Former Speaker Paul Ryan Branded ‘Cowardly, Ineffective & Immoral’ After Fox News Boss Rupert Murdoch Admits His Network Lied About Election Fraud
March 1 2023, Published 5:30 p.m. ET
Former House Speaker Paul Ryan was branded “cowardly, ineffective, and immoral” after it was revealed he pleaded with Rupert Murdoch not to broadcast Donald Trump’s election fraud claims on Fox News in 2020, RadarOnline.com has learned.
In the latest development to come as Murdoch and Fox News face a whopping $1.6 billion defamation lawsuit filed by Dominion Voting Systems, Murdoch recently admitted his conservative news network peddled election lies to its audience of millions.
It was also revealed that some of the network’s most high-profile stars and executives – such as Sean Hannity, Tucker Carlson, and Laura Ingraham – privately condemned Trump’s election fraud claims while simultaneously “promoting” the allegations on their respective shows.
Now, it has been revealed that former House Speaker Ryan – who serves as a Fox Corp. board member – was also involved in the behind-the-scenes decision on whether or not to peddle Trump’s groundless election fraud claims both during and shortly after the 2020 election between the then-president and Joe Biden.
According to the latest Dominion legal filing leaked earlier this week, Ryan pleaded with both Murdoch and the boss' son Lachlan to stop Trump’s election fraud claims from being broadcast to the network’s millions of viewers.
Ryan also reportedly told the Murdochs that it was time for Fox to "move on from Donald Trump" and "stop spouting election lies."
But according to Jeffrey A. Sonnenfeld, who serves as senior associate dean for leadership studies at the Yale School of Management, Ryan’s actions were far from enough.
Sonnenfeld called Ryan’s “quiet dissent” behind the scenes in November 2020 "cowardly, ineffective, and immoral” due to the responsibilities board members have under corporate governance law.
"The duties of loyalty and diligence are NOT to the management but to the owners," Sonnenfeld told CNN on Tuesday. "By silently going along with misconduct about which they are aware, all directors, including Paul Ryan, are guilty of complicity through their complacency."
Sonnenfeld also said that if he were the one advising Fox News’ board members as they continue to navigate the $1.6 billion defamation lawsuit against them, he would recommend an immediate probe into "how far, wide, and deep the misconduct ran – with an outside, independent law firm reviewing the sworn testimony, now public, and conducting follow-ups."
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"The investigation should be completed with a report to the shareholders by May 1 indicating what disciplinary actions will be taken," the Yale professor told CNN.
As RadarOnline.com previously reported, Dominion Voting Systems first sued Murdoch and Fox News for $1.6 billion in March 2021 over allegations the conservative news network “amplified false claims” that Dominion voting machines were used to rig the presidential election against then-President Trump.
The trial is scheduled to kick off on April 7 — and the network’s defense that the “case remains about freedom of the press and freedom of speech” has been heavily scrutinized following the revelation Fox News’ top executives were aware they were peddling falsehoods.
