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https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2023/01/03/speaker-house-vote-mccarthy-new-congress/

January 3, 2023

Washington Post

 

House adjourns with no speaker after McCarthy fails to win third ballot

Today, Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) fell short a third time in his bid for House speaker as 20 Republicans rejected his candidacy and backed Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio).

 

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https://www.nytimes.com/2023/01/02/nyregion/george-santos-brazil.html

Jan. 2, 2023

New York Times

 

Brazilian Authorities Will Revive Fraud Case Against George Santos

A 2008 court case had been suspended because Brazilian law enforcement officials could not find Mr. Santos.

 

The matter, which stemmed from an incident in 2008 regarding a stolen checkbook, had been suspended for the better part of a decade because the police were unable to locate him.

A spokeswoman for the Rio de Janeiro prosecutor’s office said that with Mr. Santos’s whereabouts identified, a formal request will be made to the U.S. Justice Department to notify him of the charges, a necessary step after which the case will proceed with or without him.

 

Just a month before his 20th birthday, Mr. Santos entered a small clothing store in the Brazilian city of Niterói outside Rio de Janeiro.

He spent nearly $700 using a stolen checkbook and a false name, court records show.

Mr. Santos admitted the fraud to the shop owner in August 2009, writing on Orkut, a popular social media website in Brazil, “I know I screwed up, but I want to pay.”

In 2010, he and his mother told the police that he had stolen the checkbook of a man his mother used to work for, and used it to make fraudulent purchases.

 

Despite his earlier confessions, Mr. Santos has recently denied any criminal involvement, telling The New York Post, “I am not a criminal here — not here or in Brazil or any jurisdiction in the world.”

 

If Mr. Santos does not present a defense in the Brazilian case, he will be tried in absentia.

If found guilty, Mr. Santos could receive up to five years in prison, plus a fine.

 

02santos-brazil-1-4bb7-jumbo.jpg?quality

 

Although George Santos had once admitted to using a stolen checkbook in Brazil, he now asserts that he is not a criminal “here or in Brazil.”

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https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2023/01/10/us-japan-set-announce-shake-up-marine-corps-units-deter-china/

January 10, 2023

 

U.S., Japan set to announce shake-up of Marine Corps units to deter China

In a deepening of the two countries’ strategic alliance, a Marine regiment on Okinawa will be able to fire missiles at Chinese ships in the event of a Taiwan conflict.

 

Japan, already Washington’s most important ally in the Indo-Pacific, is deepening its strategic partnership with the United States in an effort to counter China — a development that will be showcased this week with a shake-up of U.S. Marine Corps units in Okinawa and a White House embrace of Prime Minister Fumio Kishida.

 

This week, the two allies will announce the repurposing of a Marine Corps regiment based in Okinawa to be able by 2025 to rapidly disperse to fight in austere, remote islands, according to several U.S. officials.

The Marine Corps plans to equip the regiment with advanced capabilities, such as anti-ship missiles that could be fired at Chinese ships in the event of a Taiwan conflict.

 

This is one of the most significant advances in U.S. force posture in the region in at least a decade, said the officials. “Japan is substantially improving its capacity, but also providing more capacity for the United States,” said the administration official. “This reflects a Japan that is much less ambivalent, a Japan that is prepared to play a more substantial role in its own defense.”

 

In the past, the administration official said, Japan would have resorted to “a kind of checkbook diplomacy, and basically asked the United States to take care of” security in the region. “What they’re doing now is something quite different and quite substantial, which is essentially to say, ‘Count us in.’ And that’s a big deal.”

 

Japan’s endorsement of the Marine Corps restructuring comes as China continues a sweeping military buildup, including expansion of its Navy — already the world’s largest — and its nuclear program, all part of Beijing’s goal of becoming the world’s preeminent military by 2049.

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Paul your reporting from the future.  One day ahead of us here in the US.  

:roflmao:
 

Want to share your thoughts on this?Being an Aussie your closer to the conflict than I am.  (Colorado, USA)
I think, hope and pray that it will help keep the peace.  

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1 hour ago, Josiah said:

I think, hope and pray that it will help keep the peace.  

 

Hi Josiah,

Thanks for the message and the interest.

An excellent source of information for geo-politics is the YouTube channel, 'Caspian Report'.

Quite objective, factual, disinterested, explanations with context, etc.

The channel has many videos covering the entire world.

 

Here is one video relevant to the Taiwan, US, China tensions.

Hope you enjoy it, and watch other videos of the channel, thanks.

________________________________________

Why Taiwan matters to the United States

AMLnZu9_8GEsTMmcVARoN-xelnlkvFZLC-jpd-Ra 1.26M subscribers
545,089 views
Oct 31, 2022
 
 

 

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That video was excellent. Very straightforward and unbiased as you said. I love the historical background information. It reminds me of a quote.   “We all stand on bloodsoaked ground.” -Jordan Peterson 

Wow 65% of the worlds semi conductors are made in Taiwan. That is a huge market share despite there small geo political size compared to other countries.

Interesting that Washington does not recognize them as a sovereign state. And supports them at the same time. Seems like it would be better if the US did not enter into any contracts with foreign nations but instead took up a good neighbor policy with all countries.  Mainly because nations throughout history never honor their treaties.

 

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47 minutes ago, Paulyd75 said:

Clearly Paul A has some confirmation bias going on here. 

Yeah very strange last few weeks with the Joe Biden classified document scandal and the Washington post doctor admitting the covid numbers could be as much as 70% inflated you would think those would be worthy of posting since American classified documents and news seems very important to him. Or maybe even the Truth about January 6th how the capitol police allowed the protesters to enter the capitol with the recent leaked video footage. Strange there is none of that here.

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On 1/19/2023 at 3:04 PM, Punxatawneyjoe said:

Yeah very strange last few weeks with the Joe Biden classified document scandal and the Washington post doctor admitting the covid numbers could be as much as 70% inflated you would think those would be worthy of posting since American classified documents and news seems very important to him. Or maybe even the Truth about January 6th how the capitol police allowed the protesters to enter the capitol with the recent leaked video footage. Strange there is none of that here.

That’s because his mind has been captured. It’s a common thing these days.  Interesting times. 

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https://www.nytimes.com/live/2023/01/27/us/pelosi-attack-body-cam-video

January 27, 2023

New York Times

 

Pelosi Attack Live Updates: Body Camera Footage of Hammer Attack Released

A San Francisco court on Friday released police body camera footage showing the frenzied seconds when an intruder wielding a hammer attacked Paul Pelosi, 82, the husband of Nancy Pelosi, in the foyer of the couple’s home in Pacific Heights in the early hours of Oct. 28, 2022.

In the footage, Paul Pelosi, the husband of former Speaker Nancy Pelosi, is attacked with a hammer.

The intruder has been charged with attempted murder and said he was targeting Ms. Pelosi.

___________________________

GRAPHIC WARNING: Paul Pelosi Attack Bodycam Video Released

1.42M subscribers

Jan 28, 2023

 

 

 

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Video appears to show Tyre Nichols being beaten by multiple Memphis officers

7.39M subscribers
Jan 28, 2023
 
Memphis officials release pole camera video appearing to show multiple police officers beating Tyre Nichols during a traffic stop at an intersection near the home of Nichols’ mother. 
Spoiler

 

_____________________________________

First section of Memphis bodycam release shows Tyre Nichols pulled out of car, tasered

7.39M subscribers
Jan 28, 2023
 
Tyre Nichols is shown on newly released body camera fleeing from Memphis police as they forcibly remove him from his car and use Tasers.
Spoiler

 

______________________________________

Bodycam shows Memphis officers discussing Tyre Nichols after violent arrest

7.39M subscribers
Jan 28, 2023
 
Newly released body camera appears to show Memphis officers discussing the reason for the traffic stop of Tyre Nichols.
Spoiler

 

 

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reducing display space
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https://www.nytimes.com/2023/02/07/us/romney-santos-tense-exchange.html

New York Times

Feb. 8, 2023

 

Inside the tense exchange between Romney and Santos.

Senator Mitt Romney of Utah admonished Representative George Santos, a fellow Republican and New York freshman, telling him he “shouldn’t have been there.”

 

WASHINGTON — It began on the floor of the House, in an impromptu but strikingly testy exchange just before the State of the Union address.

Senator Mitt Romney, the Utah Republican known for his party-bucking stands and emphasis on moral rectitude, could be seen scolding Representative George Santos, the New York freshman who faces multiple investigations after fabricating much of his résumé.

Mr. Romney admonished Mr. Santos for positioning himself in a prime camera-ready spot in the chamber, saying he didn’t belong there, and had no shame.

“I didn’t expect that he’d be standing there trying to shake hands with every senator and the president of the United States,” Mr. Romney said afterward to reporters who asked about the incident, which was captured on camera and erupted on social media.

He added: “Given the fact that he’s under ethics investigation, he should be sitting in the back row and staying quiet instead of parading in front of the president and people coming into the room.”

 

After the tense exchange between the two Republicans, the usually cheerful Mr. Santos looked slightly stung, and then annoyed.

The hostile encounter stood out in a sea of lawmakers, glad-handing and happily greeting one another.

 

The Utah Republican, in his remarks to reporters, did not hold back, calling Mr. Santos “a sick puppy” who should resign — a position that puts Mr. Romney at odds with Speaker Kevin McCarthy of California and the House leadership.

Among the falsehoods put forward by Mr. Santos are assertions that he worked at Goldman Sachs, graduated from college, had grandparents who fled the Holocaust and a mother who escaped from the World Trade Center on Sept. 11, 2001.

 

Mr. Romney told reporters such statements are not merely exaggerations.

“He says he, you know, that he embellished his record. Look, embellishing is saying you got an A when you got an A-. Lying is saying you graduated from a college that you didn’t even attend, and he shouldn’t be in Congress.”

 

Still, the moment was also vintage Santos, who appears to enjoy nothing more than attention and was determined not to give Romney the final word, offering a final taunt on Twitter.

Shortly after the speech ended, Mr. Santos tweeted at Mr. Romney, the party’s failed 2012 presidential nominee, that he would never make it to the White House.

______________________________________

 

Santos, Romney exchange words ahead of Biden address

2.13M subscribers
Feb 8, 2023
 
 
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https://www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/2023/02/16/proudboys-trial-trump-subpoena/

February 16, 2023

Washington Post

 

Proud Boys move to subpoena Trump in seditious conspiracy trial

Some of the Proud Boys have argued that the former president should be on trial, not them

Leaders in the far-right Proud Boys group, accused in federal court of plotting to use violence to keep Donald Trump in power, are asking the Justice Department to help them force the former president to testify.

 

“At all times relevant, Trump was president of the United States, and it’s the government’s obligation to produce him,” attorney Norm Pattis said in court Thursday.

His client, Joseph Biggs, is one of five defendants accused of engaging in a seditious conspiracy to attack the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.

 

Pattis did not explain what defendants hope to learn from Trump, only that he was joined in the subpoena effort by attorneys for co-defendant Dominic Pezzola.

He said he needed help from the government to serve a subpoena on Trump because the U.S. Secret Service continues to protect the former president.

 

In opening statements last month, an attorney for longtime Proud Boys Chairman Henry “Enrique” Tarrio argued that the former president was the one responsible for the deadly riot.

Representatives for Trump did not immediately respond to a request for comment Thursday.

 

In a debate with presidential candidate Joe Biden in September 2020, Trump told the Proud Boys to “stand back and stand by.”

In an encrypted chat from after the election, produced in court, Tarrio told a top deputy that the Trump campaign wanted them to keep showing up at rallies but not wear “colors” identifying themselves as Proud Boys.

 

“President Trump told these people that the election was stolen,” defense attorney Sabino Jauregui told jurors.

“Trump told them to go there on January 6th, and it was Trump who in his speech on January 6th unleashed that mob over there at the Capitol.”

The former president wasn’t on trial, Jauregui said, because “it’s too hard to blame Trump, it’s too hard to put him on the witness stand with his army of lawyers.”

 

The subpoena effort is almost certain to fail. Duke University law professor Lisa Kern Griffin, who studies constitutional criminal procedure, noted that the defendants face multiple obstacles to putting Trump on the stand.

“We’re not going to be seeing testimony from the former president,” Griffin said.

 

Judge Timothy J. Kelly would have to rule Trump’s testimony admissible at trial.

Judge Reggie B. Walton, in a different Jan. 6 criminal case in which the defendant sought to put Trump on the stand, ruled last year that the former president’s intent was “irrelevant” to how an individual supporter responded.

 

“The probative value of such testimony is substantially outweighed by the danger of confusing the issues and misleading the jury,” Walton wrote.

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3 hours ago, Josiah said:

@Paul A  If they subpoenaed Trump, my guess is the whole case would be acquitted.  One of the many reasons that won’t happen.

Don't fuel the propaganda thread, i made that mistake before. @Paul A has a bit of an obsession. He's not happy enough with his island.

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But but but.  Talking and stuff 

 

BTW I was just looking at Australia on the map, the island is huge it’s further from east to west than Denver to New York.  The only Country in the world that is it’s own continent.  Similar in size to Alaska.  And they talk funny.  I want to go and hang out with @Paul A

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43 minutes ago, Josiah said:

The only Country in the world that is it’s own continent.

 

Yes Josiah, Australia is an extremely fortunate and wealthy country.

Population of only about 25 million, in an entire continent.

A very successful modern, multicultural and tolerant society, with around 7 million (28%) people born overseas.

Very peaceful, no border disputes, ethos of equality/fairness.

Stable governments, extremely low corruption, very mild politics.

News is very tame, people are generally content.

 

Crocodile Dundee, great movie, a little bit Hollywood.   :D

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https://www.washingtonpost.com/media/2023/02/16/fox-news-2020-lies-dominion-suit/

February 17, 2023

Washington Post

 

Fox News hosts, execs privately doubted 2020 conspiracies shared on air

Rupert Murdoch called election conspiracies ‘really crazy stuff,’ according to new legal filings in Dominion’s $1.6 billion defamation lawsuit.

 

Fox News’s most prominent hosts and top executives agonized behind the scenes in the weeks following the 2020 election as they watched allies of Donald Trump appear on their own airwaves promoting false conspiracy theories about a stolen election, according to internal emails, text messages and depositions excerpted in a new court filing.

 

“Sidney Powell is lying,” Tucker Carlson wrote to a producer about the Trump lawyer, who once claimed in a guest spot that voting technology companies “flipped” Trump votes to Biden.

“Terrible stuff damaging everybody,” wrote company founder Rupert Murdoch, about wild claims raised by Powell and fellow Trump adviser, Rudy Giuliani.

The recipient of his note, Fox News CEO Suzanne Scott, agreed.

In another message, Murdoch referred to the claims as “really crazy stuff” and that it is “very hard to credibly claim foul everywhere.”

 

And of Giuliani, the former mayor of New York, Fox’s prime time roster seemed to share a common opinion during these fraught weeks.

“[He’s] acting like an insane person,” wrote Sean Hannity, star of the network’s 9 p.m. show, while his 10 p.m. colleague Laura Ingraham concurred: “Such an idiot.”

 

The messages are part of a cache of internal correspondence and deposition testimony released Thursday in a $1.6 billion defamation lawsuit against the network filed by Dominion Voting Systems, one of the two election software companies at the center of the conspiracy theories.

 

The documents provide a rare window into the inner workings of the cable news network and show how publicly Trump-friendly personalities were privately repulsed by the president’s post-election actions, with Carlson referring to Trump as a “demonic force,” according to the filings.

 

The filing in Delaware State Superior Court ahead of an April trial is meant to bolster Dominion’s argument that Fox leadership was aware that the claims of election fraud were untrue but nonetheless “spread and endorsed” them, the company argued.

 

“Not a single Fox witness testified that they believe any of the allegations about Dominion are true,” Dominion argued in the filing.

“Indeed, Fox witness after Fox witness declined to assert the allegations’ truth or actually stated they do not believe them, and Fox witnesses repeatedly testified that they have not seen credible evidence to support them.”

 

Fox’s news staff was just as loud in raising internal concerns as the star pundits and executives, the filings show.

In one message, Fox correspondent Lucas Tomlinson wrote to news anchor Bret Baier referring to “dangerously insane” election claims.

Baier, in turn, wrote that “there is NO evidence of fraud” and told Bill Sammon, then the network’s Washington bureau chief, that their team must “prevent this stuff,” meaning the spread of misinformation.

 

In a statement, Fox News downplayed the revelations from the correspondence, saying it was filled with “cherry-picked quotes stripped of key context.”

“There will be a lot of noise and confusion generated by Dominion and their opportunistic private equity owners,” a spokesperson said, “but the core of this case remains about freedom of the press and freedom of speech, which are fundamental rights afforded by the Constitution and protected by New York Times v. Sullivan.”

In a separate counterclaim filing also made public Thursday, Fox alleged that Dominion’s $1.6 billion demand “has no factual support,” arguing that — far from having its value destroyed by Powell and Giuliani’s false claims of fraud — the company is actually “in a solid financial position.”

 

While much of the correspondence aired by Dominion shows Fox officials agonizing over false information on its airwaves, some of the behind-the-scenes torment was about a story the network got right — an election-night projection that Joe Biden would win the hotly contested state of Arizona.

 

Fox’s decision-desk analysts were days ahead of other news outlets in making the controversial call, which infuriated Trump and his supporters — including many Fox viewers.

“Do the executives understand how much credibility and trust we’ve lost with our audience?” Carlson wrote in a text message to his producer. “We’re playing with fire, for real.”

Scott, who forwarded Carlson’s concerns about the Arizona call to Fox Corp CEO and executive chairman Lachlan Murdoch, was quoted as saying that Fox’s “brand” was impacted by the “arrogance” of the early — but accurate — call.

 

Dominion is using such messages to make the argument that Fox was motivated by competitive pressures from smaller pro-Trump cable stations like Newsmax that threatened to lure away its viewers.

Carlson, in his message, specifically warned that Newsmax “could be devastating to us.”

 

Fox News president Jay Wallace acknowledged in a text message to Scott that it was “a bit troubling” to see Newsmax pick up Fox viewers — an ultimately short-lived gain — adding that the rival network offered “an alternate universe” but that “it can’t be ignored.”

Newsmax “should be watched, if skeptically,” Rupert Murdoch told Scott in a Nov. 16, 2020 email, adding that he doesn’t “want to antagonize Trump further.”

 

And Scott and Lachlan Murdoch commiserated over how their pro-Trump viewers were “going through the 5 stages of grief,” as Scott put it, promising her corporate boss that Fox would “plant flags letting the viewers know we hear them and respect them.”

Her boss agreed that a “constant rebuilding without any missteps” was needed after the Arizona call.

“We can fix this,” Scott wrote, “but we cannot smirk at our viewers any longer.”

 

Dominion’s filings also suggest that Fox brass bristled when its own reporters attempted to push back on election conspiracies on the air.

“If this gets picked up, viewers are going to be further disgusted,” Scott wrote in a message after reporter Jacqui Heinrich fact-checked a Trump tweet containing misinformation about Dominion.

In a text message, Carlson suggested to Hannity that Heinrich should be fired.

Kristen Fisher, then a White House reporter for Fox who has since moved to CNN, testified that her then-boss told her higher-ups were “unhappy” with her own fact-checking segment.

 

In Fox’s own brief requesting the judge rule in its favor, attorneys argue that Fox showed no “actual malice” — the high standard required in defamation cases — because all of the hosts who allowed false claims to be aired honestly believed there was a chance the election might have been stolen using Dominion’s machines.

“It is hardly unusual that some people in a newsroom (with the diverse political viewpoints one would expect) will disbelieve the allegations and hope that they ultimately prove false,” Fox’s lawyers wrote, “while others will keep an open mind in hopes that they prove true.”

 

But Hannity, for one, said in a deposition quoted in the Dominion filing that he never believed Powell’s claims.

“Nobody ever convinced me that their argument was anywhere near accurate or true.”

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US President Joe Biden makes surprise visit to Kyiv ahead of Ukraine war anniversary – BBC News

13.9M subscribers
Feb 20, 2023
 
 
US President Joe Biden has made a surprise visit to Kyiv, Ukraine - his first since Russia invaded almost a year ago.
Ahead of a joint press conference, Biden sat down with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and said he was "looking forward to discussing the world" with him.
Biden also praised Ukrainian citizens for their "heroic" fighting - despite a lack of military experience.
The US president is due to begin a three-day visit to Poland later today.
 
 
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Quote from separate thread:
 

@Paul A

Sao Paulo, Brazil.

Thief has stolen manhole cover to sell for scrap metal.

Too bad when night falls and visibility is reduced.

Or if the chair is moved/stolen.

 

@Paul A end quote
 


Josiah:

So dangerous! If someone were to fall in that open man hole at night, it could cause a death.

 

 Pole Question:

If someone buy some action characterized as negligence causes unintentionally the death of an innocent person. What should the consequence be? 

A: The convicted person is given 15 years hard service. And 20 years probation and 6000 hours anger management therapy.

B:  The guilty party is put to death

C:  The guilty party is found guilty of manslaughter in the second degree, sentence to three consecutive five-year sentences and released sound good behavior after serving 50% of that time.

 

How many annual global deaths are caused by criminal negligence?

What are some examples of criminal negligence that could lead to the death of an innocent?

 

Correct answer is B

This provides justice, not only for the deceased victim but also for the family of the victim, and also for the person and relations of the guilty party. 

It’s impossible to create infinite legislation concerning safety procedures for every conceivable niche of life.

Examples:

1:    Contractor digs a pit in a  public field.  Leaves it unmarked overnight.

Victim falls into pit under the darkness of night and dies.

 

2:    Top executive, and reverse chain of command, from high level management down to basic shop level workers at top-level energy corporation, knowingly organizes improper disposal of toxic waste.

10,000 people are poisoned 7000 people are sick or injured 3000 people are dead.

What would the criminal code look like that could deal with both scenarios, in one or two sentences?


Sidenote/ P.S. 

Portuguese official language in Brazil. It sounds amazing so peaceful to listen to in this video.

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https://www.washingtonpost.com/media/2023/02/27/rupert-murdoch-testimony-fox-dominion/

Washington Post

February 27, 2023

 

Murdoch admits some Fox hosts ‘were endorsing’ election falsehoods

Rupert Murdoch, chairman of Fox News’s parent company, acknowledged in a deposition that “some of our commentators were endorsing” the baseless narrative that the 2020 presidential election was stolen — and that he wishes the network did more to challenge those conspiracy theories.

 

“I would have liked us to be stronger in denouncing it, in hindsight,” Murdoch said in testimony made public on Monday as part of Dominion Voting Systems’ $1.6 billion defamation lawsuit against the network.

 

Asked if Fox News host Jeanine Pirro endorsed the claims, Murdoch replied, “I think so.”

He said that former host Lou Dobbs did so “a lot,” and that prime-time host Sean Hannity did so “a bit.”

 

Murdoch denied that Fox itself promoted those views, saying that the network was simply “treating it as news that the president and his lawyers were saying this.”

 

Yet Murdoch also acknowledged that he had a “long talk” with his son, Fox Corporation chief executive Lachlan Murdoch, and Fox News executive Suzanne Scott, about “the direction Fox should take” after some once-loyal Fox viewers, who saw the Arizona call as a betrayal, began flipping to other, more conservative channels.

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