Fox News host Howard Kurtz admitted that his network had a “rough week” in court after a judge sanctioned its legal team for likely withholding evidence in a defamation case brought by Dominion Voting Systems.
During his Media Buzz program on Sunday, Kurtz reported that Delaware superior court judge Eric Davis was considering appointing a special master in the case due to deception on the part of Fox News’ attorneys.
“I can assure you that I will provide fair and down-the-middle coverage of this $1.6 billion suit about coverage of false election fraud claims in 2020, despite the fact that I work here,” Kurtz promised. “And with that, it’s been a very rough week for Fox.”
“In other pretrial rulings, Judge Davis undercut part of Fox’s defense,” the host reported. “The judge said Fox News cannot argue that it carried false allegations of election fraud by Trump allies because they were newsworthy. Judge Davis said, just because someone is newsworthy doesn’t mean you can defame someone.”
The host provided a rundown of Davis’ ruling before reading a statement prepared by Fox News.
“Dominion’s lawsuit is a political crusade in search of a financial windfall, but the real cost would be cherished First Amendment rights,” the statement said. “And a verdict for Dominion and its private equity owners would have grave consequences for the entire journalism profession.”
Kurtz noted that the case “may well turn on the jury’s view whether Fox acted with actual malice, generally a very high bar for plaintiffs until now.”
