Fox News executives blocked Trump from January 6 interview

On January 6, 2021, the day a violent mob stormed the US Capitol in support of then-President Donald Trump, Fox Corp executives vetoed Trump’s attempt to appear on the airwaves. network, according to court documents filed Thursday.

The documents allege the former president tuned into on-air personality Lou Dobbs’ show on the afternoon of Jan. 6, but leaders shut down Trump’s efforts to appear on the show. antenna.

“Fox refused to allow President Trump to broadcast that night because ‘it would be irresponsible to put him on the air’ and ‘could negatively impact a lot of people,’” the documents state.

Dozens of Trump supporters attacked the Capitol in a bid to prevent Congress from confirming Democrat Joe Biden’s victory in the 2020 election. Trump, a Republican, has repeatedly made false claims that the election had was rigged against him. The events of January 6 and Trump’s involvement in various attempts to block Biden’s victory are the subject of multiple criminal investigations. Trump dismissed the probes as part of a “witch hunt”.

The documents were first made public this week as part of Dominion Voting Systems’ $1.6 billion lawsuit against Fox Corp and its cable TV networks. Dominion has filed a libel suit against Fox and its right-wing cable networks, Fox News and Fox Business, arguing that the networks and its anchors made false claims that the company’s voting machines rigged the election results of 2020. The lawsuit is pending in Delaware Superior Court.

Dominion, Fox Corp and Fox News filed their motions for summary judgment this week, which uncovered evidence from months of discovery and depositions that had been private until now. Fox News anchors, as well as senior Fox Corp officials, including Rupert Murdoch and Lachlan Murdoch, have been questioned in recent months.

Evidence also showed that top Fox News anchors, including Tucker Carlson, Sean Hannity and Laura Ingraham, expressed disbelief at fraud allegations made against Dominion that he rigged the election. The anchors in particular doubted the fraud allegations of pro-Trump attorney Sidney Powell and Trump attorney Rudy Giuliani.

Ingraham said in a message to Carlson, “Sidney is completely mad. No one will work with her. Same with Rudy,” according to the documents.

Fox and its networks have strenuously denied the allegations. In court papers Thursday, Fox Corp said it had “no role in the creation and publication of the disputed statements — all of which aired on Fox Business Network or Fox News Channel.”

Meanwhile, Fox News reiterated in court papers that it “has fulfilled its commitment to fully inform and fairly comment” on allegations that Dominion rigged the election against Trump.

“There will be a lot of noise and confusion generated by Dominion and their opportunistic private equity owners, but the heart of this matter remains freedom of the press and freedom of speech, which are fundamental rights granted by the Constitution. and protected by the New York Times against Sullivan,” Fox said in a statement on Thursday.

Dominion said in court papers that Fox and his hosts felt the pressure of public backlash on election night 2020 when he called Arizona State for Biden. That pressure was evident in text messages between top Fox figures in the weeks following the election, which ran through Jan. 6.

The day before Jan. 6, Rupert Murdoch told Fox News CEO Suzanne Scott, “It’s been suggested that our prime-time three should independently or together say something like ‘the election is over and Joe Biden’ won,’” according to court documents. Saying that “would go a long way to ending Trump’s myth that the election was stolen,” he added.

On the evening of Jan. 6, Carlson texted his producer, calling Trump “a demonic force. A destroyer. But he’s not going to destroy us,” court documents show.

The lawsuit has been closely watched by First Amendment watchdogs and pundits given that defamation suits often center on a lie, but in this case, Dominion cites a long list of examples from Fox hosts. TV making false claims even after they have been proven false. Media companies are often heavily protected by the First Amendment.

The trial is expected to begin in mid-April.