rupert murdoch
Rupert Murdoch in Los Angeles.
  • A Smartmatic lawyer compared Rupert Murdoch to a "mafia boss" in a court hearing Wednesday.
  • The company says Fox News and parent company Fox Corp. defamed it through 2020 election conspiracy theories.
  • Rupert and Lachlan Murdoch "ordered a hit" on Smartmatic, the Smartmatic lawyer argued.

An attorney for Smartmatic Voting Systems compared Rupert Murdoch to a mafia boss in a court hearing Wednesday, arguing he "ordered a hit" on the election technology company when Fox News engaged in conspiracy theories about the 2020 election.

"I can think of an analogy like a mafia boss ordering one of his lieutenants, 'Take out Johnny Two-Bones. That's your instruction,'" J. Erik Connolly, who's representing Smartmatic in its $2.7 billion lawsuit, said in a downtown Manhattan courtroom.