The Fox News Defamation Lawsuit: “Money, Ideology, Truth, Lies—It’s All Right There”
The Political Scene | The New Yorker
The New Yorker
4.3 • 3.9K Ratings
🗓️ 4 March 2023
⏱️ 36 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
The Dominion Voting Systems defamation lawsuit against Fox News stems from the 2020 election and Donald Trump’s refusal to accept defeat. At stake is nearly $1.6 billion in damages. Filings released in the case contain a trove of e-mails and text messages from Fox hosts and executives. The documents reveal that many of the top decision-makers at the company didn’t seem to believe what their own network was saying about the 2020 election. Fox’s owner, Rupert Murdoch, admitted as much, in a deposition released this week. In our weekly roundtable, the New Yorker staff writers Susan B. Glasser, Jane Mayer, and Evan Osnos look at what the filings tell us about how Fox News operates, the current state of Republican politics, and the 2024 election.
Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choicesTranscript
Click on a timestamp to play from that location
| 0:00.0 | Discover Earth's ultimate untamed places with wilderness. With access to 6 million acres of private land in eight African countries, wilderness offers intimate wildlife encounters and experiences that will leave you changed forever. The accommodations are luxurious and stay true to the vibrant soul and spirit of each destination and the trips are |
| 0:23.0 | meticulously planned from arrival to departure, making them perfect for a group, family or solo |
| 0:29.0 | travellers. Wilderness is among the leaders of conservation hospitality, with more than 60 |
| 0:34.5 | of the most highly awarded lodges in camps in Africa. |
| 0:41.1 | Wilderness is especially excited this year to focus on wellness, |
| 0:44.7 | providing experiences that immerse you in beautiful places to restore your sense of self through nature. |
| 0:48.1 | To learn more and book your own wilderness adventure, |
| 0:50.8 | go to wilderness destinations.com slash women who travel. |
| 0:55.7 | eBay, it's a place to fall in love with new pre-loved vintage and rare fashion over and over |
| 1:01.6 | again. Your favorite designers, expertly authenticated. Yeah, eBay. Things people love. |
| 1:12.2 | What are the kids into now? Oh, Santos. There's finally, it's only doing an ethics investigation. |
| 1:17.7 | Well, you know, I read that that Santos is actually planning, of course, to run for re-election already because he's gotten so much publicity. And that really is the aim of it, isn't it? |
| 1:26.7 | Wait a minute. What a country. |
| 1:28.4 | Not just reelection. There's someone who works for him who's planning his presidential bit. |
| 1:33.9 | Oh, God. Are you serious? |
| 1:35.4 | Serious. |
| 1:40.5 | Welcome to the political scene, a weekly discussion about the big questions in American |
| 1:45.1 | politics. I'm Susan Glasser, and this is the favorite part of my week when I'm joined by |
| 1:49.8 | my colleagues Evan Osnows and Jane Mayer. Hi, guys. Hey, Susan. Hi there. So, look, it's fair to say |
| 2:00.4 | that all three of us have been absolutely hooked on the revelations about Fox News, which have been coming out of the Dominion voting system's defamation lawsuit. The filings are a remarkable peak. You might even call it an X-ray at the inner workings of one of the most powerful TV networks in America, |
| 2:18.5 | not to mention a window into Republican politics today and in the future. |
| 2:24.4 | In a bombshell filing this week, we saw text messages and emails from inside Fox itself, |
... |
Please login to see the full transcript.
Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from The New Yorker, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.
Generated transcripts are the property of The New Yorker and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.
Copyright © Tapesearch 2026.