Dominion Voting Systems wants a judge to force Fox Corp. executives Rupert Murdoch and Lachlan Murdoch to testify live in its defamation suit against Fox News and Fox Corp., teeing up a court battle over the media mogul and his son.
Dominion’s attorneys also asked the court to compel live testimony from former House Speaker Paul Ryan, who sits on the board of Fox Corp., and Viet Dinh, a Fox Corp. executive.
“The Court should compel these witnesses,” Dominion’s lawyers wrote in a letter to Delaware Superior Court Judge Eric Davis Wednesday.
March 31, 202302:38
Lawyers for Fox News and Fox Corp. have argued that Rupert Murdoch should not have to testify in court, pointing to his age and the lengthy deposition that he already gave. In a recent hearing, Judge Eric Davis was skeptical of the arguments, noting the elder Murdoch travels widely and recently became engaged.
The fight over live witnesses who will appear in the Wilmington, Delaware courtroom this month is the latest in Dominion’s $1.6 billion defamation suit against Fox News and Fox Corp. There is a public hearing in the case on Wednesday at 2 p.m.
In a Tuesday filing, attorneys for Fox News agreed to let hosts Tucker Carlson, Maria Bartiromo, Lou Dobbs, Jeanine Pirro and Sean Hannity testify live in the case.
Dominion’s attorneys are keen on forcing the Murdochs to testify because their involvement in Fox News’ election coverage is a key component of Dominion’s case against the Fox Corp., the network’s parent company.
The voting systems manufacturer alleges Fox damaged its reputation by promoting phony claims that it was tied to the late Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez, paid kickbacks to politicians and “rigged” the presidential election by flipping millions of votes for Donald Trump to Joe Biden in 2020. The jury will be instructed that those claims are false, following Judge Davis’ summary judgement ruling last week.
Source: | This article originally belongs to Nbcnews.com
