Fox Corp. Lawyer who handled defamation case against Fox News leaves firm

(Mary Altaffer/AP)

Fox Corp. Lawyer who handled defamation case against Fox News leaves firm

Stephen Battaglio

August 11, 2023

Viet Dinh, chief legal officer for Fox Corp. and a close ally of Rupert and Lachlan Murdoch, leaves his position at the company.

Fox Corp. said in a statement Friday that Dinh, who is leaving at the end of this year,

other

will transition into the role of ‘special adviser’.

Dinh is the highest ranking

officer at

Fox Corp. since abandoned

the media company

Paid $787.5 million to Dominion Voting Systems to settle that company’s $1.6 billion libel suit against Fox News.

The lawsuit alleged that Fox News damaged the company’s reputation for electronic voting equipment when the network repeatedly proliferated

Former President Trump’s false statements about voter fraud in the 2020 election.

Evidence in the case revealed a number of embarrassing texts and emails from employees, many of whom believed the claims were false and that Trump had lost despite the theories presented on the air.

Dinh led Fox Corp.’s legal strategy. in the business. He would have expressed confidence in the company’s ability to win because statements on the conservative news network would be protected by the

1st First

Change.

But Murdoch chose to settle the case before testimony could be heard in April’s trial.

“We appreciate Viet’s many contributions and services to Fox both as a board member of 21st Century Fox and in his role over the past five years as a valued member of Fox’s leadership team,” said Lachlan Murdoch, executive chairman of Fox Corp.

.

“We are grateful that he will continue to serve as special advisor to Fox, where we will benefit from his counsel.”

Dinh, who

What

formerly assistant attorney general in the administration of former President George W. Bush, has been a key player at Fox Corp. since 2018. He is an old friend of Lachlan Murdoch and serves as godfather to the principal’s son.

While some lower

High-level decision-makers involved in Dominion coverage have left Fox News, which has been subject to cost cutting in recent months. Top buyers from both the network and its parent company remained in place ahead of Friday’s announcement.

Fox News Media Chief Executive Suzanne Scott and her deputy Jay Wallace are still in charge at the network, which has seen its ratings soar since revamping its prime time schedule following the departure of its most popular and provocative host

,

Tucker Carlson.

carlson,

one of Trump’s most ardent supporters, was no major offender in spreading the false statements about the election on the air. But hey

was permanently taken off the air on April 24 when he became a legal liability for the network.

Fox News paid $12 million to a former producer who claimed she was exposed to a hostile work environment while working on Carlson

S

show.

Ray Epps, a participant in the January 6 riot at the Capitol, is suing Fox over Carlson’s repeated statements that Epps was a government agent who helped agitate the protesters.

Fox News is facing another defamation lawsuit related to voting fraud reporting from voting machine company Smartmatic. Barring a settlement, the $2.7 billion lawsuit will disappear

Unpleasant

trials in 2025.

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