Smartmatic, a voting technology company, is trying to obtain evidence from the secret court battle between media mogul Rupert Murdoch and his children over the future of his right-wing media empire. The company is seeking to examine sealed documents from the family fight that it believes will bolster its defamation lawsuit against Fox News, which promoted lies about the 2020 election.
According to a source, the company wants to review transcripts of depositions or trial testimony from Murdoch and his family members, who control Fox’s parent company. Smartmatic is trying to use evidence from the Nevada probate court case to show that Fox’s control of its parent company has an impact on the editorial direction of Fox News.
The Murdoch family has been battling over succession in a Reno courtroom, with a probate commissioner rejecting an attempt by Murdoch to retool the family trust to enable his most conservative son, Lachlan, to lead Fox Corporation after his death. Smartmatic is trying to obtain records from this case, which it believes will contradict Fox’s claims that the parent company’s control has no impact on the editorial direction of Fox News.
Smartmatic’s lawyers claim that these documents will demonstrate that Fox’s control of the parent company is used to promote a right-wing agenda, contrary to what the company has previously claimed. Fox’s lawyers have opposed the release of these documents, stating that they are irrelevant to the election defamation case.
The dispute is part of a larger trend of post-2020 election litigation, with several media outlets and Trump allies facing legal action over false claims about the election. Smartmatic is also suing Trump allies Mike Lindell and Sidney Powell, and has settled similar litigation with conservative network Newsmax and far-right channel One America News.