“To say somehow that Fox influenced that, I’m not deciding that part,” Davis said at a pre-trial hearing. “We’re not putting the January 6th attack on [trial]. That may be for another court at another time. It’s not for this one.”
But the judge said that witnesses can be asked about Fox’s strategic decisions after the insurrection. In particular, he mentioned network co-founder Rupert Murdoch’s acknowledgment in an email that Fox was “pivoting as far as possible” after Jan. 6. Davis suggested that lawyers for plaintiff Dominion Voting Systems could fairly ask Murdoch about that.
He also said that it would be acceptable for Dominion’s lawyers to talk in court about the increased personal security costs the company incurred after the insurrection.
Justin Nelson, a lawyer for Dominion, told the judge that his side did not plan to argue that Fox caused Jan. 6, but said that Jan. 6 “does come up in ways relevant to our evidentiary presentation.” But Davis insisted that Dominion should largely “stay far away from it.”
This is a breaking story and will be updated.
