Texts from the Dominion lawsuit reveal the real Fox News

• Private texts reveal incredible detail about Fox News' inner workings.
• The messages came to light amid Dominion Voting System's ongoing legal battle with Fox.
• Among the messages is a thread where Tucker Carlson privately bashes Trump.

Top Fox News employees privately raised concerns about the conspiracies surrounding Dominion voting, schemed about how to thwart their own colleagues, and expressed amazement that the once plucky upstart NewsMax could seriously threaten its grip as the highest-rated cable network.

In disclosing Fox News hosts, executives, and even Rupert Murdoch's private texts and emails, Dominion Voting Systems has underlined the enormous risks for the company that goes beyond Dominion's claim for $1.6 billion in damages. 

As you'll see below, Fox News host Tucker Carlson privately trashed then-President Donald Trump, other Fox opinion hosts gossiped about how their pesky news-side colleagues made their lives difficult, and how Murdoch was outraged by former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani's legal sideshow.

In response, Fox has said that will ultimately prevail over Dominion. The network also alleged that the company disclosed many of the texts and emails without full context. Some of the texts were redacted before they were publicly revealed, but it is worth noting that there are hundreds of chains included in the suit's exhibit files. 

"Despite the noise and confusion generated by Dominion and their opportunistic private equity owners, the core of this case remains about freedom of the press and freedom of speech, which are fundamental rights afforded by the Constitution and protected by New York Times v. Sullivan," a Fox News spokesperson said in a statement. "Dominion has mischaracterized the record, cherry-picked quotes stripped of key context, and spilled considerable ink on facts that are irrelevant under black-letter principles of defamation law."

Top Fox Executive compares Lou Dobbs' show to North Korean propaganda — September 8, 2020

In an email sent less than two months before the 2020 election, a Fox News spokesperson, Irena Briganti, flagged two critical pieces about a segment Fox Business host Lou Dobbs did defending Trump to Fox News president Jay Wallace. 

As Mediate, one of the two stories cited in the email chain, reported at the time, Dobbs blasted an Atlantic report that claimed Trump had refused to visit a French cemetery filled with Marines who died stopping a German advance during WWII because they were "losers" and "suckers."

Dobbs' tirade also ignored one key fact quickly noticed throughout the media: Fox News' Jennifer Griffin had confirmed key details in the Atlantic story. So Dobbs wasn't just attacking "hit job" — he was going after his own colleague.

Wallace responded by privately comparing Dobbs, who had become a staple on Fox Business, to North Korean propaganda.

Fox later canceled Dobbs' show in early 2021, shortly after Dominion's suit was filed. Dobbs was one of the Fox News personalities specifically named by the company. 

A producer for Laura Ingraham's show says false Dominion voter fraud claims "is going to give me a fucking aneurysm" — Nov. 12, 2020

Dominion captured a number of texts that show Fox employees' apprehension about the growing conspiracy claims about the company's voting machines in the wake of the election.  This thread between Tommy Firth, a producer for Fox News Channel's Laura Ingraham, and executive Ron Mitchell came less than a week after major news organizations began calling the presidential race for Biden.

Dominion captured a number of texts that show Fox employees' apprehension about the growing conspiracy claims about the company's voting machines in the wake of the election.  This thread between Tommy Firth, a producer for Fox News Channel's Laura Ingraham, and executive Ron Mitchell came less than a week after major news organizations began calling the presidential race for Biden.

Top Fox News hosts, including Tucker Carlson, privately insulted Chris Wallace and hatched a plot for a rebellion — November, 16, 2020.

The Fox opinion hosts had enough.

Texts disclosed in the lawsuit make clear that simmering discontent over the network's early prediction that Biden would win Arizona was beginning to escalate. In a group chat between the three biggest hosts, Carlson, Hannity, and Ingraham, few colleagues, including then-"Fox News Sunday" host Chris Wallace, were spared.

Other targets included Briganti and anchor Leland Vittert. Wallace and Vittert both left Fox in the wake of the 2020 election.

The Fox opinion hosts had enough. Texts disclosed in the lawsuit make clear that simmering discontent over the network's early prediction that Biden would win Arizona was beginning to escalate. In a group chat between the three biggest hosts, Carlson, Hannity, and Ingraham, few colleagues such as then-"Fox News Sunday" host Chris Wallace were spared. Other targets included Briganti and anchor Leland Vittert. Wallace and Vittert both decamp Fox in the wake of the 2020 election.

Tucker Carlson really doesn't like Sidney Powell — November, 17, 2020

The highest-rated cable TV host had lost his patience with one of Trump's top lawyers. Sidney Powell had begun promising in the wake of Biden's projected election win that a wave of legal evidence resembling a kraken, a mythological monster, would come.

Powell never delivered on her promise to unveil credible evidence of widespread election fraud. Instead, she resorted to increasing unhinged conspiracies. After the election, she and other Trump lawyers were sanctioned for their shoddy legal work.

Carlson, in a private email thread included in the Dominion lawsuit exhibits, privately claimed that he pushed Trump to formally distance himself from Powell.

Carlson also admonished Powell directly in a text message, telling her her claims that Trump could win were "cruel and reckless" if she didn't have evidence.

Even Rupert Murdoch began to worry about the blowback — November 19, 2020

Dominion's lawsuit revealed that Murdoch, the billionaire behind the News Corp empire, was aghast at Trump's legal team. Murdoch's deposition and his private emails reveal striking detail about a man who is so secretive that his security detail reportedly rivals that of a president.

In this message, Murdoch's concern comes after former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani helped give a bizarre news conference at the Republican National Committee headquarters about Trump's election lawsuits.

At the event that something began melting down Giuliani's face — a fiasco that provided private laughs for many Fox employees. 

Hannity and Steve Doocy take a break from Thanksgiving prep to complain about their colleagues — November 27, 2020.

There's nothing like the holidays. In a lengthy thread, Sean Hannity and "Fox and Friends" host Steve Doocy turn from holiday cooking to grouse about their employer. 

This is just a snippet of what was discussed:  

Tucker Carlson wants to be done with Trump — January, 14, 2021

In the wake of the Capitol riot and Trump's now-certified election loss, Carlson was counting down the days until the president was gone. This exchange is one the most notable to come out of the lawsuit so far, particularly given how much Carlson has gained from his ties to Trump and how frequently the Carlson continues to defend Trump on a routine basis.