Opinion: Fox News broadcast false voting fraud allegations

I did an interview with Dan Rather in 2008 shortly after I resigned as chief prosecutor at Guantanamo. At the end of the interview, we went out on the street in Washington to shoot some footage of us walking together. As soon as we stepped outside, people recognized Mr. Rather. A group of foreign businessmen rushed up and asked if they could take a group photo with him. He said he would be happy to do it. He chatted with them for several minutes and shook each one’s hand before we returned to the task of filming our stroll. Most in his position would have ignored the passersby, but Mr. Rather seemed to genuinely enjoy the interaction.

Dan Rather anchored the CBS Evening News for 24 years. He left the anchor chair in 2005 following a “60 Minutes” piece he did in 2004 on then presidential candidate George Bush’s service in the Texas Air National Guard. The story alleged that Bush received preferential treatment to get into the Guard and was a goof-off during the time he served. Almost immediately, some questioned the authenticity of the documents the story was based on. CBS appointed a panel led by Dick Thornburgh, who was attorney general under President George H.W. Bush, and Louis Boccardi, former president of the Associated Press, to look into the “60 Minutes” piece. The panel issued a 224-page report and found that those involved in the Bush story failed to properly authenticate and corroborate the documents. As a result, four producers and executives were fired, and Dan Rather’s contract was not renewed in 2006, ending his 44-year career at CBS.

Back then, heads rolled, not because those at CBS deliberately broadcast information they knew was false, but because they broadcast information without taking adequate steps to ensure it was true. If that standard applied today, the Fox News headquarters in New York would be empty.

Recent reporting on the $1.6 billion defamation lawsuit Dominion Voting Systems filed against Fox News shows that everyone from owner Rupert Murdoch to on-air talking heads Tucker Carlson and Sean Hannity knew the “Big Lie” was a big lie. But the “Big Lie” was what viewers wanted, and Fox News obliged.

Occasional Asheville resident Sidney Powell – who was served with a $1.3 billion lawsuit by Dominion at her home in Biltmore Forest in January 2021 – had a lead role in crafting the Big Lie, and she peddled it regularly on Fox News.  She claimed voting machine software flipped votes from Trump to Biden and was created in Venezuela at the direction of Hugo Chavez.  In a Nov. 18, 2020, message to fellow host Laura Ingraham, Tucker Carlson said, “Sidney Powell is lying by the way. Caught her. It’s insane.” Ingraham responded, “Sidney is a complete nut.” Ms. Powell admitted in a March 2021 court filing that her statements about Dominion’s voting machines were spurious, saying “no reasonable person would conclude that the statements were truly statements of fact.” Think about that for a moment. In essence, Powell is saying, “Well sure, I said it, but no sane human being would believe me.”

The Fox News crew had the same opinion about Ms. Powell’s “Big Lie” partner, Rudy Giuliani. Rupert Murdoch called the voting fraud claims Powell and Giuliani concocted “really crazy stuff.” Sean Hannity wrote that Giuliani was “acting like an insane person,” and Ingraham responded saying Giuliani is “such an idiot.”

When a Fox News journalist tweeted that there was no evidence any voting system lost or changed votes, Carlson texted Hannity, “Please get her fired. … It’s measurably hurting the company. The stock price is down.”  Hannity elevated the matter to a Fox News executive who said the reporter “has serious nerve doing this” and noted that it could drive viewers away from Fox News and to Newsmax and OAN.

Hannity wanted to stop the exodus of disgruntled viewers. “Respecting this audience whether we agree with it or not is critical,” he said. But there is nothing respectful about knowingly peddling lies and pretending they are true.  Respecting your audience means telling them the truth, even if some of them can’t handle the truth.

Shortly after the 2020 election, Fox News adopted the motto “Standing Up for What’s Right” to promote its primetime programming. The internal communications show the motto was a joke. The only thing those at Fox News stood up for was fat profits and fat paychecks. What’s right didn’t matter.

Dominion Voting Systems is seeking $1.6 billion for the damage it suffered because of the lies Fox News chose to broadcast. The damage Fox News has inflicted on America is incalculable.

Moe Davis is a retired U.S. Air Force Colonel, attorney, educator, politician, former administrative law judge and former N.C. 11th Congressional candidate