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- Rupert Murdoch and a top lieutenant privately disparaged Rudy Giuliani, court documents say.
- Col Allan, a former New York Post editor, said of Giuliani: "I think the booze has got to him."
- They described Giuliani's election fraud claims as "deranged," yet Fox News broadcast them anyway.
Fox News billionaire, Rupert Murdoch, and one of his top executives privately disparaged Rudy Giuliani as he pushed conspiracy theories about voter fraud in the 2020 election, court documents show.
The legal documents, filed as part of a defamation lawsuit against Fox News by election machines company Dominion, suggest Murdoch and his top advisors privately believed the election fraud claims to be false, yet continued to promote them.
The documents contain an exchange between Murdoch and Col Allan, a former editor in chief of the New York Post, in which they discuss speeches by Giuliani about the 2020 election results.
"Rupert told Allan, 'Just saw a bit of Rudy ranting. A terrible influence on Donald.' Allan agreed, responding that Giuliani was 'unhinged. Has been for a while. I think booze has got him.'"
Murdoch and Allan appeared to be discussing a bizarre press conference Giuliani held on November 7, 2020, at the Four Seasons garden center outside Philadelphia, which had apparently been mistakenly booked in a mixup with the Four Seasons hotel in the city.
Giuliani, the former New York City mayor and Trump attorney, played a leading role in pushing false claims that the 2020 election was stolen.
"Rupert told the New York Post's Col Allan that "[w]ith several states now disappointingly favoring Biden hard to claim foul everywhere"—and that half of what Trump was saying was "bullshit and damaging.", the documents say.
"Allan responded that they would prepare "an editorial admiring Trump's achievements in office but urging him to consider the nation and his own legacy as it becomes increasingly clear he has lost office. It is time for acceptance and dignity." Rupert: "That's great. Thanks."
Claims have long circulated that Giuliani drinks excessively, with Trump aide Jason Miller claiming to the Jan. 6 committee that on Election Night 2020 he appeared visibly drunk as he urged Trump to refuse to concede his defeat.
Giuliani has denied claims he has a drinking problem, and has also denied claims he was drunk on Election Night, 2020. Insider has contacted his attorney for comment.
Giuliani spearheaded legal efforts to overturn Trump's which were all defeated in court. He is facing a separate lawsuit from Dominion over his promotion of election fraud claims about the company, and has had his New York legal license revoked.
Despite the misgivings by Murdoch and his top lieutenants, Giuliani continued to appear on Fox News where he pushed the baseless election fraud claims.
Fox News has disputed the Dominion lawsuit, saying that its right to discuss Trump's election fraud claims because it is protected under the First Amendment.
"Dominion's lawsuit has always been more about what will generate headlines than what can withstand legal and factual scrutiny," it said in a statement.
"Their summary judgment motion took an extreme, unsupported view of defamation law that would prevent journalists from basic reporting and their efforts to publicly smear Fox for covering and commenting on allegations by a sitting President of the United States should be recognized for what it is: a blatant violation of the First Amendment."