Tens of thousands of pages of exhibits were released on Sunday as part of voting technology company Smartmatic’s $2.7bn defamation lawsuit against Fox News over its coverage of the 2020 presidential election.
Fox News has strenuously denied Smartmatic’s claims and said the company has vastly overstated its value. In a statement, Smartmatic said Fox’s “attempts to delay accountability won’t work, and its day of reckoning is coming”.
The documents released as part of the suit featured previously unpublished internal text messages and email exchanges between key players at the network, including Rupert Murdoch, Sean Hannity and Fox News chief executive Suzanne Scott.
Here are some of the new revelations.
Sean Hannity thought Trump would willingly concede the 2020 election
Three days after the election, on 6 November 2020, as Trump prepared to double down on denying his loss, top Fox star Sean Hannity said in a message that “the POTUS will not be crazy in spite of what people say. He’s been very calm actually.” When an individual he was speaking with said that Trump could have won “if he had been more serious about Covid,” Hannity replied: “IMO masks should have been embrace [sic] and I said it all on the air.” Hannity also predicted that Trump would willingly concede the election: “That will happen. I know it for a fact.”
Rupert Murdoch defended Fox News’s 2020 election coverage
Rupert Murdoch defended the network’s coverage of the 2020 election and clarified its stance toward Trump in a previously unpublished 8 January 2021 email to journalist Lachlan Cartwright: “We are very proud of our coverage – both Fox and News – especially since the election when we have repeatedly urged Trump to accept the result. His denunciations only confirm the work of all our journalists to find and report the truth. We have never supported Trump personally but enthusiastically endorsed many of his and the administration’s policies which delivered such a healthy and prosperous country until hit by the pandemic last year. I have every confidence in our brilliant editors and executives who are in total control of these matters.”
Jeanine Pirro wanted the RNC to buy copies of her new book
Fox News host and now US attorney for the District of Columbia, Jeanine Pirro, asked RNC chair Ronna McDaniel if the organization could buy copies of her upcoming book Don’t Lie To Me. “I understand RNC purchased Sean Hannity’s book,” she wrote in a September 2020 message. “I’m wondering if same courtesy might be extended to me. My last two books abt potus have been NYT bestsellers.” McDaniel told her that the RNC had already made commitments for several other books written by Trump-affiliated Republicans. (Pirro grew angry with McDaniel, saying she had worked hard for the Republican party.)
Marjorie Taylor Greene being ‘black-balled’ from the network
Fox Business Network’s Lou Dobbs wrote in a January 2021 message to Fox Business Network president Lauren Petterson that representative Marjorie Taylor Greene was being “black-balled” from appearing on the network. Dobbs said that Greene “is controversial,” but asked: “Why should that be a reason to be blackballed by our network? … I hope our management knows they’re playing right into the cancel culture trap.” Petterson noted that Greene had tweeted about “Dominion machines being hacked,” referring to another voting technology company that had been baselessly accused of voter fraud. “I think it’s probably a good idea to press pause on that one for now,” she wrote. Fox reached a $787.5m settlement with Dominion in 2023.
Steve Bannon encouraged Maria Bartiromo to run for US Senate
Maga influencer Steve Bannon encouraged Fox Business Network host Maria Bartiromo to run for US Senate in New York. “We want you to run against Schumer,” Bannon wrote in a 10 November 2020 text message. “This is your moment.”
How much Maria Bartiromo made at Fox News
Maria Bartiromo has made over $70m during her time with Fox News, according to her deposition in the case.
A potential interview between Lachlan Murdoch and Tucker Carlson
There was internal discussion about Lachlan Murdoch sitting for an interview with Tucker Carlson in the days after the election to “hit big tech,” convey that “Fox Corp believes in free speech,” and also “[address] election night,” according to an unidentified individual. Fox’s top PR executive, Irena Briganti, said it “should absolutely not be Tucker and [Lachlan Murdoch] will get major backlash for that.” Bartiromo was suggested as an alternative.
Sean Hannity criticized Tucker Carlson for a post-election show
Sean Hannity criticized Tucker Carlson for using the 19 November 2020 edition of his show to call out Trump-associated attorney Sidney Powell for not being able to back up her claims of election fraud, likening it to something former Fox News host Bill O’Reilly would have done. “His problem,” Hannity wrote. “Classic oreilly move. May be too clever by half. Trump people are pissed.”
Tucker Carlson referred to Trump as a ‘total piece of shit’
An unidentified individual told Tucker Carlson on 9 November 2020 that Trump should concede the election. Carlson replied: “Oh I’m fully aware,” and referred to Trump as a “total piece of shit.” But, he added, “We can’t control him obviously. Got to do the responsible thing regardless of how he behaves.”
Two Fox Corp board members criticized the network’s coverage
Two Fox Corp board members, Anne Dias and former House speaker Paul Ryan, discussed their criticisms of the network’s coverage. “Don’t you think we’ve reached a point where Fox needs to make a point about what is NOT permissible on the network?” Dias wrote in a 11 January 2021 message. Ryan “strongly encouraged” Dias to contact Lachlan Murdoch directly with her concerns, particularly about a comment made by then-host Jeanine Pirro. In an earlier email chain, Dias wrote to Ryan that “Trump needs a scapegoat and it’s now Fox.”
Tucker Carlson asked how he could help calm post-election backlash
Tucker Carlson asked Fox’s chief political anchor Bret Baier on 5 November 2020 whether he could help with the post-election backlash against the network. “I’ve got four years left on my deal and I don’t [want] the channel to decline.” Baier suggested that Carlson “grill” Arnon Mishkin, the head of the Fox News Decision Desk and whose team called Arizona for Biden. “The last thing I want to do is to make it worse, or even get involved,” Carlson wrote. “But please think about it and talk it through with others and see if there’s any way I can help calm viewers down. When Trump loses, he’s going to blame us. That’s going to be very bad.”
