hi, everyone i know that we say this a lot these days but buckle up it s 4:00 in new york. we re following breaking news on that monster $1.6 billion defamation lawsuit against fox news just a little bit ago we received word of a bombshell of a plot twist during what was supposed to be the last pretrial hearing before jury selection begins. here s that headline the judge has sanctioned fox news and its parent company, fox corp, for withholding evidence in the dominion defamation suit and said he is considering further investigation and censure. he is considering appointing a special master to investigate the fox local team s actions now, the breaking point today appears to be surprise evidence that was introduced in court today when this happened, quote, lawyers for dominion voting systems played recordings that fox news producer abby grossberg made during 2020, which were not handed over to dominion s lawyers during discovery we have a team of experts and friends to help us
to be with us for a while. and it s just the lack of a settlement so far is just one more way that is so extraordinary. you just don t see cases like this go to trial you don t see cases like this where there are reams of damning evidence that points to actual malice in the way that there is in this case so this one is one for the books. let me read a statement that s just come out from fox news about today s developments in court this is from the fox pr department quote, as counsel explained to the court, fox produced the supplemental information from ms. grossberg when we first learned it and a reminder on the statement, which is also relevant, rupert murdoch has been listed as executive chairman of fox news in our s.e.c. filings for several years and this filing was referenced by dominion s own attorney during his own deposition this sounds like a little bit of
meaning he would likely testify on monday or tuesday bombshell legal developments in this dominion $1.6 billion defamation lawsuit against fox news is where we begin with some of our favorite reporters and friends. as we mentioned, new york times political reporter and msnbc contributor, jeremy peters is here. also joining us, ronelle anderson jones, law professor at the university of utah and a first amendment scholar. with us at the table, molly john fast, but former state attorney for palm beach county, florida, dave aaron berg is here. jeremy peters, i didn t think there would be twists and turned separate from the jaw-dropping reveals in the internal communications at fox news but this is an obstructive legal act. explain what happened and what was revealed today
background when you are preparing a jury trial, there s a trial order that sets forth deadlines and cutoffs for things like discovery. when you are litigating in good faith, if somebody turns something over absent evidence that something else might exist, you believe that they have turned over this information in good faith discovery cutoffs, they are far enough in advance of a trial date so you can be prepared for anything and everything that comes your way there s no, quote, trial by ambush in any jurisdiction across the united states in this particular instance, to have recordings, which i think are more than damning in this case, email correspondence and other evidence that was not timely disclosed, from what we understand, dominion s lawyers are getting these things in terms of evidence from fox turned over a week before trial is supposed to begin, it creates a serious quagmire for dominion. the judge we will force fox to
was the incoming president and his clear acknowledgement sean hannity had a problem quitting him and they should do joint statement, which i don t think they have done for anything, acknowledging the election was over and that joe biden had won, not trump. george, how is that evidence further how does it further dominion s case that fox news the election was fine, that there was no fraud, that the voting machines hadn t malfunctioned in any shape or form, and that they were in receipt of over 2,000 communications from dominion before, during and after all their segments broadcasting the lies how does that get presented to a jury i think it s critical but i think in all the things you just mentioned, that involve murdoch, the most incriminating probably is the fact that he said he could have done something about it or he should have done something about it it seems to me that places him