Judge Slaps Sanctions on Fox in Dominion Case

A day after scolding Fox News in court, the judge handling the case involving a defamation lawsuit filed by Dominion Voting Systems sanctioned the network over withholding evidence and warned an investigation and censure could be next. The sanction was imposed Wednesday after recordings were played in court that Fox had not turned over to Dominion's lawyers during discovery, NBC News reports. The recordings were made in 2020 by Abby Grossberg, a former producer who said network lawyers pushed her to provide false testimony in the case and is suing Fox. The judge's sanction allows Dominion to take another deposition and bill Fox for it. The company's suit accuses Fox of airing false claims about 2020 presidential election results.

Delaware Superior Court Judge Eric Davis was reacting to several instances in which Dominion showed Fox had failed to hand over evidence in a timely way, per the New York Times. He suggested he'll appoint a special master to look into Fox's handling of document discovery of documents and whether the network withheld information about Rupert Murdoch's leadership role at the network. Davis expressed irritation at the latter issue on Tuesday, per the Hill.

"This is a problem," a court transcript shows he told Fox lawyers. "I need to feel comfortable when you represent something to me that is the truth." Davis called potential misrepresentations a "very serious" issue. "And by the way," he added at one point, "omission is a lie." The trial is scheduled to begin Monday, with jury selection beginning Thursday. (Fox News just settled another defamation suit.)