Conservative media owner Rupert Murdoch said he wished they had more widely condemned allegations of a stolen election when Trump lost the 2020 presidential race.

He appears in legal documents Monday, after technology company Dominion Voting Systems sued Fox for defamation.

The company, which manufactures electronic voting equipment in Canada and the United States, believes that the channel has repeatedly helped spread false rumors, which have affected its business. Among other things, that the machines passed votes from one candidate to another and that the company was actually founded in Venezuela to help communist Hugo Chávez steal the election.

The company sued the chain for $1.6 billion.

Their attorney pressed Murdoch on the claim that the network’s star profiles and hosts supported Trump’s claims of widespread voter fraud.

– Not Fox, no. Not Fox. But maybe Lou Dobbs, maybe Maria, as commentators, were the answer to Murdoch.

Dominion attorneys also referred to Sean Hannity and Jeanine Pirro.

With such an explanation, Murdoch claims that Fox News as a channel did not support the idea of ​​a stolen election, only that some of the channel’s opinionated commentators did. Critics believe that this distinction is not very clear.

“I wish we were stronger to convict him, in retrospect,” Murdoch added, according to court documents.

Call the dubious lawsuit

If Dominion Voting Systems wants to get anywhere in the case against Fox, they must prove that the network deliberately spread false and harmful information.

Fox attacks Dominion for wanting to prevent reporters from doing their job, citing constitutional protections.

“Their trial has always been more about headlines than judicial scrutiny. [ …] This is accentuated by the fact that they were forced to reduce the fanciful compensation claim by more than half a billion after their own expert denied their improbable claims,” they wrote in a statement.

A “change” for the chain

A trove of messages and emails that have come to light in the lawsuit show messages from Fox stars such as Tucker Carlson, Sean Hannity and Laura Ingraham ridiculing Trump’s voter fraud allegations, despite the fact that they were discussed on the air.

Murdoch himself allegedly referred to it in a post as ‘really crazy stuff’, report says CNN.

The trial provided a glimpse into the chaos behind the scenes at the TV station, which after announcing that Biden had won the election in 2020 found many of your viewers turned their backs on them.

Journalist Chris Wallace left Fox News in December after 18 years as a political reporter. He speaks of a “change” in the chain after Trump’s election defeat.

– It’s good to have opinions, conservative opinions. But when people started questioning the truth – who won the 2020 election? Was January 6 a riot? I saw that as unsustainable, he told The New York Times.

After the election results were announced, a political editor was fired after helping estimate an election result in which Trump would lose the state of Arizona. At the same time, they promoted profiles such as Tucker Carlson, like on a show minimized the onslaught of Congress January 6.

In his clarification, Murdoch said it was “wrong” for Tucker Carlson to have conspiracy theorist (and pillow entrepreneur) Mike Lindell as a guest on his show after the presidential election, and repeatedly by the following.

Murdoch calls it a business decision.

– The man is on every night. We pay a lot of money.

– At first you think it’s funny, then you get bored and angry, he says, according to court documents.

It also indicates that Murdoch said he could have blocked Trump lawyers Rudy Giuliani and Sidney Powell from appearing on network programs.

– I could have done it, but I didn’t, he said.

Confidential information shared

Something that is also revealed in the Dominions case is that Murdoch allegedly gave Jarder Kushner, Trump’s son-in-law, confidential information about Biden’s presidential ads before they aired, in addition to debate strategy during the election, written CNN.

According to the record, Murdoch also said Kushner was upset with the election night media coverage, which ultimately declared Biden the winner. “This is terrible,” he reportedly said, and Murdoch could hear Trump’s voice shouting in the background.

Murdoch said he replied “Well, numbers are numbers”.

Kushner has not commented on the allegations.

Quoted in court documents, Murdoch says he does not believe there was any fraud in the election.

–It was shown when we announced Arizona, Murdoch said, referring to the channel’s own calculations, that Biden would win if he took the crucial swing state.