Sean Hannity (screen capture)Rupert Murdoch, chairman of Fox News, testified under oath that Fox News promoted false election claims on air despite loads of evidence indicating that many of the network’s hosts knew the claims made by then-President Donald Trump and his surrogates to be false.
Murdoch gave his testimony in regard to Dominion Voting System’s defamation lawsuit against Fox News. Dominion is seeking $1.6 billion in damages against the right-leaning cable news outlet.
Asked directly about Fox hosts Sean Hannity, Jeanine Pirro, Lou Dobbs and Maria Bartiromo, Murdoch admitted they had pushed a false narrative.
From Mediaite:
According to a copy of the filing obtained by Mediaite, Murdoch admitted in a deposition last month that false election claims were promoted by top hosts at the cable news network.
“They endorsed,” Murdoch said. “I would have liked us to be stronger in denouncing it in hindsight.”
When asked if he could have told Fox to stop inviting Trump lawyers Sydney Powell and Rudy Giuliani on the air, Murdoch replied: “I could have. But I didn’t.”
Murdoch also admitted under oath that Fox News aided Trump’s campaign by sharing Biden television ads with Trump son-in-law Jared Kushner before they hit the air.
There’s much more at Mediaite.
In December, Sean Hannity reportedly testified about the false election claims: “I did not believe it for one second.” And yet, he allowed Trump’s people to come on his show and spew their lies without pushback.
Rupert Murdoch acknowledged in his deposition that numerous Fox hosts had “endorsed at times this false notion of a stolen election.” pic.twitter.com/tCBZL9Uyxw
— Matthew Gertz (@MattGertz) February 27, 2023
Rupert Murdoch gave Trump son-in-law/aide Jared Kushner access to “Fox confidential information about Biden’s ads,” apparently showing them to him before they were public. pic.twitter.com/NqOsIw1yJe
— Matthew Gertz (@MattGertz) February 27, 2023
In a Jan. 12 email, Rupert tells Paul Ryan the insurrection was a “Wake-up call for Hannity, who has been privately disgusted by Trump for weeks, but was scared to lose viewers.” pic.twitter.com/Z0KTg9aBCw
— Matthew Gertz (@MattGertz) February 27, 2023
"I did not believe it for one second." That's Sean Hannity, talking about the Big Lie in his deposition in the $1.6 billion defamation suit against Fox News by Dominion. https://t.co/wK220Uuhla
— Jeremy W. Peters (@jwpetersNYT) December 21, 2022