Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images
- Fox News sent letters to Dominion Voting Systems asking they probe Tucker Carlson message leaks.
- Carlson's private comments were used as evidence in Dominion's recent defamation lawsuit against Fox.
- Dominion has denied the leaked materials came from the company or its legal team, Reuters reported.
Fox News' legal team sent letters to Dominion Voting Systems calling on the company to probe whether they leaked internal messages from Tucker Carlson.
The messages from the controversial television host, who was recently axed from his position with the network, were used as evidence in a recent defamation lawsuit.
Dominion alleged that Fox defamed the company in its coverage claiming the 2020 presidential election was "rigged." The conservative news outlet recently settled the lawsuit for $787.5 million. The recent leaks to the media include redacted material that Dominion obtained during the discovery period of the defamation lawsuit.
The letters to the electronic voting company came after multiple news outlets published controversial messages made by Carlson in private.
Fox, in letters released on Friday, urged Dominion's lawyers to "investigate and confirm that you are not the source of these improper disclosures."
The news outlet said the company should report its findings on "this inexcusable release of confidential discovery material" by next Monday, according to copies of the letters published by Mediaite.
Dominion has denied the leaked materials came from the company or its legal team, Reuters reported.
"Leaked material is a cornerstone of journalism"
Media Matters
In a newly leaked video published by Media Matters, Carlson told a Fox News makeup artist she's a "good sport" for answering his bizarre questions about what women do in the bathroom.
At one point, he asked: "Do pillow fights ever break out?"
Earlier on Friday, Fox sent a cease and desist letter to left-leaning Media Matters for America over their publishing of embarrassing leaked videos of Carlson, Insider previously reported, which Media Matters called "absurd."
"Reporting on newsworthy leaked material is a cornerstone of journalism," Media Matters President Angelo Carusone said in a statement.
Carlson, one of Fox's most powerful and popular television personalities, was abruptly fired last month, just days after Fox settled with Dominion.
While there are competing theories over the exact circumstances of his ousting, multiple news outlets have reported it was, in part, due to the unearthing of Carlson's private texts and emails.