Private messages from Fox News hosts Tucker Carlson, Sean Hannity, and Laura Ingraham have been disclosed in a $1.6 billion defamation lawsuit brought by Dominion Voting Systems. The filings show that the hosts privately ridiculed Donald Trump's claims of election fraud while promoting them on air.
According to the court documents, Hannity described Trump as 'acting like an insane person' in the weeks after the 2020 election, even as his show continued to push the 'big lie'. Carlson called Trump a 'demonic force' and referred to Trump attorney Sidney Powell as 'lying' and 'dangerous as hell'. Ingraham labelled Powell 'a complete nut'.
Fox owner Rupert Murdoch was also dismissive, calling Trump's allegations 'really crazy stuff' in a memo. The filing includes phrases used internally such as 'mind-blowingly nuts' and 'completely BS' to describe the election theories.
Dominion alleges that Fox News deliberately amplified false claims that its machines flipped votes. The company's brief states: 'From the top down, Fox knew “the Dominion stuff” was “total BS”.' A trial is scheduled for mid-April.
Fox News has argued that the lawsuit is an assault on the first amendment and that Dominion is seeking a 'staggering' damage figure to chill protected speech.
