Fox News is opposing a renewed effort by three news organizations to unseal documents related to its recently settled defamation lawsuit, saying it would do nothing but “gratify private spite or promote public scandal.”
The Associated Press, The New York Times and National Public Radio asked a Delaware judge this week to reveal mostly private text messages and conversations between Fox employees shortly after the 2020 presidential election.
The texts were uncovered as part of Dominion Voting Systems’ defamation lawsuit against the company.
Fox lawyer Katharine L. Mowery, in a letter sent late Wednesday to Delaware Superior Court Judge Eric Davis, said much of the material its competitors sought wasn’t relevant to the issues of the lawsuit.
She said the media outlets have no right to access such records.
Some of the already-uncovered conversations have generated headlines, including reports that Fox hosts and executives didn’t believe allegations about Dominion’s voting equipment but continued to air them.
Another batch of messages revealed former Fox host Tucker Carlson’s scorn for former President Donald Trump, including one text where he declared, “I hate him passionately.”
“They have not been shy about sharing the communications with the most potential to grab headlines,” Mowery wrote of the media challenging the sealed documents.
One of the reasons Fox agreed to settle the case was to “buy peace and bring an end to the media spectacle,” she wrote.
Fox said most of the documents were redacted because they contained proprietary information about the company.
In spite of that, the news organizations claimed they are still relevant and should be made public.
Fox agreed last month to pay $787 million to end the case.
Dominion had accused the network of repeatedly airing claims that its voting equipment rigged the 2020 election against Trump despite knowing those claims were false.
Fox is currently facing a backlash over its recent decision to fire Carlson, whose “Tucker Carlson Tonight” was one of the most popular cable news shows.
The Western Journal has reviewed this Associated Press story and may have altered it prior to publication to ensure that it meets our editorial standards.
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