Post by tnthomas on Dec 23, 2022 14:32:43 GMT -5
Fox News star Sean Hannity – one of former President Donald Trump's strongest allies on the air and one of his closest advisers off it – admitted under oath that he never believed the lie that Trump was cheated of victory in the 2020 presidential election by a voting tech company.
That stands in contrast to what played out on some of Fox's biggest shows – including Hannity's. On television, Fox News hosts, stars and guests amplified and embraced such wild and false claims, made by Trump, his campaign lawyers and surrogates, presenting them to millions of viewers.
Hannity and a top Fox News executive who oversees prime-time programs told a different story about Trump's false claims of fraud under oath and in front of attorneys, during separate depositions in a $1.6 billion defamation suit. While the depositions happened in August, their statements emerged yesterday in a Delaware Superior Court hearing relating to a series of motions by the two sides in the case.
"I did not believe it for one second," Hannity testified, according to an attorney for Colorado-based Dominion Voting Systems, who was offering it as a precise quote.
Meade Cooper, Fox News' executive vice president, "confirmed under oath she never believed the lies about Dominion," the Dominion attorney, Stephen Shackelford, Jr., also said.
"Tucker Carlson, he tried to squirm out of it at his deposition," Shackelford added, and then alluded to the Fox News star's texts from November and December 2020, when Judge Eric Davis cut Shackelford off.
Those sworn interviews took place during what's called the discovery phase of the case, in preparation for trial, which is scheduled for April.
Hannity gave airtime to election falsehoods he says he didn't believe
Dominion Voting Systems' suit against Fox News and its parent company, Fox Corp, is roiling the network, the corporation and the Murdoch family that controls them both. Dominion alleges it was unjustly damaged by the false claims that its machines were intentionally rerouting Trump's votes for Joe Biden.
Those claims were broadcast on conservative media, most prominently Fox News, after Election Night. Dominion alleges that was a concerted effort from the top to bottom of Fox to win back viewers after the network was the first to project the key swing state of Arizona for Biden. Trump denounced Fox and millions of his supporters abandoned the network that month. The Murdochs and Fox stood by the call of Arizona.
That stands in contrast to what played out on some of Fox's biggest shows – including Hannity's. On television, Fox News hosts, stars and guests amplified and embraced such wild and false claims, made by Trump, his campaign lawyers and surrogates, presenting them to millions of viewers.
Hannity and a top Fox News executive who oversees prime-time programs told a different story about Trump's false claims of fraud under oath and in front of attorneys, during separate depositions in a $1.6 billion defamation suit. While the depositions happened in August, their statements emerged yesterday in a Delaware Superior Court hearing relating to a series of motions by the two sides in the case.
"I did not believe it for one second," Hannity testified, according to an attorney for Colorado-based Dominion Voting Systems, who was offering it as a precise quote.
Meade Cooper, Fox News' executive vice president, "confirmed under oath she never believed the lies about Dominion," the Dominion attorney, Stephen Shackelford, Jr., also said.
"Tucker Carlson, he tried to squirm out of it at his deposition," Shackelford added, and then alluded to the Fox News star's texts from November and December 2020, when Judge Eric Davis cut Shackelford off.
Those sworn interviews took place during what's called the discovery phase of the case, in preparation for trial, which is scheduled for April.
Hannity gave airtime to election falsehoods he says he didn't believe
Dominion Voting Systems' suit against Fox News and its parent company, Fox Corp, is roiling the network, the corporation and the Murdoch family that controls them both. Dominion alleges it was unjustly damaged by the false claims that its machines were intentionally rerouting Trump's votes for Joe Biden.
Those claims were broadcast on conservative media, most prominently Fox News, after Election Night. Dominion alleges that was a concerted effort from the top to bottom of Fox to win back viewers after the network was the first to project the key swing state of Arizona for Biden. Trump denounced Fox and millions of his supporters abandoned the network that month. The Murdochs and Fox stood by the call of Arizona.
As NPR first reported, Fox News CEO Suzanne Scott warned colleagues "we can't give the crazies an inch."
And yet, Hannity was among those who gave airtime to Trump's claims. On Nov. 30, 2020, for example, he invited Trump campaign attorney Sidney Powell on his program for a "one-on-one" interview. By then, she had tied together Trump bogeymen, as the Daily Beast noted in a write-up, including "the dead Venezuelan dictator Hugo Chavez, liberal philanthropist George Soros, communist Chinese money, and the CIA."
Fox producer's warning against Jeanine Pirro surfaces in Dominion defamation suit
Untangling Disinformation
Fox producer's warning against Jeanine Pirro surfaces in Dominion defamation suit
Hannity and Fox News host Jeanine Pirro were among those network stars who gave Powell valuable minutes to allege that the voting machine software was designed to hand over Trump votes to Biden, and affirming her frustration that Democrats would not aid her effort for more information about Dominion's machines.
Fox Business star Maria Bartiromo promoted the lies in an interview with Trump, his first on television after the election. Lou Dobbs returned to the topic repeatedly. Dobbs left Fox Business just after Smartmatic filed its lawsuit.
And yet, Hannity was among those who gave airtime to Trump's claims. On Nov. 30, 2020, for example, he invited Trump campaign attorney Sidney Powell on his program for a "one-on-one" interview. By then, she had tied together Trump bogeymen, as the Daily Beast noted in a write-up, including "the dead Venezuelan dictator Hugo Chavez, liberal philanthropist George Soros, communist Chinese money, and the CIA."
Fox producer's warning against Jeanine Pirro surfaces in Dominion defamation suit
Untangling Disinformation
Fox producer's warning against Jeanine Pirro surfaces in Dominion defamation suit
Hannity and Fox News host Jeanine Pirro were among those network stars who gave Powell valuable minutes to allege that the voting machine software was designed to hand over Trump votes to Biden, and affirming her frustration that Democrats would not aid her effort for more information about Dominion's machines.
Fox Business star Maria Bartiromo promoted the lies in an interview with Trump, his first on television after the election. Lou Dobbs returned to the topic repeatedly. Dobbs left Fox Business just after Smartmatic filed its lawsuit.