Lachlan Murdoch, son of News Corp. head Rupert Murdoch, filed a defamation action against an Australian online outlet Tuesday, after it accused the Murdochs of being “unindicted co-conspirators” in the January 6 attack on the Capitol building, as the Murdochs themselves come under legal scrutiny for false claims Fox News made about election fraud.
Murdoch filed a statement of claim for defamation in Australia’s Commonwealth Courtsagainst Private Media, the publisher of online outlet Crikey, and its leadership, court records show.
The filing comes in response to an article published June 29 highlighting testimony about former President Donald Trump to the House January 6 Committee, which is headlined, “Trump is a confirmed unhinged traitor. And Murdoch is his unindicted co-conspirator.”
“The Murdochs and their slew of poisonous Fox News commentators are the unindicted co-conspirators of this continuing crisis,” the article states, and Lachlan Murdoch’s attorneys sent Crikey a letter threatening they would take defamation action over the article and social media posts promoting it.
While Crikey initially removed the article, it then republished it, along with the outlet’s full correspondence with Murdoch’s legal team, and the publication took out advertisements in the New York Times and Canberra Times with an open letter that encouraged Murdoch to sue.
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