Fox News anchor Howard Kurtz said the network barred him from reporting on the Dominion Voting System lawsuit against the network during coverage of the 2020 election.
“Some of you have asked why I’m not covering Dominion Voting Machines’ lawsuit against Fox involving unproven election fraud claims in 2020, and that’s a fair question,” Kurtz said Sunday on “Mediabuzz.”
“I believe I have to cover it. This is a major media story, because of my role at Fox. But the company has decided that as part of the organization being sued, I cannot speak or write about it, at least not now. I strongly disagree with the decision mentioned, but as an employee, I have to abide by it. And if it changes, I will let you know.
Fox News, whose hosts regularly rail against censorship, did not immediately return calls for comment on the matter.
Earlier this month, court filings disclosed text messages that Dominion said were sent by a senior Fox News executive and its main host. The text suggests that network talent and decision makers do not believe the false claims of election fraud that are inflated on air.
Tucker Carlson, for example, called the Trump campaign’s election grievances “ludicrous” and “totally dead” in a private text exchange. Sean Hannity at one point called people who promote lies “crazy”. And Raj Shah, senior vice president of Fox Corporation, apparently described the voter fraud claims as “an incredible thought.”
The host star named in the file has remained silent on the allegations. In a statement shortly after the story broke, a Fox News spokesperson said: “Dominion has misrepresented the record, cherry-picked quotes out of context, and wasted a lot of ink on facts that are irrelevant under the principles of defamation law.
Dominion is suing Fox for $1.6 billion, accusing the company of promoting damaging lies that Dominion helped rig the 2020 election against former President Donald Trump. The case is scheduled to go to trial in April.