According to a report from The New York Times, Fox News host Sean Hannity was deposed in the ongoing lawsuit between Dominion Voting Systems and the cable network over several allegations made on the network that the 2020 election was “stolen” from Donald Trump. Hannity reportedly denied ever believing those allegations.
On November 30th, 2020, Sidney Powell — former President Donald Trump’s election-related attorney — appeared on Hannity and claimed there was “corruption all across the country” in regards to now-President Joe Biden’s victory over the incumbent President, alleging voter fraud was rampant. She claimed an “algorithm” inside Dominion Voting Systems machines changed votes for Trump to votes for Biden, giving the now-President the victory. According to Powell, the voting machines were being used to “trash large batches of votes”.
Throughout several investigations and continual objections from conservative media members and members of Congress, no improprieties from Dominion Voting Systems machines have been found in regards to the 2020 election.
When asked in the deposition if Hannity agreed with Powell’s assertation, the cable news host reportedly replied “I did not believe it for one second”.
According to the report from Jeremy W. Peters of The Times, the response by Hannity is “among the strongest evidence yet to emerge publicly that some Fox employees knew that what they were broadcasting was false”. That distinction is important in a defamation case, says Peters, due to the high legal standard of proof in cases such as these.
