Media titan Rupert Murdoch described Donald Trump's claims that the 2020 election was stolen as "crazy" and "damaging," according to a defamation lawsuit filed against his Fox News network.
The billionaire made the comments in messages to Fox executives even as his right-wing news channel continued to give credence to Trump's false allegations, Thursday's filing alleges.
The document also says that some of Fox's biggest stars, including Tucker Carlson and Laura Ingraham, privately ridiculed top Trump advisors who were saying Joe Biden had lost the election.
Vote machine maker Dominion submitted the messages to a court in Delaware as part of its $1.6 billion lawsuit against Fox.
Dominion sued the network in March 2021, alleging that the 24-hour news channel endorsed Trump's false claims that its machines were used to rig the election.
When Trump advisors Rudy Giuliani and Sidney Powell gave a press conference in November 2020 making the claim, Murdoch wrote an email to Suzanne Scott, chief executive of Fox News Media.
With the subject line, "Watching Giuliani!" Murdoch wrote: "Really crazy stuff. And damaging," according to the filing.
On another occasion, he wrote: "Terrible stuff damaging everybody, I fear."
The 192-page document shows Murdoch regularly expressing his concern over Fox's coverage of the election.
"If Trump becomes a sore loser, we should watch (host) Sean (Hannity) especially and others don't sound the same," he wrote to Scott.
The documents also allege that Carlson told Ingraham that "Sidney Powell is lying by the way. I caught her. It's insane."
Ingraham responded by saying, "Sidney is a complete nut. No one will work with her. Ditto with Rudy."
The case risks inflicting significant financial and reputational damage on Fox News, but it can be difficult for plaintiffs to win defamation suits in America due to the First Amendment's protection of free speech.