Fox News said in a court filing Tuesday that it plans to put some of its most prominent executives and TV hosts on the witness stand to testify as part of its defense in the Dominion defamation trial.
The right-wing network told the judge it “intends to make available” these people to testify in-person. Fox will call these witnesses as part of their defense, but Dominion also wants to question them as part of their case.
The list includes Fox TV hosts Tucker Carlson, Maria Bartiromo, Sean Hannity, and Bret Baier, as well as Fox News CEO Suzanne Scott and President Jay Wallace.
The filing came amid still-ongoing legal wrangling between the parties about who can be called to testify. There is a hearing slated for Wednesday that will likely address some of these outstanding issues. (For instance, Fox is resisting Dominion’s effort to compel testimony from Rupert and Lachlan Murdoch.)
The $1.6 billion lawsuit is considered one of the most consequential defamation cases in recent memory. Dominion claims Fox News pushed various pro-Trump conspiracy theories about the election technology company because “the lies were good for Fox’s business.” Fox News has strongly disputed Dominion’s allegations and maintains that it is “proud” of its 2020 election coverage.
Last week, a Delaware judge ruled that Dominion Voting Systems’ case against Fox News will go to jury trial in mid-April. Both Fox News and Dominion had previously asked the judge to declare them the outright winner without a trial.
Jury selection is scheduled to begin on April 13.
– CNN’s Oliver Darcy contributed to this report
Read the full article here