Australian News Outlet Dares Lachlan Murdoch to Sue Them For Tying Fox News to January 6: ‘We Await Your Writ’

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An Australian political news website challenged Fox Corp CEO and Executive Chairman Lachlan Murdoch to follow through on his threat to file a lawsuit against them for saying he bears partial blame for the Capitol riot of January 6.

Earlier this month, Murdoch threatened to sue the Australian news site Crikey over a piece it published in June, but removed amid months of legal disputes. The article not only compared the Murdoch family to former President Richard Nixon’s role in the Watergate scandal, it also described Lachlan and his father, Fox News Founder Rupert Murdoch, as “unindicted co-conspirators” of January 6 because of the incendiary rhetoric Fox News aired before Donald Trump’s supporters stormed the Capitol.

On Monday, Crikey Editor-in-Chief Peter Fray released an open letter he signed along with Eric Beecher, chairman of Crikey’s parent company, Private Media. In the letter, Crikey invites the Murdochs to take action against them and meet them in court over the claims of defamation.

“Today in Crikey, we are publishing all the legal demands and accusations from your lawyer, and the replies from our lawyers, in full, so people can judge your allegations for themselves,” the letter says. “We want to defend those allegations in court. You have made it clear in your lawyer’s letters you intend to take court action to resolve this alleged defamation. We await your writ so that we can test this important issue of freedom of public interest journalism in a courtroom.”

Fray also spoke to NPR’s David Folkenflik, saying Crikey plans to run the letter in The New York Times and the Australia-based Canberra Times.

“Lachlan Murdoch appears desperate to disassociate himself from the actions of Fox in inciting the January 6th insurrection,” Fray said. “And he’s taking quite extraordinary steps to shut down public debate in this country.”

Past reports have said Lachlan Murdoch views Trump with dislike, but is willing to keep Fox News on the former president’s side while appeasing the network’s audience is good for business. The dispute with Crikey continues while Fox deals with ongoing lawsuits from Smartmatic and Dominion. Both voting technology companies have sued Fox News for defamation, claiming the network deliberately spread misinformation and false 2020 election-rigging claims that damaged their reputations.

“We are confident we will prevail as freedom of the press is foundational to our democracy and must be protected, in addition to the damages claims being outrageous, unsupported and not rooted in sound financial analysis, serving as nothing more than a flagrant attempt to deter our journalists from doing their jobs,” Fox News said about the lawsuits in a previous statement.