Joe McConnell
CNN
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This is.
In a few days, the defamation trial of the century will begin in Wilmington, Delaware.
Jury selection for the monstrous $1.6 billion Dominion Voting Systems defamation lawsuit continued through Thursday, with 300 potential jurors summoned to the courthouse. Good progress was made, with the presiding judge noting that there were “more than enough jurors” to begin the trial as scheduled Monday.
It is there, in courtroom 7E, that Murdoch Media’s most senior figures, accompanied by a host of high-level lawyers, will attempt to mount their defense after repeatedly failing to convince a judge to dismiss a now historic case.
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Frankly, it feels extraordinary to write this. When I watched Fox News broadcast election lies in the aftermath of the 2020 election, I never expected the network to be held accountable in any meaningful way.
I have been covering Fox News for a while now. I have watched thousands upon thousands of hours of programming on the right-wing channel. I have watched its hosts over the years undermine public health, make crude anti-immigration comments, peddle lies and propaganda, and promote wild conspiracy theories that were once reserved for the farthest reaches of the right.
The network has always seemed to find a way to weather controversy, even the most infernal storms it has ever faced. Sometimes it has emerged even stronger and bolder than before.
But this time is different. This time, the usual tricks the network resorts to in times of crisis won’t get it off the hook. This time, in a court of law, the network will have to present an honest, factual argument.
Fox News is about to enter the true No Spin Zone, where deception is strictly forbidden. Where it is not in charge. And where its top executives like Rupert Murdoch and Suzanne Scott and hosts like Tucker Carlson and Sean Hannity can’t simply ignore a request for comment and instead resort to attacking “the media” on the air.
In this environment, where lies cannot be told carelessly and the truth cannot be twisted beyond reality to fit a dishonest narrative, it will be fascinating to see how the network fares. If the preliminary hearings are any indication, it won’t be pretty. The case hasn’t even started yet, and the presiding judge has already lost patience with Fox’s legal team and put them on notice.
Perhaps the tide will turn for Fox News when the judge gives the go-ahead for the trial on Monday. But if it goes as it has in the last few weeks of court, Fox News will be in a brutal situation.
