Many of Fox News Channel’s biggest names are slated to take the witness stand in a trial that could determine the future of their network later this month.
The development follows a ruling by a Delaware judge last week that Dominion Voting System’s $1.6 billion defamation case against Fox News will go to a jury trial in mid-April. Dominion’s suit says FNC executives and hosts entertained pro-Trump conspiracies about its voting equipment to keep ratings high. (RELATED: Ex-Fox News Producer Breaks Silence After Filing Bombshell Lawsuit Against Network)
In a letter to Judge Eric M. Davis, lawyers for the cable news behemoth told the judge they intend to make Tucker Carlson, Jeanine Pirro and Sean Hannity available to testify. They also named news anchors Bret Baier and Dana Perino. Additionally, they will call top executives and producers, including CEO Suzanne Scott, President Jay Wallace and Justin Wells, executive producer of “Tucker Carlson Tonight,” in its defense.
Former Fox Business star Lou Dobbs and pro-Trump attorney Sidney Powell made their list, too.
Dominion appears eager to question all of them — hoping to prove FNC acted with actual malice by promoting disproven conspiracies to appease its audience, maximize profits and defame the voting machine manufacturer. (RELATED: Trump Explodes After Comments by Fox News Hosts, Executives Go Public)
Plenty of legal wrangling remains ahead of the trial’s April 13 start date. Fox continues to resist Dominion’s efforts to force Rupert and Lachlan Murdoch to testify.
As The Guardian explains:
Attorneys for Dominion have said they want to call the two Murdochs. Davis has suggested he could compel Rupert Murdoch to appear.
Lawyers for Dominion have also said they want to question Abby Grossberg, a fired Fox News producer now suing the network.
…
Fox contends that it was presenting allegations by public figures up to and including the president which reasonable viewers would not have taken for statements of fact.
It has also accused Dominion of “cherrypick[ing] quotes without context to generate headlines”, and claimed that “the foundational right to a free press is at stake”.
There remains a slim chance the two parties may settle out of court.
READ NEXT: Wisconsin Supreme Court Election Breaks Record As Liberal Candidate Cruises To Victory
