Tucker Carlson, Sean Hannity and other Fox hosts might be called to testify

Investigating a “stoichiometry-informed” media mogul in the wake of a stolen election and urged him to leave Fox News

Among the network personnel that the voting technology company wants to call as witnesses are Fox News chief executive Suzanne Scott; Fox News President Jay Wallace; hosts Sean Hannity, Tucker Carlson, Maria Bartiromo, Laura Ingraham, and Bret Baier; and former executive Bill Sammon and politics editor Chris Stirewalt.

Dominion’s potential witness list, which is not final and will surely face legal challenges from Fox’s lawyers, is part of the routine process of haggling over witnesses while both sides prepare for trial.

Fox previously told the judge it would be a “hardship” for Murdoch to testify in-person, and said Dominion’s bid to compel his testimony should be rejected because it presents an “undue burden” on the 92-year-old media mogul.

Both Fox News and Dominion previously asked the judge to declare them the outright winner without a trial. Most legal experts believe that if the case does not get a settlement, it will move to jury trial. Jury selection is scheduled to begin on April 13.

“I also have people telling me that he’s done some things recently that [show] he’s hardly infirm,” Davis said, noting that Murdoch had recently announced his engagement to be married for the fifth time and plans to travel between his homes in Los Angeles, Montana, New York and London.

Matthew Carter of Fox argued that Murdoch should be relied upon for the deposition because they were not arguing that he was frail or unable to travel.

In his deposition, Murdoch asserted that he knew Trump had lost the 2020 election, but certain Fox hosts, including Maria Bartiromo and Lou Dobbs, had “endorsed” the narrative of a stolen election.

Officials from Fox said this week that Dominion had sought to limit the network’s First Amendment arguments, pointing to sealed motions that Fox claims would limit its attorneys from referencing newsworthiness in the network’s defense.

Why Murdoch wouldn’t flip votes from Trump to Biden: Fox Corp. Attorneys vowed to put on testimony against Dominion

Both sides want to put on testimony from their experts who specialize in election statistics, the security of voting machines, journalism ethics, the impact on public discourse, and more.

In court documents, it was stated that its experts will describe how it would be impossible to flip millions of votes from Trump to Biden, which is exactly what Fox hosts and guests suggested.

The remarks came at the outset of a pre-trial hearing when Judge Eric M. Davis noted that he previously had received a letter stating that the 92-year-old Murdoch “couldn’t travel” to the trial in Delaware because of COVID.

Fox attorneys said the network was airing claims made by the president and his representatives in the wake of the election because it was an inherently breaking news story.

Yet Fox attorneys also specifically push back against Dominion’s assertion that culpability could extend to the executives and board members of Fox News’ parent company, Fox Corp.

The case, which was filed last year, has so far uncovered thousands of documents that attorneys intend to use as trial exhibits and has prompted scores of depositions.

Matthew Carter pointed out Murdoch’s deposition when answering Davis’ doubts about Murdoch’s ability to travel.

Carter claimed there was a miscommunication. He said his side hadn’t argued that Murdoch was infirm, but that there was no reason for his trial testimony given that the Murdoch had already submitted to seven hours of questioning in the deposition.

He said he could stop Fox News’ executives and stars from giving airtime to Rudy Giuliani, who peddled the lie.

The exact same thing could happen for officials farther down the Fox chain of command, including those directly involved in producing specific segments.

The High Court Benchmark Against Public Disclosure of High-Dimensional Prosecutive Practices: a Case Study of Fox’s Brain Room

The attorneys sparred over topics that can be covered during testimony, type of exhibits that can be shown, and even the number of days of advance notification a witness must give before their testimony at the Tuesday hearing.

The hearing then turned to a hotly debated issue of the public disclosure of court documents. (Attorneys for NPR and other media organizations are challenging widespread redactions throughout the documents.)

The court was asked to redact documents about the fact-checking process in Fox’s “Brain Room.”

He said that when he wrote his opinion on the motions he would include mentions of the Brain Room.