Rupert Murdoch has admitted that Fox News hosts promoted a baseless story that the 2020 presidential election was stolen from Donald Trump, according to a filing in a lawsuit against the network.

Under oath, the chair of the right-wing media empire condeded that hosts including Maria Bartiromo, Lou Dobbs, Sean Hannity and Jeanine Pirro “endorsed at times this false notion of a stolen election.”

Voting machine company Dominion Voting Systems is pursuing a $1.6bn defamation lawsuit against the network, which alleges that those running Fox News knew Mr. Trump’s claims were untrue but broadcast them regardless.