Murdochs Reportedly Blessed Fox News Strategy to Air 2020 Voting Fraud Allegations, Court Hears.

In a pivotal legal proceeding on Tuesday, a attorney for the voting technology company Smartmatic argued that top executives at Fox News, including Rupert and Lachlan Murdoch, authorized a deliberate strategy to embrace baseless assertions of voting fraud promoted by Donald Trump.

“Their core viewers, their bread and butter, abandoned them,” stated J Erik Connolly, Smartmatic's lawyer. “So what do they do? They return back to what they know best: they return back to misinformation, political propaganda and fear-mongering. The election story and the fraud allegations was the ideal tool for them to return to their core messaging.”

A Massive Libel Lawsuit Is at Stake

During oral arguments, both sides pleaded with the New York state supreme court judge David B Cohen to decide on critical elements of Smartmatic's $2.7 billion defamation lawsuit ahead of a potential trial next year. The company argues that Fox leaders devised a plan to “shift” to Trump's claims to recapture disaffected viewers.

The Network's Strong Rebuttal

K Winn Allen, representing the network, vigorously denied these claims. “No campaign of misinformation was ordered,” he said. “It is completely false. It is not supported by the record. It is hogwash. It is made up by lawyers on the other side.”

He further asserted that the Murdochs, who held ultimate control over the network, “didn't give anyone any orders to cover Smartmatic or the election fraud allegations.”

The Core Challenge: Proving “Actual Malice”

To win its case, the company will have to demonstrate that key figures at Fox News knew the fraud claims were false but permitted them to be broadcast regardless. In its filings, Smartmatic has pointed to internal communications showing hosts like Jeanine Pirro and Maria Bartiromo expressing doubt about the claims while also expressing a desire to assist Trump.

Allen, Fox's lawyer countered that Smartmatic has “wildly inflated” its value and the estimated financial losses from the coverage. Fox contends its personalities were merely discussing newsworthy claims from the president's allies, not endorsing them.

“This suit is not truly about Fox's reporting of the 2020 election,” the Fox lawyer stated. “It concerns Smartmatic's effort to capitalize on comments made by the president's lawyers to salvage its financial livelihood.”

A Precedent Is Highly Relevant

Smartmatic's case closely mirror the prior legal action brought by Dominion Voting Systems against Fox. In that matter, a judge's pre-trial rulings proved critical, ruling that Fox's broadcasts were false and defamatory per se.

That ruling was later cited as a major reason in Fox's decision to resolve with Dominion for $787.5 million. A previous Fox legal officer remarked that the judge's pre-trial rulings had “severely limited” the company's legal defense at trial.

Judge Cohen's Position

The presiding judge gave few indications of his leaning but told Smartmatic's lawyer that establishing “knowledge of falsity” for a pre-trial ruling would be a “difficult task.” He stated he planned to review all relevant television segments before issuing his rulings.

“I believe I have more than enough information, data, briefings, charts, charts and everything I need to make my ruling,” he told the two sides in the lawsuit.