Fox News’ parent company can be sued by a voting-machine maker falsely accused of rigging the 2020 presidential election against Donald Trump because Rupert and Lachlan Murdoch may have exercised control over coverage, a judge ruled.
Delaware Superior Court Judge Eric M. Davis on Tuesday denied Fox Corp.’s motion to dismiss the suit by Dominion Voting Systems, saying the plaintiff had shown that the Murdochs may have acted with “actual malice” by broadcasting conspiracy theories about vote-rigging.
Davis, who previously allowed Dominion’s claims against Fox News to proceed, pointed to evidence cited by Dominion suggesting that the Murdochs knew the claims about vote-rigging were false, including that Rupert Murdoch spoke with Trump a few days after the election “and informed him that he had lost.”
The voting-technology firm was also able to point to a claim that Murdoch urged a Republican leader to ask other politicians in the party not to endorse Trump’s false theory about Dominion.
The judge further noted that “other newspapers under Rupert Murdoch’s control — including the Wall Street Journal and New York Post — condemned President Trump’s claims and urged him to concede defeat.”
“These allegations support a reasonable inference that Rupert and Lachlan Murdoch either knew Dominion had not manipulated the election or at least recklessly disregarded the truth when they allegedly caused Fox News to propagate its claims about Dominion,” Davis said.
As for the Murdochs,...
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