decision to cover up and facilitate the disinformation campaign published by Fox. NEwS after the 2020 US election,” said Smartmatic in its filing last Monday, part of its defamation case against the top-rated conservative network.
Fox News and Fox Corp. did not immediately respond. messages sent Tuesday to comment on the claims, which are based on news reports and the filing of a separate defamation lawsuit against the network of a voting machine manufacturer, Dominion Voting Systems.
In a recent unsealed filing in the case of Dominion, Rupert Murdoch acknowledged that he did not stop various commentators on Fox News from promoting baseless claims from Trump allies that the election was stolen, although he could have. He also acknowledged that some of the network’s hosts — Lou Dobbs, Maria Bartiromo, Jeanine Pirro and Sean Hannity — sometimes endorsed false claims.
Some of the network’s biggest stars have also privately expressed disbelief at the claims made by Trump’s allies, but broadcast the claims anyway. “Sydney Powell is lying,” Fox News host Tucker Carlson said in a text to a producer, referring to one of the lawyers pushing the claims for Trump. Host Laura Ingraham texted Carlson that Powell was a “total nut.”
Additional filings in Dominion’s $1.6 billion defamation lawsuit against Fox are still expected.
Federal and state election officialsunabridged reviews on the battlefield state and Trump’s attorney general found no widespread fraud which can change the outcome of the 2020 election. They also discovered no credible evidence that the vote was tainted. Trump’s allegations of fraud is also completely rejected by dozens of courtsincluding the judges appointed by him.
Smartmatic says its technology is being used only in Los Angeles County during the 2020 election. Yet Fox News is back and forth gave a platform to Trump’s lawyers to dismiss Smartmatic as an election fraud specialist involved in a technological conspiracy to rig votes for Trump or transfer them to Democrat Joe Biden in several battleground states.
Fox News said it only reported newsworthy claims made by the president and his lawyers. The network said its hosts sometimes asked lawyers about evidence to support their claims, which was never provided.
After Smartmatic asking for a retractionFox News ran an interview with an election technology expert who shot down allegations of fraud.
Smartmatic claimed that the Murdochs “participated in, encouraged, played a positive role, approved and were responsible for the broadcasting and dissemination of defamatory reports,” despite knowing they were false. The Murdochs participated in meetings about the coverage, instructed Fox News CEO Suzanne Scott on its message and tone, and did not object when the segments aired, Smartmatic said.
Like Dominion, Smartmatic argued that Fox News was behind the false narrative of voting fraud. win back the pro-Trump viewers who turned to opposing conservative news outlets after Fox, correctly, declared on election night that Biden had won Arizona.
Rupert Murdoch is the chairman of Fox Corp. and the founder of the news network; his son Lachlan is the chief executive of Fox Corp.
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