A new court filing by voting technology company Smartmatic has revealed that Fox News employees have expressed a “resounding lack of confidence” in the network’s credibility as a news organization. The information surfaced through internal surveys conducted by Fox’s human resources department, which highlighted major concerns among staff members over ethics, fairness, and the accuracy of the company’s reporting.
The findings were included in Smartmatic’s ongoing defamation lawsuit against the network, which accuses Fox and several of its top hosts of spreading false claims about election fraud during the 2020 U.S. presidential election. According to excerpts from the filing, featured between pages 550 and 554, employees offered candid and troubling assessments of Fox’s internal culture and editorial direction.
“The racial rhetoric spewed on air. It’s everything but [Fair] and Balanced,” one employee said, referencing the network’s long-retired slogan. “I sometimes go home fighting back tears. This network made me question my morals. Have I sold my soul to the devil?”
Another staffer criticized the network’s close alignment with President Donald Trump, saying, “I wish we would get out of Trump’s pocket and realize people like Tucker [Carlson], Laura [Ingraham], [Sean] Hannity, [Mark] Levin, etc. are a total embarrassment, peddling BS and conspiracy theories. Many days, I feel like I am part of the problem and FNC is contributing to hatred in this country.”
One employee expressed frustration at the lack of accountability for high-profile hosts. “There is a total lack of accountability when highly rated anchors like Tucker, Hannity and Laura say outrageous things that are outright racist and xenophobic,” the staffer wrote. “There is not enough quality control to keep conspiracy theories off the air. There is so much good about Fox, but serving as the committee to re-elect Trump puts us on the same footing as Breitbart, and it is very hard to defend at times.”
Another employee urged the network to “tell viewers the truth and bolster their arguments with hard, proven facts given in full context, rather than spin or reckless conjecture that causes harm to real people,” referencing the debunked Seth Rich conspiracy theory as an example.
The internal criticism could bolster Smartmatic’s claims that Fox News knowingly aired false information about the company’s role in the 2020 election. The lawsuit follows a similar defamation case brought by Dominion Voting Systems, which Fox settled earlier this year for $787.5 million.
The revelations underscore growing internal dissatisfaction within the network and raise further questions about Fox’s editorial integrity as it faces ongoing legal and reputational challenges.