Fox News host Sean Hannity might have some explaining to do to former President Donald Trump, a close ally, over information revealed concerning Hannity's take on the 2020 election fraud claims.
According to The Hill, bombshell documents reveal that while under federal deposition, Hannity admitted under oath that for "not one second" did he believe Trump's claims that the 2020 election was "rigged."
The New York Times released documents from the Delaware Superior Court that included Hannity's deposition transcript as part of a "$1.6 billion defamation lawsuit against Fox News brought by Dominion Voting Systems."
Specifically, Hannity's revelation came when asked he believed claims made by former Trump attorney Sidney Powell.
"I did not believe it for one second," Hannity said, referencing what The Hill said was "Powell told Hannity then that there was widespread fraud in the 2020 election and that voting machines manufactured by Dominion Voting Systems helped steal the election by switching votes."
New York Times: Sean Hannity testified under oath he never believed Trump’s claims of election fraud. In his deposition in the Dominion suit against Fox News, Hannity stated, “I did not believe it for one second”. pic.twitter.com/I8s8AKKtem
— Mike Sington (@MikeSington) December 21, 2022
The defamation lawsuit was filed by Dominion Voting Systems, which it claims took a massive reputational hit from the wall of non-stop accusations from many in the media and on the right that its voting machines had been hacked and rigged to favor the election of President Joe Biden.
“I did not believe it for one second.”
That was the answer Sean Hannity gave, under oath, in a deposition in Dominion’s $1.6 billion defamation lawsuit against Fox News, according to information disclosed in a court hearing on Wednesday. https://t.co/nIRYFGwBpB
— The New York Times (@nytimes) December 22, 2022
The Times reported: "Stephen Shackelford, an attorney for Dominion, made the case at the hearing that the company has strong evidence that Fox News journalists knew claims about mass voter fraud in the 2020 election were false but chose to amplify them anyway, the Times reported."
That level of proof would be needed by Dominion's attorneys. The key to their case is proving that the journalists who had those guests on, such as Hannity, knew the claims were likely false.
Twitter users hit Hannity over the revelations, calling for punishment of some sort.
"So Sean Hannity, Fox News, has admitted he lied on air to the audiences! The US Gov, the DOJ and all states should sue Fox News for defamation of the US government, the US election system!" one user Tweeted.
So Sean Hannity, Fox News, has admitted he lied on air to the audiences! The US Gov, the DOJ and all states should sue Fox News for defamation of the US government, the US election system!
— Ann Nguyen, Ph.D. (@ANFILOLI) December 22, 2022
“Many of the highest-ranking Fox people have admitted under oath that they never believed the Dominion lies," Shackelford added.