An attorney for Dominion Voting Systems said Fox News withheld information about Rupert Murdoch's involvement with the network, leading a judge to say the right-leaning news network had a "credibility problem."
On Tuesday, Justin Nelson, an attorney representing Dominion in its $1.6bn defamation case against Fox News said the network withheld information about Mr Murdoch, the co-founder of the cable news giant.
He told the judge that Dominion had been led to believe that Mr Murdoch was only an officer for Fox News' parent company, Fox Corp, but later learned he also held an officer title at Fox News, according to The Washington Post.
“This alone has meant that we are missing a whole bunch of Rupert Murdoch documents that we otherwise would have been entitled to,” Mr Nelson said. “It’s very troubling that this is where we are. It’s something that has really affected how we have litigated this case.”
That's when the judge, Eric Davis, chastised the network's attorneys, saying without proper information he "could have made an entirely wrong decision," further stating that Fox News had a "credibility problem." The judge said he felt as though he had been misled.
“My problem is that it’s been represented more than once to me that he’s not an officer of Fox News,” Mr Davis said. “I need to feel comfortable that when you represent something to me, it’s the truth. I’m not very happy right now. I don’t know why this is such a difficult thing.”
An attorney for Fox said that Mr Murdoch's title at Fox News was simply an "honorific," and that his true title was that of Fox Corp chairman.
"Rupert Murdoch has been listed as executive chairman of Fox News in our [Securities and Exchange Commission] filings for several years and this filing was referenced by Dominion’s own attorney during his deposition.” a Fox Corp spokesperson said.
The judge said he did not think the revelation would upend the case, but he still needed time to consider how to proceed.
“I’m not mad at you,” Mr Davis told Fox’s attorney. “I’m mad at the situation I’m in. So, I have to figure out how I deal with that.”
The trial will begin selecting jurors on Thursday. It is currently unclear if Mr Murdoch, 92, will testify.
Dominion is suing Fox News, claiming its 2020 election coverage spread false and defamatory information about the company. Donald Trump boosters — like MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell — were given a platform to talk to Fox's audience and insist that Dominion rigged its election machines to hand Joe Biden the 2020 election.
There has never been any evidence to suggest any of those claims are true.
The Independent has reached out for a statement from Fox News.
