A Delaware judge said on Wednesday that Dominion Voting Systems could compel Fox Corp executives Rupert and Lachlan Murdoch to testify in court at this month’s blockbuster $1.6-billion defamation trial. “They are relevant to the case,” Judge Eric Davis said during a hearing. “If Dominion wants to bring them live, they need to issue a trial subpoena. I would not quash it, and I would compel them to come. It would be my discretion that they come.” The ruling comes after Dominion’s lawyers asked the court to force the testimony of the Murdochs, Fox Corp board member Paul Ryan, and Fox chief legal officer Viet Dinh. Network lawyers previously claimed that Rupert Murdoch shouldn’t have to testify in court due to his age and lengthy deposition, but Davis appeared skeptical of that argument as Murdoch was recently engaged and had traveled extensively. On Tuesday, Fox News agreed to allow hosts Tucker Carlson, Sean Hannity, and Maria Bartiromo to testify, along with Fox News CEO Suzanne Scott. Dominion has accused the network of knowingly airing election fraud lies in order to boost its sagging ratings following the 2020 election, an allegation the network vehemently denies. “Dominion clearly wants to continue generating misleading stories from their friends in the media to distract from their weak case,” a Fox rep told The Daily Beast. “Demanding witnesses who had nothing to do with the challenged broadcasts is just the latest example of their political crusade in search of a financial windfall.”
