Dominion wants the Fox lawsuit overturned after Tucker Carlson’s firing
Dominion executives hope that all of the text messages between Fox News hosts, including Tucker Carlson, that they discovered as part of their defamation lawsuit will one day become public.
Dominion, the company behind voting machines that Donald Trump’s camp claimed were rigged in the 2020 election, sued Fox for broadcasting the former president’s claims.
As part of the lawsuit discovery, Dominion’s lawyers discovered texts in which Fox hosts and journalists appeared to acknowledge that the fraud claims were untrue or far-fetched, but still gave them airtime.
Fox settled the case on April 18, just before a trial was set to begin and potentially expose more of the behind-the-scenes exchanges.
Tucker Carlson with his wife Susan last week in Florida. Among the posts uncovered as part of the lawsuit was one in which he called a senior Fox News exec a “c**t”
Rupert Murdoch with Lachlan Murdoch, who is rumored to have personally signed for Carlson’s resignation
In their first interview since the lawsuit was unexpectedly settled, Dominion’s CEO John Poulos and Stephen Shackelford, an attorney involved in the case, said: Axios they now want the full report to go unedited.
They also took credit for Carlson’s firing, which came after senior Fox News executives learned what he had said to them in text messages that exposed the lawsuit.
“Dominion did not insist that they fire Tucker Carlson as part of the settlement.
“But the very fact that this is the result of all this, and it can be traced back to the work that Dominion initiated…of course I know what’s in the redacted stuff and I can’t say anything about it.
“I hope at some point it all gets unredacted,” Shackelford, a partner at Susman Godfrey LLP, told Axios.
Dominion attorney Stephen Shackelford (right left court on April 18 after the settlement was reached) said he hopes the full court record is not updated
Hootan Yaghoobzadeh, co-founder of Staple Street Capital, the private equity owner of Dominion, said of Carlson’s firing, “I think the ramifications of the whole strategy we’ve been following are beginning to reflect.”
Hootan Yaghoobzadeh, co-founder of Staple Street Capital, the private equity owner of Dominion, also appeared to take credit for Carlson’s firing.
“I think the effects of the whole strategy we’ve been following are starting to show.”
He added that Carlson’s firing is “much more profound” than “some insincere apology or forced statement” of wrongdoing. To make a meaningful impact, we had to make sure we got that rock moving.”
Yaghoobzadeh also claimed that Dominion did not want to settle the case at all.
“We made sure all lawyers understood that settlement was a curse word. We didn’t want to talk about it.
Much of the scroll remains edited in whole or in part
“Our strategy was to go to trial, get a verdict and accomplish three goals, which is to get the truth out, hold Fox accountable and get us compensated for the damage they caused.”
He did not disclose why they ultimately chose to end the lawsuit.
Many of the exchanges between Carlson, other hosts at Fox News, and Rupert Murdoch remain partially or completely redacted.
Had a process gone through, more of their comments probably would have come to light.
A Fox News representative said of the Dominion settlement, “We are pleased to have reached a settlement for our dispute with Dominion Voting Systems.
“We recognize the rulings of the Court finding that certain claims about Dominion are false.
“This settlement reflects FOX’s continued commitment to the highest journalistic standards.
“We are hopeful that our decision to resolve this dispute with Dominion amicably, rather than the bitterness of a divisive process, will allow the country to move forward with these issues.”
The network was tight-lipped in explaining Carlson’s bombings.
In a statement Monday, a spokesperson said: “FOX News Media and Tucker Carlson have agreed to part ways.
“We thank him for his service to the network as a host and before that as a contributor.”
A New York Times report alleges that Carlson called a senior Fox News executive a “c**t,” and was disappointed when that was edited out of the official account.