Delaware Superior Court Judge Eric Davis on Wednesday sanctioned Fox News and its parent company, Fox Corp., for withholding evidence in the Dominion defamation suit, and said he’s considering further investigation and censure.
According to a person present in the courtroom, lawyers for Dominion Voting Systems played recordings Fox News producer Abby Grossberg made during 2020, which were not handed over to Dominion’s lawyers during discovery.
Grossberg, a former producer for Fox hosts Maria Bartiromo and Tucker Carlson, has sued Fox News and said her deposition was coerced. In an amended filing yesterday, she said she had recorded conversations with Rudy Giuliani, Sidney Powell and others.
The sanction gives Dominion a chance to conduct another deposition, at Fox’s expense.
The surprise evidence and sanction comes days before trial in scheduled to begin in the $1.6 billion defamation case Dominion Voting Systems filed against Fox News and Fox Corporation. Davis also said Wednesday he was considering appointing a special master to investigate the Fox legal teams’ actions.
On Tuesday, Davis also expressed frustration at Fox News for not being straightforward about Rupert Murdoch’s role as a leader at Fox News.
“This is a problem,” Davis said, according to a court transcript. “I need you to feel comfortable when you represent something to me that is the truth.”
Fox News did not respond immediately to a request for comment on the sanction but said in a statement on Tuesday, “Rupert Murdoch has been listed as executive chairman of FOX News in our SEC filings since 2019 and this filing was referenced by Dominion’s own attorney during his deposition.”
Source: | This article originally belongs to Nbcnews.com
