Category: Fox News

Categories
Capitol Insurrection Fox News

The January 6 Committee Wants To Have A Long Talk With Sean Hannity About His Role In The Capitol Riots

The House Select Committee investigating the Capitol riots and insurrection which left five people dead is leaving no stone unturned, and is even requesting that Fox News host Sean Hannity voluntarily submit to cooperating with the panel, according to Axios.

The Jan. 6 select committee is preparing to ask Fox News Channel host Sean Hannity for his voluntary cooperation with its investigation of the assault on the U.S. Capitol, a source with direct knowledge of the plan tells Axios.

Why it matters: Hannity is one of the most prominent media figures in America and was a close adviser to Donald Trump throughout his presidency. The committee revealed last month that Hannity texted then-White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows during the riot to urge him to get Trump to stop his supporters.

A spokesperson for the committee declined to comment on the possibility of Hannity being called, but Jay Sekulow, an attorney for the Fox News host, raised the predictable red herring of the First Amendment:

 “If true, any such request would raise serious constitutional issues including First Amendment concerns regarding freedom of the press.”

It would? How would asking Hannity to answer questions intrude on his First Amendment protections, especially since he’s not really a journalist and mainly works as a paid propagandist and peddler of conspiracy theories?

While Hannity has condemned the storming of the Capitol, he’s been silent when it comes to criticizing failed, one-term former President Donald Trump for his role in what transpired on Jan. 6. Hannity has also been critical of the House Select Committee.

We already know that Hannity was in contact with then-Chief of Staff Mark Meadows as the rioting was taking place:

Committee officials have said Hannity was among several Fox News hosts who were texting Meadows during the riot.

“Can he [Trump] make a statement?” Hannity said in the texts, made public in mid-December. “Ask people to leave the Capitol.”

Hannity was also actively involved in the inner workings of the Trump administration, according to reports, Axios notes:

  • One former Trump aide sarcastically referred to Hannity as the “real chief of staff.” That was a gross overstatement, but it spoke to Hannity’s special access to Trump.
  • Such was Hannity’s influence with Trump that officials who wanted to persuade him often turned to the Fox News host to help get their ideas or action items across the line.
  • A phone call from Hannity to Trump carried more sway than a conversation between the president and many members of his own Cabinet.

Will Hannity agree to talk with the committee? What if he’s subpoenaed? If he chooses not to, he could be held in criminal contempt and jailed for up to two years.

Categories
Fox News Fox News Lies Media in America

Judge Rules That Massive $1.6 Billion Lawsuit Against Fox News Will Move Forward

A Delaware judge has ruled that Fox News “intended to avoid the truth” when broadcasting misinformation about the 2020 election and Dominion Voting Systems, which is suing the right-wing network for defamation and seeking $1.6 billion in damages.

CNN reports that Superior Court Judge Eric Davis’ ruling was a major blow to Fox, which was asking the court to dismiss the Dominion suit:

The ruling will now allow Dominion to attempt to unearth extensive communications within Fox News as they gather evidence for the case, and the company may be able to interview the network’s top names under oath.

At this stage, the court must assume Dominion’s claims about Fox News are true.

Judge Davis noted in his ruling that Dominion had notified Fox of inaccuracies they had broadcast and supplied them with information that clearly refuted accusations of vote-switching in the 2020 presidential race:

“Nevertheless, Fox and its news personnel continued to report Dominion purported connection to the election fraud claims without also reporting on Dominion’s emails … Given that Fox apparently refused to report contrary evidence, including evidence from the Department of Justice, the Complaint’s allegations support the reasonable inference that Fox intended to keep Dominion’s side of the story out of the narrative.”

According to CNN legal analyst Jeffrey Toobin, the ruling is very bad news for Fox:

“By putting Rudy Giuliani, Sidney Powell, making these outrageous false allegations on the air without allowing Dominion to refute them, that’s libel. And that’s what Fox is going to have to defend. And I don’t know how they’re going to defend it it. I think it’s a very good case for the plaintiffs.”

Former White House counsel John Dean concurred with Toobin, noting:

“This case has not been decided on any substance yet. Just on the pleadings. And it made the basic bar and got over that, which is going to be a nightmare for Fox, as Jeffrey says. They’re going to now dig in deep and it’s not going to be easy.”

If Fox is found liable and forced to pay $1.6 billion in damages, that could lead to other enormous lawsuits. Enough large lawsuits could leave the network financially vulnerable and lead to its collapse. Imagine how much better a world without Fox News would be.

 

Categories
Fox News Fox News Lies Joe Biden The Biden Administration

Peter Doocy Tries To Blame Biden For The Fox Christmas Tree Arson – And Gets Schooled By Jen Psaki

Ever since a mentally ill homeless man set fire to the gaudy Christmas tree outside Fox News headquarters in New York last week, propagandists at the right-wing network have desperately been trying to find a way to blame the incident on President Joe Biden, suggesting that a rise in the crime rate across the country led to the torching of the Fox tree.

On Monday, Fox correspondent Peter Doocy ran the idea of Biden shouldering some of the blame by White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki, and based on the response he received, he probably wishes he’d kept that question on his notepad and to himself.

Specifically, Doocy noted that the man charged with the crime had been charged and released until his court date, which led him to go on a mini-rant aimed at the president, who has absolutely nothing to do with who does or doesn’t go to jail in the city of New York:

“But I guess what good does it do if you’re gonna give police departments extra money if they arrest bad guys, and they bring ’em to jail, and then they’re not prosecuted? They’re just right back out on the street.

“We’ve seen an arsonist burn down a half a million dollar Christmas tree in New York City. Back out on the streets. Does the President think that that’s good governing?”

That was all it took for Psaki to calmly remind Doocy how the criminal justice system works and what powers a president does and doesn’t have as it relates to crimes committed in local jurisdictions:

“I think Peter, what our focus is on is making sure that the local leaders, the police officers and departments who know what they need for these communities have the assistance and the funding they need and that’s what we’re working around the clock on.

“I would point you to the local police departments or the Department of Justice.”

In other words, stop asking moronic questions you know the answer to before you ever pose them.

And if you’re dumb enough to put up a half-million dollar tree in a public place and someone decides to burn it down, take your tax write-off and shut the hell up already. You sound like a damn three-year-old who didn’t get what he wanted from Santa.

Categories
Donald Trump Fox News Social Media

Trump Gets Mocked For Claiming That Americans Are ‘Missing’ Him

 

Here’s a question for you: Do you miss failed, one-term former President Donald Trump? Do you miss the hatred, the venom, the lies and conspiracy theories that he used to trumpet on his Twitter feed?

Well, according to the Donald, you do indeed miss him and his incompetence.

Speaking with Fox News via phone, the twice-impeached former POTUS remarked:

“I think that people are seeing the great job that we did. We had the greatest economy in the history of our country. We re-built our military. We had great military support. You look at the Hispanic support, we’ve had – we had the best Hispanic support. I just think that people are missing us.”

But that was just the beginning of Trump’s lies. He also claimed that his poll numbers are through the roof, even though he left office with the lowest approval rating for any sitting president in history:

“It is strange because my numbers now are the best they’ve ever been. I think that’s because maybe they [Americans] look at the bonus and they look at what’s happening to our country. I left. I think social media is important. … I think social media is fine if it’s used properly.”

In other words, he thinks social media is fine if it does what he wants it to do and doesn’t have any terms of service.

It didn’t take long before Twitter users let Donnie know they didn’t miss him in the least:

 

Categories
Coronavirus Donald Trump Fox News Joe Biden

WATCH: Jen Psaki Burns Peter Doocy Down When He Tries To Blame Biden For COVID Deaths

Once again Wednesday, White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki destroyed Fox News correspondent Peter Doocy when he tried to suggest that the reason so many Americans have died from COVID lies with President Joe Biden, completely neglecting the fact that the virus was already rampant thanks to failed, one-term former President Donald Trump’s massive neglect when it came to controlling the disease.

Doocy referenced a report that Trump knew he was COVID-positive before he participated the first 2020 presidential debate:

“There’s a lot of talk about the first Trump-Biden debate today. But at the second one in 2021, roughly 220,000 Americans had already died of COVID. Joe Biden said about Trump, ‘anyone who was responsible for that many deaths should not remain as President of the United States of America.’ Is that still the standard now that more Americans have died under President Biden?”

That was all Psaki needed to remind Doocy about some of the lowlights we all saw during the Trump administration when it came to fighting the pandemic:

“I think the fundamental question here is what are you doing to save lives and protect people? And the former president was suggesting people inject bleach. He apparently, reportedly didn’t even share with people he was going to interact with that he had tested positive for COVID himself. He continued to provide a forum for misinformation, which probably led to people not getting, not taking steps forward to get to protect themselves, to wear a mask, to eventually get vaccinated.”

The press secretary then contrasted Biden’s efforts to Trump’s bungling:

“This President has made the vaccine widely available. He’s relied on the health – the advice of his health and medical experts, and he is trying to be a part of solving this crisis, getting the pandemic under control. And I think there’s a pretty stark difference between their approaches.”

You’d think Doocy would learn a lesson and not ask such absurd questions. But the fact that he works for Fox proves he’s not much of a journalist.