Judd Legum writes:

It’s not a secret that Fox News is a political operation seeking to bolster the prospects of Republicans. Jeanne Pirro, co-host of Fox News’ The Five, regularly appears at Republican fundraisers. Mark Levin, who hosts a weekly Fox News program, appeared at a rally and fundraiser for a Republican candidate in Virginia. Sean Hannity, one of Fox News’ primetime stars, stumped for President Trump. Alternatively, just watch Fox News for a few minutes — the purpose is clear.

At the same time, Fox News has been able to convince a lot of people — not just Republicans — that it is simultaneously a legitimate news operation. That is why, in September 2020, Biden and the Democratic Party agreed to have Fox News moderate a presidential debate. It’s also why, during a critical stretch of the 2020 campaign, 22% of Biden’s cable TV ads ran on Fox News — which is roughly equal to the number of Biden ads that aired on CNN and twice the number that aired on MSNBC.

But an explosive legal filing has exposed the truth about Fox News.

On Monday night, Dominion Voting Systems filed a document as part of its $1.6 billion defamation lawsuit against Fox News. The core of the lawsuit alleges that Fox News knowingly promoted lies about Dominion Voting Systems to bolster Trump’s false claims of voter fraud and pander to its audience. But, in an aside, lawyers for Dominion dropped this bombshell:

During Trump’s campaign, [News Corp CEO] Rupert [Murdoch] provided Trump’s son-in-law and senior Advisor, Jared Kushner, with Fox confidential information about Biden’s ads, along with debate strategy. Ex.600, R. Murdoch 210:6-9; 213:17-20; Ex.603 (providing Kushner a preview of Biden’s ads before they were public).

While this, at the moment, is an allegation and not a fact, Dominion signaled in its citation that it has significant evidence to back it up. [Continue reading…]