Rupert Murdoch is seemingly being deposed in the $2.7 billion defamation suit filed by voting technology company Smartmatic against Fox Corp., according to reporting by CNBC.
The 92-year-old billionaire was expected to be questioned by Smartmatic lawyers Tuesday and Wednesday in Los Angeles, an anonymous source told CNBC.
Murdoch relinquished control of his media empire earlier this month to his son Lachlan Murdoch, and is now “chairman emeritus” of the companies.
Fox Corp. and its personalities Maria Bartiromo, Jeanine Pirro, and Lou Dobbs have been accused of leading a “disinformation campaign” against Smartmatic, which allegedly falsely accused the company of rigging the 2020 presidential elections in favor of Joe Biden. Smartmatic is seeking damages amounting to “in excess of $2.7 billion”. The lawsuit filed by Smartmatic is similar to the one filed by Dominion Voting Systems against Fox Corp. which was settled earlier this year for $787.5 million.
Fox Corp. filed a motion to have the Smartmatic lawsuit dismissed, but it was denied by a New York appeals court in February. On the other hand, Dominion did not require any on-air apologies and denied Tucker Carlson’s claim that they were responsible for his ouster.
Murdoch’s sworn deposition in the Dominion case showed him criticizing Trump and the MAGA Republicans’ claims of a stolen election.
Smartmatic attorneys have indicated that the company is fully prepared to go to trial and will seek an on-air retraction for the false election claims.
In statement earlier this year, Fox said, “We will be ready to defend this case surrounding extremely newsworthy events when it goes to trial, likely in 2025. As a report prepared by our financial expert shows, Smartmatic’s damages claims are implausible, disconnected from reality, and on its face intended to chill First Amendment freedoms.”
