Fox News executives and personalities knew that claims of voter fraud in the 2020 presidential election were false but decided to broadcast the allegations anyway, a new court filing shows.
The 192-page document, filed by Dominion Voting Systems, is part of a $1.6 billion defamation lawsuit brought against the right-wing US television network.
Dominion alleges some employees at Fox News peddled false claims that the company had changed votes in the 2020 election to hand the presidency to Joe Biden over Donald Trump.
“Sidney Powell is lying,” Fox News anchor Tucker Carlson texted his producer, referring to the former lawyer for Mr Trump who pressed claims that Dominion's voting machines were rigged.
“Sidney Powell is a bit nuts. Sorry but she is,” anchor Laura Ingraham texted to Carlson and fellow primetime anchor Sean Hannity on November 16, 2020.
In a text message exchange between Carlson and Ingraham two days later, he told her: “Sidney Powell is lying, by the way. I caught her. It's insane.”
Ingraham replied: “Sidney is a complete nut. No one will work with her. Ditto with Rudy,” referring to Rudy Giuliani, Mr Trump's former lawyer who was also part of the campaign to spread election fraud conspiracy theories.
NewsCorp chief executive Rupert Murdoch, who characterised the false fraud claims as “really crazy stuff”, suggested that the network's three primetime stars should tell their viewers that Mr Biden had won the 2020 election, believing such action “would go a long way to stop the Trump myth that the election [was] stolen”.
Raj Shah, senior vice president of Fox News Corp, called the fraud claims “mind-blowingly nuts”.
Dominion alleges that Fox never retracted its claims about its voting machines.
“To this day, Fox has never retracted the false statements its broadcast about Dominion,” the filing says.
“Privately, Fox’s hosts and executives knew that Donald Trump lost the election and that he needed to concede.
“But Fox viewers heard a different story — repeatedly.”
Fox defended its coverage of the election, arguing it had a right to report on the fraud allegations raised by Mr Trump, who was president at the time, and his allies.
In its own filing, Fox said the former president's fraud claims were “undeniably newsworthy” and that the network's viewers knew they were being reported as allegations.
Fox also argued that the lawsuit filed by Dominion was an attack on the First Amendment, The Associated Press reported.
A five-week trial between Dominion Voting Systems and Fox is scheduled to begin on April 17.
Agencies contributed to this report
Global state-owned investor ranking by size
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The specs
Engine: 1.5-litre, 4-cylinder turbo
Transmission: CVT
Power: 170bhp
Torque: 220Nm
Price: Dh98,900
Schedule
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Company Profile:
Name: The Protein Bakeshop
Date of start: 2013
Founders: Rashi Chowdhary and Saad Umerani
Based: Dubai
Size, number of employees: 12
Funding/investors: $400,000 (2018)
Conflict, drought, famine
Estimates of the number of deaths caused by the famine range from 400,000 to 1 million, according to a document prepared for the UK House of Lords in 2024.
It has been claimed that the policies of the Ethiopian government, which took control after deposing Emperor Haile Selassie in a military-led revolution in 1974, contributed to the scale of the famine.
Dr Miriam Bradley, senior lecturer in humanitarian studies at the University of Manchester, has argued that, by the early 1980s, “several government policies combined to cause, rather than prevent, a famine which lasted from 1983 to 1985. Mengistu’s government imposed Stalinist-model agricultural policies involving forced collectivisation and villagisation [relocation of communities into planned villages].
The West became aware of the catastrophe through a series of BBC News reports by journalist Michael Buerk in October 1984 describing a “biblical famine” and containing graphic images of thousands of people, including children, facing starvation.
Band Aid
Bob Geldof, singer with the Irish rock group The Boomtown Rats, formed Band Aid in response to the horrific images shown in the news broadcasts.
With Midge Ure of the band Ultravox, he wrote the hit charity single Do They Know it’s Christmas in December 1984, featuring a string of high-profile musicians.
Following the single’s success, the idea to stage a rock concert evolved.
Live Aid was a series of simultaneous concerts that took place at Wembley Stadium in London, John F Kennedy Stadium in Philadelphia, the US, and at various other venues across the world.
The combined event was broadcast to an estimated worldwide audience of 1.5 billion.
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What the law says
Micro-retirement is not a recognised concept or employment status under Federal Decree Law No. 33 of 2021 on the Regulation of Labour Relations (as amended) (UAE Labour Law). As such, it reflects a voluntary work-life balance practice, rather than a recognised legal employment category, according to Dilini Loku, senior associate for law firm Gateley Middle East.
“Some companies may offer formal sabbatical policies or career break programmes; however, beyond such arrangements, there is no automatic right or statutory entitlement to extended breaks,” she explains.
“Any leave taken beyond statutory entitlements, such as annual leave, is typically regarded as unpaid leave in accordance with Article 33 of the UAE Labour Law. While employees may legally take unpaid leave, such requests are subject to the employer’s discretion and require approval.”
If an employee resigns to pursue micro-retirement, the employment contract is terminated, and the employer is under no legal obligation to rehire the employee in the future unless specific contractual agreements are in place (such as return-to-work arrangements), which are generally uncommon, Ms Loku adds.
BMW M5 specs
Engine: 4.4-litre twin-turbo V-8 petrol enging with additional electric motor
Power: 727hp
Torque: 1,000Nm
Transmission: 8-speed auto
Fuel consumption: 10.6L/100km
On sale: Now
Price: From Dh650,000
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