As preparations begin for the Dominion Voting Systems defamation lawsuit against Fox News, each side has prepared a list of potential witnesses to testify at the trial.
Dominion Voting Systems has accused Fox of purposefully airing claims about the 2020 presidential election that it knew to be false, while the network has countered by accusing the election machine company of using the media to create narratives surrounding the case that are untrue.
The cable news outlet listed 35 potential witnesses to the court this week. Concurrently, Dominion submitted 54 names, including Fox Corp. founder Rupert Murdoch, and his son, CEO Lachlan Murdoch, as well as Fox Corp. board of directors member Paul Ryan.
Former Fox News personnel, including Bill Sammon and Chris Stirewalt — who both exited the company after the 2020 election — were listed as potential witnesses by Dominion, as was recently fired producer Abby Grossberg. Grossberg sued the network after alleging that Fox News intimidated her to lie during her deposition. She was subsequently fired last week. Fox News contends Grossberg’s characterization is inaccurate.
Hosts Tucker Carlson, Sean Hannity, Bret Baier, Laura Ingraham, and Maria Bartiromo were also listed by Dominion as witnesses they’d like to see testify under oath.
Fox News was open to putting some of the hosts on the stand, as well as CEO Suzanne Scott and company President Jay Wallace.
A network spokesperson called the list presented by Dominion “needlessly expansive”, adding that it is “yet another attempt to generate headlines and distract from the many shortcomings of its case. Ultimately, this case is about the First Amendment protections of the media’s absolute right to cover the news.”
The trial is currently scheduled to begin on Monday, April 17th.
