The legal battle between Dominion Voting Systems and Fox News had an expected new twist as the judge overseeing the case sanctioned the conservative network on Wednesday.

Dominion alleged that Fox News did not turn over certain recordings, revealing that its hosts and executives knew there was no support for baseless claims about Dominion rigging the 2020 presidential election against former President Donald Trump.

After Delaware Superior Court Judge Eric Davis learned during a pretrial hearing in Wilmington that the conservative network may have withheld evidence, he sanctioned its lawyers.

According to CBS News, the recorded conversations were between Fox News host Maria Bartiromo and Trump's ex-attorneys, Rudy Giuliani and Sidney Powell, who made unfounded claims on the network's broadcasts that Dominion rigged the 2020 election against Trump. 

These recordings were made available only following the pre-trial period when both parties exchanged information about the evidence that would be used.

Davis reportedly got frustrated with Fox News after Dominion's lawyers played the recordings in court. The disputed recordings were taken by producer Abby Grossberg, who also sued Fox News in a separate case.

The judge also complained that Rupert Murdoch's leadership role at Fox was still unclear to the court. He said the network's lawyers have yet to reveal the full extent of the Fox Corp. chairman's role at Fox News.

According to CNN, the sanction imposed against Fox will allow the voting equipment company to do additional depositions of some Fox witnesses, if they want to, at this late stage of the case. Fox must then make those witnesses available and pay for these depositions.

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Fox News Tries to Look Defiant Amid Sanctions

After being sanctioned, Fox News spokeswoman Irena Briganti told the BBC in an email, "As counsel explained to the court, Fox produced the supplemental information from Ms. Grossberg when we first learned it."

As for Rupert Murdoch's role in Fox News, Briganti said, "Rupert Murdoch has been listed as executive chairman of Fox News in our SEC filings for several years, and this filing was referenced by Dominion's own attorney during his deposition."

However, Judge Eric Davis still chided Fox News lawyers over this, stating, "My problem is that it has been represented to me more than once that he is not an officer."

Previously, Fox News has told the court that Murdoch was only an officer at Fox Corp. and did not have any role in Fox News.

Fox News and its parent company, Fox Corp., are facing a $1.6 billion defamation lawsuit filed by the voting equipment firm, which claimed that the conservative network defamed the company by repeatedly claiming, without evidence, election fraud claims involving their voting machines, and knowing that its hosts, like Laura Ingraham and Tucker Carlson, have been saying lies on air.

A set of text messages previously revealed in the court filing showed that the two Fox News stars publicly peddled Donald Trump's narrative that the 2020 election was stolen. But privately, they ridiculed and criticized this false claim made by the former president.

Delaware Judge May Appoint Special Master to Oversee Evidence in Dominion Lawsuit

In light of the discovery that Fox News may have withheld evidence, Judge Eric Davis said he would appoint a "special master" to investigate the matter. 

The special master would look at previous assertions made by Fox News to the court and find out if they were "untrue or negligent."

According to CNN, the special master's inquiry may be twofold, as the appointed official must find out if Fox withheld vital evidence and if it misled the court by obscuring Rupert Murdoch's role at Fox News.

READ MORE: Fox News CEO Furious at Reporter for Fact-Checking Donald Trump's Election Lies

This article is owned by Latin Post.

Written by: Rick Martin

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