Attorneys for Dominion Voting Systems hammered out Fox News’ claims at a hearing Tuesday that its reporting of false information about alleged voter fraud in the 2020 election was protected by the First Amendment.

The two parties went before a judge in Delaware

a ruling on requests for

summary judgments

submitted by each side

in the Denver voting machine manufacturers defamation case ahead of an expected jury trial in mid-April.

Dominion is seeking $1.6 billion in damages, claiming Fox News deliberately aired this

P

resident Donald Trump’s false claims of voter fraud in the 2020 election to placate her

angry

viewers fleeing the network in anger at how it called the state of Arizona for President Biden.

“They had to do something to try and get the viewers back and what they did to get the viewers back was start a new story that the election was stolen and that

the

Dominion was the thief responsible for stealing the election,” said Stephen Shakleford, a lawyer for Dominion.

Fox News has argued that the accusations made by Trump and his representatives were newsworthy, even if untrue

That

the network’s reporting was protected by the First Amendment. The network cites “neutral reporting privilege,” which protects media organizations from libel claims if they accurately and objectively report newsworthy allegations against public figures as part of an ongoing controversy.

But Dominion’s legal team said in court Tuesday that Fox News has gone far beyond that territory, as it presented the claims of voter fraud and Dominion’s alleged involvement long after they were dismissed by government agencies and journalists within the network.

Trump’s legal team, made up of Rudolph Giuliani and Sidney Powell, appeared on Fox News in the months following the 2020 election, presenting unsubstantiated allegations such as Dominion formed in Venezuela to aid Hugo Chvez and that its machines rigged votes to get President to favor Biden.

Such baseless charges Such claims

often went unchallenged on the network in the weeks following the election when presented by Trump’s allies, despite evidence to the contrary.

During the hearing, many of the court documents and witness statements related to the case were reviewed,

in which

Fox News anchors, producers and executives, including boss Rupert Murdoch, are being cited for broadcasting the false claims

,

while expressing their own skepticism and downplaying the coverage by some

network is located

journalists and hosts who disputed the allegations.

Fox News attorney Erin Murphy argued that the network’s hosts always presented Powell and Giuliani’s statements as unsubstantiated allegations, repeatedly asking for evidence

that witch

was never provided. She said “reasonable” viewers would assume the allegations were not being presented as fact.

“The hosts didn’t respond by saying wow, that must be true,” said Murphy. “They just asked, ‘How soon are you going to bring these suits?’ and ‘what evidence do you have to support them?'”

But Dominion noted how the false hoods were embedded in the programs, such as

Mary

Bartiromo’s “Sunday Morning Futures,” where the anchor arranged an interview with Powell by teasing that the attorney had “some fascinating revelations” and “Ms. Powell will explain what she’s been digging up.”

Shakleford said such statements by Bartiromo “clearly indicate that what you are about to hear are some facts.”

Dominion lawyers noted how Fox News shows continued to book Trump lawyers

Sydney

Powell and

rudy

Giuliani and allowed them to make false statements, even though it was accepted by many of the executives and hosts that there was no massive fraud and that the election was legitimate.

Dominion cited testimony from David Clark, a Fox News executive in charge of weekend programming, who acknowledged on November 6, 2020 that the election had been conducted fairly. But the programs he oversees, including “Sunday Morning Futures” with Maria Bartiromo, continued to put Giuliani and Powell on her schedule.

despite high-level sources telling her their claims were baseless

. Bartiromo repeatedly asked for evidence, but made no objection to the overall thrust of the false claims.

Dominion lawyers also pointed out how Fox News executives could have edited or corrected misinformation before the programs featuring Powell were rebroadcast.

of the performances

but chose not to a point that some legal experts say is one of the strongest pieces of evidence in the case.

Fox News attorney Erin

Murphy

attorney for Fox News,

said the network hosts named in the lawsuit never presented the allegations as factual and that a “reasonable viewer” would not interpret them that way.

Murphy also challenged the idea that Fox News acted maliciously by, for example, knowingly promoting false claims

scary

there is no evidence that any of the executives at parent company Fox Corp. were directly involved in the editorial content on the network. Fox news

leaders executives

As CEO Suzanne Scott was described as “rarely involved in substantive” decisions on the network.

Fox News host Tucker Carlson was among Fox News insiders who complained about Powell’s appearances in private messages giving testimonials such as, “It’s incredibly offensive to me.” Our viewers are good people and they believe it.

But Carlson’s actions are also scrutinized in the case

. When he had My Pillow owner Mike Lindell the biggest ad

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sing donor appearing on Fox News as a guest in January

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In 2021, the Trump-supporting mogul continued to promote voter fraud conspiracy theories.

Murphy argued that Lindell was booked on Carlson’s program to discuss cancellation culture after being banned from Twitter. Carlson testified in his deposition that he was unaware that Lindell was planning to advance his allegations of voter fraud and that he had no contact with him when he did.

Trying to thread the needle even further, Murphy said that Lindell mentioned “machine fraud” but didn’t mention Dominion and therefore viewers wouldn’t have assumed he was talking about the company.

The emails and text messages from Fox News employees entered as evidence have become a public source of embarrassment for the network, as it creates a portrait of a media organization that cares more about pleasing its partisan viewers than about factual news.

The legal battle is only getting uglier for it

Rupert

Murdoch’s network

when after

a Fox News producer filed a discrimination suit against her on Monday

employer, his prime time star Tucker

Carlson and several of his producers alleged that the “Tucker Carlson Tonight” operation was rampant with sexist, misogynistic, and bullying behavior.

The producer, Abby Grossberg, joined the staff of Carlson’s show last September as head of bookings after nearly three years as producer and booker for Bartiromo’s

program

“Sunday Morning Futures.”

In a lawsuit filed in federal court in Manhattan,

Grossberg claims

That

Fox seemed to be positioning her and Bartiromo to become the scapegoats for Dominion’s defamation claims. Her lawsuit alleges that Fox News lawyers harassed her during prep sessions for her statement in the Dominion case.

Fox News Media engaged independent outside counsel to immediately investigate Ms. Grossberg’s concerns, which were raised following a critical review of her performance,” a Fox News representative said in a statement. case are baseless and we will vigorously defend Fox against all of its claims.

Los Angeles staff writer Meg James contributed to this report.