President Donald Trump voiced his belief that the 2020 presidential election had been “rigged” and partly stolen from him by voting machine manipulation. Fox News commentators and others employed at the network reported those allegations on air, targeting a voting tabulation company, Dominion voting machines, as the reason for the alleged discrepancy in the 2020 final election vote tabulation. The states where former President Trump alleges Dominion voting machines changed votes in President Biden’s favor are Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, Arizona, Georgia, and Michigan. Dominion sued Fox News, and on March 31, 2023, Dominion was granted a motion for summary judgment in the $1.6 billion suit against Fox by the Delaware Superior Court. Rupert Murdoch, the head of Fox News, and other Fox News leadership have been called to testify in the trial. Besides Murdoch, potential witnesses in the case could include Murdoch’s son, the CEO of Fox, Lachlan Murdoch, Paul Ryan, a Fox board of director member, and other executives. The Murdochs previously gave sworn depositions concerning the internal workings of the network and how communication works between executives, producers, and Fox News personalities. Fox attorneys tried to keep Fox leadership off the witness list, but Delaware Superior Court Judge Eric Davis ruled that the Fox hierarchy could be subpoenaed and forced to testify. The Judge in the case ruled that Fox News had broadcast false statements and allegations about Dominion Voting Machines and Donald Trump’s conspiracy theories regarding his loss in the 2020 presidential election. The question before the court will be to determine if statements made on Fox regarding Dominion were stated as facts rather than opinions by the Fox News commentators or a news report by the Fox News commentators of what Donald Trump was voicing. If the jury rules in favor of Dominion, there’s the possibility that the parent company Fox Corporation could also be found to be responsible for the report. Jury selection in the case is scheduled to begin on April 13, 2023.
