As we suspected, Fox News isn't a news organization, it is an extension of the Republican Party committed to helping Republicans win elections. We can't expect our democracy to continue functioning if we allow Fox News to continue destroying it while pretending they are just a news outlet. If we can't come up with a way of addressing this, we either aren't trying very hard or we might as well give up.

FEC Complaint Filed Against Fox For Giving Kushner Confidential Biden Info | Crooks and Liars https://crooksandliars.com/2023/03/fec-complaint-filed-against-fox-giving

#FoxNewsLies
#FoxBreaksDemocracy
#FoxInBedWithGOP
#FoxInBedWithPutin

"It was not just unethical and immoral for Rupert Murdoch to share confidential Biden campaign information with Jared Kushner but illegal, according to Media Matters' complaint to the FEC.

One of the most shocking (though not terribly surprising) revelations in Dominion's $1.6 billion defamation suit against Fox News was Chairman Rupert Murdoch’s apparent admission that he gave Jared Kushner, Donald Trump’s son-in-law and senior advisor, “confidential information about Biden’s ads, along with debate strategy” before then-candidate Joe Biden’s campaign ads were aired on Fox News. The Biden campaign aired ran a slew of ads on Fox News during the 2020 presidential campaign.

If ever you needed proof that Fox acts as a Republican, anti-Democratic political operative this, alone, should do it. In that respect, it’s even more damning than the network's deliberate falsehoods about the 2020 election which were more about protecting its brand than helping a Republican get elected.

As it turns out, it’s illegal for a corporation to contribute to a candidate or political campaign and it’s illegal for either to accept a corporate donation. Media Matters makes a good argument that that’s exactly what happened when Fox Corp. Chairman Murdoch gave a helping hand to the Trump campaign.

From the complaint, which also names Trump's Make America Great Again PAC and its treasurer as respondents (citations excluded):

"The Act prohibits any candidate, candidate’s political committee, or any person from knowingly accepting or receiving a contribution from a corporation. Similarly, a corporation is prohibited from making a contribution. A contribution includes any direct or indirect “gift of money, or any services, or anything of value,” including an in-kind service provided without compensation, “made by any person for the purpose of influencing any election for Federal office.” The Commission has treated material non-public information such as information about advertising, messaging, and other campaign strategy as a thing of value.

Here, it appears that Murdoch and Fox Corporation provided the Committee with material non-public information about the Committee’s opponent’s advertisements. Specifically, Murdoch allegedly conveyed the actual advertisements that the Biden campaign paid Fox Corporation to air on its television outlets to the Committee before the advertisements aired. The Biden advertisements were material non-public information and, therefore, were of value to the Committee. As such, Fox Corporation, through Murdoch, appears to have made an impermissible corporate contribution to the Committee and the Committee also violated the Act by accepting the corporate contribution."

Media Matters said Fox’s actions are not only an egregious violation of FEC law and regulations “but also a nefarious attempt by people in power to operate a press entity as a political organization, in blatant disregard of the rules that govern our elections and democracy.” Media Matters concludes, “As such, we respectfully request that the Commission immediately investigate these violations, fine Respondents the maximum amount permitted by law, and take appropriate remedial action.”"

Fox's abuse of its viewers, our democracy and journalism in general, has gone on long enough. Since our government has proven impotent at defending our democracy against Fox News' attacks, at least have these lawsuits stepping up to chop Fox down to size. Murdoch has damaged democracy in Australia, the U.K. and now America. There has to be a price for profiting off destroying democracy and our country. Putin couldn't have asked for a better ally in his war to destroy our liberal democracy and their has to be accountability for Murdoch's actions!

Dominion filings show Fox board members knew they were betraying their obligations. Legal action against the board is already underway. | Media Matters for America https://www.mediamatters.org/rupert-murdoch/dominion-filings-show-fox-board-members-knew-they-were-betraying-their-obligations

#FoxLies
#GOPLies
#FoxInBedWithPutin
#GOPInBedWithPutin
#Journalism
#FoxNews

"Recent filings in Dominion Voting Systems’ $1.6 billion defamation lawsuit against Fox Corp. reveal the extent to which Fox’s executives and board members knew that Fox News and Fox Business were spreading lies about voter and election fraud in 2020. Since October 2022, at least eight law firms have begun seeking plaintiffs for suits against Fox’s board of directors for breach of their fiduciary duties, with several of the notices for plaintiffs noting the revelations from the Dominion lawsuit as well as the ongoing $2.7 billion defamation lawsuit by Smartmatic, another election technology company attacked by Fox.

In March 2021, Dominion filed a defamation suit against Fox for the false claims the network pushed after the election suggesting Dominion machines supposedly changed or deleted votes to sway the election in President Joe Biden’s favor. The most recent filings to become public in that lawsuit detailed how members of Fox Corp.’s board of directors understood that the network was damaging the brand and the bottom line for Fox’s core business.

As Yale Professor Jeffrey A. Sonnenfeld explained to CNN’s Oliver Darcy:

The filings, he said, showed members of the Fox Corp board had failed to act to prevent misconduct by Fox executives, and warned the disclosures will result in “likely” shareholder lawsuits, a possible SEC investigation into “deceptive practices of the board for conspiring to conceal known misconduct with material adverse impact,” and the potential loss of insurance protection for the company’s directors and officers.

Notably, the most recent filing states that Fox Chief Legal and Policy Officer Viet Dinh — who is “the highest-ranking lawyer in the entire corporate structure” — admitted during his testimony that Fox executives had a duty to “prevent and correct known falsehoods.”

Fox Corp. Chairman Rupert Murdoch knew that well. After watching former President Donald Trump’s campaign lawyers Sidney Powell and Rudy Giuliani push voter fraud lies at a press conference, Murdoch told Fox News CEO Suzanne Scott, “Terrible stuff damaging everybody, I fear. Probably hurting us too.” Murdoch confirmed “us” meant “Fox News.”