Pre-selection begins in
Dominion voting systems.
$1.6 billion defamation case against Fox.
Now the trial is still moving forward,
despite the judge
sanctioning Fox
for withholding evidence
and its plans to appoint a special master
to investigate
whether the right wing network lied to
the court.
Fox has denied any
wrongdoing in the case.
In a pretrial hearing yesterday, Dominion
also played
previously unaired audio of Fox host
Maria Bartiromo
and former Trump lawyer Rudy Giuliani.
Discussing whether Dominion had
ties to top Democrats, which is a claim
the network's guest made in 2020.
What about the software
of this Dominion software?
That's a little troubling
to tell you, right?
It's being it's being analyzed right now.
I mean, there are a couple of races
that have been reversed
because the Democrat was triple
counted, two already in Michigan.
Now, whether that
applies for the whole state or not,
I can't tell you yet.
But I can tell you that
if we have more
than we have more than enough
unobserved ballots
in Michigan and in Pennsylvania
to overthrow the election.
Okay, perfect.
And then just give me a hint.
Software you get
because you have an interest in it.
I've read that.
I can't prove that. Okay.
I was in the courthouse right behind us
when they played
that tape that you just played.
And when the judge heard it,
he said it was extremely relevant
to this case.
And he wanted to know why
Fox had only turned it over to Dominion
last week.
This case has been going on since 20, 21.
But Dominion
says it only got this material last week.
The judge
has decided to appoint a special master
to investigate Fox to figure out,
number one
if they intentionally withheld
this tape and other tapes.
And number two,
if there's anything else out there
that Fox needs to turn over to Dominion
as part of the discovery process,
a pretty big development
on the brink of trial.
And I do want to point out that Fox
says that they've done nothing wrong.
Fox said that they turned over this tape
and related tapes
as soon as they learned about it
in a related lawsuit
just a few weeks ago.
But clearly,
with this trial commencing
as we speak,
they're already in some hot water.
Fox's reputation
and that of its biggest
stars are on the line here.
We are now underway in this trial
with a lot of fireworks
expected over the next several weeks.
The curtain
officially raised in
what could be an explosive trial.
Jury selection
started today in the $1.6 billion lawsuit
against Fox News
brought by Dominion Voting Systems.
Potential jurors
asked if they regularly
watch Fox News programs
and whether they can still be impartial
if they do.
Simply knowing
a story isn't enough
to get someone kicked off of a jury
because judges
often instruct your will, instruct jurors
to put aside anything they know
about the case beforehand
and pledge to be fair.
Tonight, you are watching
the case centers around Fox's
decision to allow strange,
inaccurate claims
about Dominion onto its airwaves
after the 2020 election
to promote the false theory
that the election was stolen
from Donald Trump.
Electronic voting machines
didn't allow people to vote, apparently,
and that whatever
you think of it, the cause of it,
it shakes people's faith in the system
that is an actual threat to democracy.
Host Tucker Carlson
part of an array of high profile
Fox hosts and executives
expected to take the stand.
A roster including Sean Hannity,
Laura Ingraham,
Fox Chairman Rupert Murdoch
and Fox News CEO Suzanne Scott.
But analyst Erik
Wemple says much of Dominion's case
will likely center around
second tier
stars like Lou Dobbs,
Jeanine Pirro and Maria Bartiromo.
Sidney,
we talked about the Dominion software.
I know that there were
voting irregularities.
Tell me about that.
Those people,
they're state of mind is going to play
a really big role in this.
What did they know?
When did they know?
There's going to be situations
where they're going to be read
back, their text messages
the text messages, their producers,
all kinds of correspondence
saying you knew
this was B.S., didn't you?
Today, audio
recordings of previously
unaired conversation
between Bartiromo
and then Trump attorneys Rudy
Giuliani and Sidney Powell
were made public
after being played in court.
Giuliani and Powell,
two of the most vociferous
promoters of election lies,
have more than enough unobserved ballots
in Michigan and in Pennsylvania
to overthrow the election.
Okay, perfect.
The discovery process
has already been bruising for Fox.
With Rupert Murdoch
saying under oath of the election
denial ism on Fox,
I would have liked us
to be stronger
in denouncing it in hindsight.
With Rupert Murdoch,
he is where the entire organization
rots from.
He confessed
in a deposition
that he could have stopped this madness,
but he chose not to.
That's a tremendously incriminating
comment, at least journalistically.
Fox says
it hasn't defamed anyone and says
the Dominion's suit
is a breach of its First Amendment
rights.
Now, Fox News is not the only entity
that Dominion
Voting Systems
has gone after regarding misinformation
following the 2020 election.
Dominion has also filed suit
against Trump
Ally and Mypillow CEO
Mike Lindell
against former Trump attorneys
Rudy Giuliani and Sidney Powell,
and against two smaller right wing
networks, Newsmax
and one American News Network Wolf.
Brian, what are you hearing about
why a settlement
wasn't reached in this case,
as some had expected?
Wolf, hearing from legal analysts
and media analysts, two things.
One, they believe that
Dominion really has the goods on Fox.
They've got a lot of incriminating
evidence here.
But also,
Dominion's reputation took a huge hit
with all those lies promoted on Fox
after the 2020 election.
As a matter of fact, Dominion
just lost a big contract recently,
partly because of that.
Experts say Dominion
really wants to punish Fox in this case,
and they have a good shot at doing it.