Dominion Voting Systems has sued the Fox Corporation in a push for access to company Chairman Rupert Murdoch's documents to determine how much control he and his son, Fox Corp. Chief Executive officer Lachlan Murdoch, had over the coverage of the aftermath of the 2020 presidential election.
Dominion had already sued Fox News in March, but in its latest lawsuit, filed this week in Delaware state court, the company alleges the Fox Corporation did not search or produce the Murdochs' documents, Bloomberg reported.
The voting machine company is alleging the Murdochs were involved in their network's broadcasts of claims it allegedly conspired with hackers from other countries to flip the race from then-President Donald Trump to then-candidate Joe Biden.
"Indeed, Fox News has disclaimed any responsibility for searching or producing the Murdochs' documents, or working to facilitate any discovery from Fox Corporation at all — despite Fox Corporation's clear involvement (through Rupert and Lachlan Murdoch, and others) in managing Fox News, including through editorial input and control," Dominion said.
The company said the searches are warranted because of how the Murdochs "exert direct control" of Fox News' editorial decisions. Dominion claims Fox News pushed the conspiracy theory to keep from losing Trump supporters as viewers.
The claims had been made during interviews by former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani, who was one of Trump's main attorneys fighting about the election results, and Sidney Powell, a former Trump campaign attorney.
The lawsuit also noted the reported friendship between Rupert Murdoch and Trump, Forbes reported.
Further, Dominion points out The Wall Street Journal, also owned by Murdoch, rejected the fraud claims while Fox News pushed them, according to Forbes. The lawsuit alleges this is further evidence the Murdochs knew the reports on Fox News were false.
The lawsuit also alleges Fox News also changed its website – after Dominion first sued the network in March – so the Murdochs were not named as part of the network's executive staff.
Fox Corp., in a statement to Bloomberg, said the latest filing "changes nothing of substance in this case. Fox is proud of our 2020 election coverage, which stands in the highest tradition of American journalism, and we will continue to vigorously defend against this baseless lawsuit in court."
Fox News has filed a motion to dismiss Dominion's March lawsuit, claiming the network's reporting on claims of election fraud are protected by the First Amendment.
Sandy Fitzgerald ✉
Sandy Fitzgerald has more than three decades in journalism and serves as a general assignment writer for Newsmax covering news, media, and politics.
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