Things are going tremendously badly for Fox News in the Domain Voting Services defamation case against the network, and the more the proceedings go on, the worse things are getting for Rupert Murdoch and friends.
Delaware Superior Court Judge Eric Davis on Wednesday sanctioned Fox News and its parent company, Fox Corp., for withholding evidence in the Dominion defamation suit, and said he's considering further investigation and censure.
According to a person present in the courtroom, lawyers for Dominion Voting Systems played recordings Fox News producer Abby Grossberg made during 2020, which were not handed over to Dominion's lawyers during discovery.
Grossberg, a former producer for Fox hosts Maria Bartiromo and Tucker Carlson, has sued Fox News and said her deposition was coerced. In an amended filing Tuesday, she said she had recorded conversations with Rudy Giuliani, Sidney Powell and others.
The sanction gives Dominion a chance to conduct another deposition, at Fox’s expense.
"As counsel explained to the Court, FOX produced the supplemental information from Ms. Grossberg when we first learned it," Fox News said in a statement Wednesday.
The surprise evidence and sanction comes days before the trial is scheduled to begin in the $1.6 billion defamation case Dominion Voting Systems filed against Fox News and Fox Corp. Davis also said Wednesday he was considering appointing a special master to investigate the Fox legal teams' actions.
In a statement, Grossberg's attorneys said she would be willing to speak with a special master if one is appointed.
“We are pleased that the Court recognized the very serious apparent discovery-related and other gross misconduct perpetrated by Fox News and its team of high-powered attorneys in relation to the Dominion v. Fox lawsuit that our client, Abby Grossberg, has courageously and repeatedly revealed in her lawsuits against the Network," Parisis G. Filippatos and Tanvir H. Rahman said Wednesday.
"Ms. Grossberg remains committed to speaking the truth in all appropriate forums, including before a Special Master appointed by the Court, while our firm will continue to ensure that she obtains the justice she deserves,” they added.
On Tuesday, Davis expressed frustration at Fox News for not being straightforward about Rupert Murdoch's role as a leader at Fox News.
"This is a problem," Davis said, according to a court transcript. "I need to feel comfortable when you represent something to me that is the truth."
Fox News is going to get burned to the ground, and a better outcome for America couldn't be scripted.
In all seriousness I expect this case to be tied up for years in appeals and courtroom drama, and in the end I expect a settlement that heavily favors Dominion.
But it does mean Fox News may have to apologies publicly, and denounce Trump's Big Lie as a result.
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