Rupert Murdoch, CEO of Fox News, was asked in a January deposition if he believed Dominion Voting Systems were involved in a massive and coordinated effort to steal the 2020 Presidential election, replied a succinct “No.” This exchange was part of a trove of documents from the court case Dominion brought against the right-wing channel for alleged defamation. Tuesday saw the revealing of previously unaccompanied text messages, emails, and other material.

The documents displayed a stark contrast between the election facts being reported by the Fox News decision desk journalists and the conspiracy theories promoted by their own hosts. Bill Sannon, Fox News DC Managing Editor decried the network’s practices of airing false voter fraud claims in private messages to a colleague, putting his concern into context as an “existential crisis”. Such internal conflict highlights what was at stake for Fox News: their popularity and bottom line.

The documents display Fox