Rupert Murdoch’s Trust Battle Cloaked in Secrecy, ‘Our Nevada Judges’ Sues For Press Access

Rupert Murdoch, the media titan who owns Fox News, The New York Post, Wall Street Journal, News Corp and other media outlets in Britain and Australia, has been embroiled in a legal battle with his three heirs over his desire to amend the family’s trust. The battle is playing out in the Washoe County Second District Judicial Court, but has been deemed confidential and all hearings in the case are closed, according to the court’s administrator.

“Any public information related to this matter can now be located at https://www.washoecourts.com/AttendingCourt/NotableCase,” Court Administrator Alicia Lerude said in a statement to the news media.

“The Second Judicial District Court does intend to update this webpage should there be additional filings or changes to event dates,” she added. “The Court has no documents associated with this matter that are not sealed pursuant to court order.  In addition, any hearings set in this matter are closed to the public per court order.”

This ruling is now being challenged by Our Nevada Judges (see below), a website that covers hearing and court cases in the Silver State, claiming that the court-ordered confidentiality violates state Supreme Court precedent.

This is Reno reports:

Alex Falconi with Our Nevada Judges, a website that reports on court hearings and cases, said the case’s closure is blatantly illegal. Nevada law does not allow “super sealing,” and courts cannot hide all case details from the public, he said, adding that the extreme secrecy surrounding the case violates the Nevada Supreme Court rules on sealing and redaction, which provide that “under no circumstances shall the court seal an entire court file.”

“The concealment of entire case files renders the operation of the court so wholly invisible that the corporation’s lawyers cannot even determine where to file the motions necessary to trigger a First Amendment analysis on whether and to what extent unsealing should occur,” he told This Is Reno.

Falconi has prevailed in state court on similar attempts to cloak court cases in secrecy, including a landmark case in February.

The secret battle over the Murdoch empire involves his four children, Lachlan, James, Prudence, and Elizabeth. According to the original trust, each Murdoch heir has equal control, via one vote each, of the media empire. However, Lachlan has overseen the empire as Chairman and Chief Executive since 2019 and has preserved the media conglomerate as a “conservative force” that has led to record ratings. Murdoch wishes to amend the trust so that his eldest, Lachlan Murdoch, will remain in charge and protect the empire’s “commercial value.”  The three other siblings filed a legal challenge in response to their father’s efforts.

According to the NY Times:

Those three siblings — James, Elisabeth and Prudence — were caught completely off-guard by their father’s effort to rewrite what was supposed to be an inviolable trust and have united to stop him. Lachlan has joined on Mr. Murdoch’s side.

Last month, the Nevada probate commissioner found that Mr. Murdoch could amend the trust if he is able to show he is acting in good faith and for the sole benefit of his heirs, according to a copy of his 48-page decision.

A trial to determine whether Mr. Murdoch is in fact acting in good faith is expected to start in September. Hanging in the balance will be the future of one of the most politically influential media companies in the English-speaking world.

Murdoch, 93, has named his effort to amend the trust “Project Harmony,” however the ensuing legal battle has been less than harmonious and is now cloaked in secrecy, unless Our Nevada Judges prevails.

The Globe will continue to follow this developing story.