Tag: Fox News

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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.

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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.

 

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GOP Joe Biden WTF?!

RNC Chair Tries To Blame Burning Of Fox News Christmas Tree On (Wait For It…) Joe Biden

Early Wednesday, the Fox News Christmas tree was set ablaze, the Washington Post reports:

The towering Christmas tree outside the Fox News headquarters in New York was set on fire early Wednesday, causing first responders to race to extinguish a blaze that engulfed the 50-foot tree in Midtown Manhattan.

Video posted to social media shows flames and smoke coming off the decorated tree shortly after midnight just outside the News Corp. building. The network cut in for a live broadcast of the blaze at Fox News Square, just days after the tree, covered in thousands of lights and ornaments, was ceremoniously lit to ring in the holidays.

A man was later arrested for the act:

Craig Tamanaha, 49, was arrested early Wednesday and charged with setting the fire, a New York Police Department spokesperson told The Washington Post. Tamanaha faces charges including criminal mischief, reckless endangerment and arson. The man “was observed by Fox News Channel security climbing the Christmas tree decorated outside their office building near the corner of West 48 Street and Sixth Avenue” about 12:15 a.m., police said.

End of story, right? Not according to Republican National Committee (RNC) Chair Ronna McDaniel, who went on Fox and tried to blame the whole thing on President Joe Biden.

McDaniel was asked to predict how she thought the GOP would do in the 2022 midterms. She remarked:

“What this poll is telling us is we’re going to take back the House and the Senate and the American people want a change. Biden is underwater. Harris’s approval is under 30% and Republicans are more trusted on three key issues: the economy, inflation and crime.

“And these are issues we’re seeing every day on our streets, around our homes, in our communities, on the news. Look at your Christmas tree that was just burned down. This is a huge problem for Democrats.”

Wait! What was that? A random act of arson is a problem for Democrats? Sounds like a bit of a stretch, and it also suggests Republicans are in big trouble, despite their bragging about how they intend to win in 2022.

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Fox News Joe Biden The Biden Administration

Jen Psaki Destroys Peter Doocy When He Asks If Biden Will Apologize To Kyle Rittenhouse

Fox News correspondent Peter Doocy tried again Tuesday to trip up White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki, only to wind up humiliated when Psaki brilliantly turned the tables on him.

Doocy began by noting that President Joe Biden had linked acquitted Kenosha shooter Kyle Rittenhouse to white supremacists in remarks he made during the 2020 campaign. He then asked Psaki:

“Will the president ever apologize to the acquitted Kenosha shooter Kyle Rittenhouse for suggesting online and on TV that he is a white supremacist.”

Psaki responded:

“This is about a campaign video released last year that used President Trump’s own words during a debate as he refused to condemn white supremacists and militia groups. And President Trump, as you know… didn’t just refuse to condemn militia groups on the debate stage, he actively encouraged them throughout his presidency.

So, you know, what we’ve seen are the tragic consequences of that. When people think it’s okay to take the law into their own hands instead of allowing law enforcement to do its job. And the president believes in condemning hatred, division, and violence. That’s exactly what was done in that video.”

But Doocy couldn’t resist digging the hole he was in even deeper:

“You’re saying that it was just a campaign video. It wasn’t. The president gave an interview that he said that Rittenhouse was part of a militia coming out of Illinois.

“None of this was not proven in trial and Kyle Rittenhouse is saying that the president had actual malice in defaming his character.”

Again, Psaki was prepared and swatted Doocy down:

“The president spoke to the verdict last week. He has obviously condemned the hatred and division and violence we’ve seen around the country by groups like the Proud Boys and groups that that individual has posed in photos with. But beyond that, I’ll leave it to his comments around the verdict.”

As a matter of fact, Rittenhouse posed with the Proud Boys in Wisconsin, as the The Washington Post reported back in January:

Shortly after pleading not guilty to murder and weapons charges earlier this month, Kyle Rittenhouse showed up at a bar in Mount Pleasant, Wis., clad in a T-shirt that said “Free as F—,” prosecutors said. Then the 18-year-old allegedly drank three beers, posed for photos with members of Proud Boys and flashed a “white power” hand sign.

Rittenhouse now says he supports the Black Lives Matter movement. But as the old saying goes, actions speak louder than words.

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Domestic Terrorism Donald Trump Fox News

Tucker Carlson Says It’s ‘Appalling’ Trump Hasn’t Sent Money To Any Of The Jan. 6 Rioters

Proving yet again that he’s one of the most willfully ignorant people on the planet, Fox News host Tucker Carlson says he’s upset that failed, one-term former President Donald Trump hasn’t sent a dime of money to any of the Jan. 6 rioters.

According to Mediaite, Carlson had this to say during an interview he was conducting:

Carlson, while interviewing right-wing commentator Julie Kelly, said he finds it “appalling” that Trump had yet to donate any money to his supporters who were arrested on January 6th at the U.S. Capitol.

Since leaving office, Trump has continued to raise large sums of money from supporters with claims to fight election fraud and help elect Republicans. As of July, the last federal reporting date, Trump’s three major fundraising operations declared more than $100 million in cash on hand.

Specifically, Carlson said he found it “appalling” that Trump hadn’t shared any of that $100 million with the insurrectionists:

“People are going to be offended that I ask this, but I can’t control myself. What about the president on whose behalf they were gathered that day? Has anybody sent them money? The people around him, Brad Parscale, all these people are getting rich, right? Complaining that the last election was rigged, which it clearly was, obviously. And they’re making all this money and all these people are sending all this money down to Florida. But is any of that money going to defend these people who went to this rally on behalf of that candidate?”

Kelly, who has been fond of sharing election conspiracy theories, agreed with Carlson, remarking:

“Not that I know of. And I will say no. No. And it’s a question that I have been asking myself and I a lot of them have been asking too. A lot of them were there to support Trump. They were there to protest the election being taken from him unlawfully. But aside, really, from a few comments about political prisoners — he has said a few things about Ashli Babbitt — to my knowledge… no, there has not been any financial aide coming from anyone of a prominent position to help these people.”

That led Carlson to go all-in on his condemnation of the notoriously greedy Trump:

“I just find that appalling. I really do. I really find that appalling.”

Do you, Tucker? Then why don’t you give Dotard Donnie a phone call and tell him the exact same thing you just said? He’d probably take your call, and what would it hurt?

You’d think Carlson would know that Trump isn’t exactly known for being generous with his money. He’s planning to use that $100 million to try and run for another term in 2024 or to help pay some of his loans, many of which are coming due in the near future.

What’s really “appalling” is that it took this long for Tucker Carlson to temporarily pull his head out of his ass, look around, and acknowledge that Donald Trump doesn’t give a damn about anyone but himself.