Topline
Former Fox Corporation chairman Rupert Murdoch will be questioned this week as part of Smartmatic’s ongoing defamation lawsuit against Fox News, Reuters reported Tuesday, as the voting machine company seeks to hold Fox Corp. liable for lies about fraud involving Smartmatic’s machines that were spread on Fox News after the 2020 election.
Rupert Murdoch at his annual party at Spencer House, St James’ Place on June 22 in London.
Key Facts
Murdoch will be deposed Tuesday and Wednesday in Los Angeles, Reuters reported based on anonymous sources, as the ex-chairman’s deposition does not appear on the public docket for the case.
Smartmatic is suing Fox News for $2.7 billion, along with its anchors Lou Dobbs, Maria Bartiromo and Jeanine Pirro and former Trump attorney Rudy Giuliani, accusing the defendants of defaming the company by spreading false election fraud conspiracy theories involving its machines.
The case remains pending in New York state court, and while an appeals court has already denied Fox News’ motion to dismiss the case against it, the court is still deciding whether to dismiss Fox Corp. as a defendant.
In a September hearing over Fox Corp.’s motion to dismiss the case, attorneys for Smartmatic likened Murdoch and his son Lachlan Murdoch to “a mafia boss directing a lieutenant” in how they had the final word on what Fox News’ programming said about the election, Bloomberg reported, arguing the Murdochs and Fox Corp. are an intrinsic part of the defamation case.
Murdoch was previously deposed as part of Dominion Voting Systems’ separate defamation suit against Fox News, where he testified he didn’t believe election fraud claims involving the voting machines and acknowledged he “could have” stopped anchors on the network from endorsing the conspiracy theory, “But I didn’t.”
Fox Corp. declined to comment to Forbes on the Reuters report, and Smartmatic has not yet responded to a request for comment.
What To Watch For
It’s unclear when the court will rule on whether Fox Corp. will be dismissed from the case. If the claims against the corporation are allowed to move forward, Bloomberg noted it’s likely Murdoch could be called as a witness at trial. No trial date has yet been set, though it’s likely to take place at some point in 2025. Though Dominion’s case against Fox News avoided going to trial, as the two sides reached a last-minute settlement for $787.5 million, it’s still unknown whether Smartmatic’s case could end the same way. Fox News attorneys signaled they were unlikely to settle during a September hearing, Courthouse News reported, with a lawyer for the network saying Smartmatic “is not Dominion, and as much as they’d hope, they’re never going to be Dominion.”
Forbes Valuation
$18 billion. That’s how much Murdoch and his family are worth as of Tuesday, according to Forbes’ real-time tracker, ranking him as the 98th-richest person in the world.
Tangent
Murdoch’s deposition comes soon after the 92-year-old announced in September he was stepping down as the chairman of Fox Corp. and parent company News Corp., before formally leaving the position earlier this month. The ex-chairman passed control of his media empire to his son Lachlan, though he said he would continue having an “active role” at the company, and he now serves as Fox Corp.’s chairman emeritus.
Key Background
Smartmatic’s case against Fox, its anchors and Giuliani is one of five defamation suits the voting machine company has brought in the aftermath of the 2020 election. It is also separately suing One America News Network, Newsmax, MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell and far-right attorney Sidney Powell, who Smartmatic sued in federal court after she was dismissed as a defendant from the case with Fox and Giuliani. High-profile figures on the far-right spread baseless conspiracy theories linking Smartmatic’s voting machines to fraud in the wake of the 2020 election, even though the London-based company’s machines were only used in Los Angeles in 2020 and were not used in any battleground states. Smartmatic and Dominion have waged a wide-ranging legal battle against figures on the right as a result of the conspiracy theories involving their machines, with Dominion also bringing seven defamation suits including its litigation against Fox News. Dominion’s Fox case is so far the only one that’s been resolved, with that defamation suit garnering widespread interest leading up to its planned trial, as court filings in the case revealed text messages, emails and testimony from top Fox anchors and executives saying they knew the fraud claims involving Dominion’s machines were false.
Further Reading
Rupert Murdoch to be deposed in Smartmatic defamation case against Fox (Reuters)
Why Fox News’ Next Defamation Suit—From Smartmatic—Might Require Another ‘Big Check’ To Settle (Forbes)
Fox News Defamation Settlement: Here’s Where Dominion And Smartmatic’s Other Lawsuits Stand Now (Forbes)
Murdoch Compared to ‘Mafia Boss’ Ordering Hit in Smartmatic Case (Bloomberg)
Murdoch Admits Fox News Hosts Pushed False Election Fraud Claims (Forbes)
Murdoch Deposed: Here’s What Fox Is Accused Of Lying About In Defamation Lawsuit Over 2020 Election (Forbes)