Rupert Murdoch to be deposed in Dominion’s 2020 lawsuit against Fox News

Rupert Murdoch, the owner and founder of Fox News, is set to be deposed next week by a set of attorneys from Dominion Voting Systems as part of the company’s defamation lawsuit against the cable news outlet. 

According to a recent filing in Delaware’s Superior Court obtained by The Washington Post on Monday, Murdoch is expected to take questions from attorneys on Dec. 13 and Dec. 14, and his deposition will be conducted remotely through a video conference. 

Dominion attorneys also deposed Rupert Murdoch’s eldest son, Lachlan Murdoch, who currently serves as Fox Corp. CEO, on Monday and Lachlan Murdoch’s younger brother, James Murdoch, the former CEO of 21st Century Fox, in October, according to the Washington Post. 

In its lawsuit, which seeks more than $1 billion in punitive damages, Dominion alleges that the news media outlet and its personalities touted false claims that the electronic voting company engaged in voter fraud that rigged the 2020 election, which former President Trump lost to President Biden. 

Dominion also alleges that Fox News moved to promote Trump’s false voter claims after the former president called out the network over its 2020 coverage. Dominion said that Trump’s remarks damaged the network’s stocks and viewership.

In a recent statement, Fox News referred to Dominion’s claims in the lawsuit as “outrageous, unsupported, and not rooted in sound financial analysis” and a “flagrant attempt” to attack its journalists. 

A Delaware judge earlier in June denied Fox News’s motion to have the lawsuit dismissed on First Amendment grounds, stating that Dominion has shown evidence that the news outlet knowingly allowed unproven claims of voter fraud to air on the news channel. 

Dominion’s case against Fox News is set to be heard in a jury trial that is expected to begin in April 2023, the Post reported.