Court documents released in the defamation lawsuit brought by a voting machine company against Fox News has revealed that the conservative-leaning network catered to their audience to promote former President Donald Trump’s claims of a stolen election in spite of facts proving otherwise and at times played favorites among political candidates.

That may hold some relevance more than five years later for Roy Moore. Narrowly defeated in Alabama’s 2017 special Senate election by Democrat Doug Jones, Moore told AL.com on Thursday his race may have been negatively affected by Fox News.

Moore’s name came up in a deposition given by Fox News founder Rupert Murdoch in the $1.6 billion lawsuit brought by Dominion Voting Systems, the Associated Press reported this week.

While Murdoch’s deposition has led to a series of headlines in pulling back the curtain on the machinations within Fox News, Moore’s name also came up in relation to that 2017 Senate race.

The AP reported that Murdoch said in his deposition in the Dominion voting lawsuit against Fox News that he told his top executives that he opposed Moore’s candidacy. Moore defeated a crowded GOP field seeking to fill the seat vacated by Jeff Sessions, who had resigned to become attorney general for former President Donald Trump. Moore sealed the GOP nomination with a runoff victory over Sen. Luther Strange – who had been appointed to replace Sessions on a temporary basis by Gov. Kay Ivey.

Though Moore was the choice of Alabama Republican voters in the primary, his support in Washington was more tenuous. Trump endorsed and campaigned for Strange just before the runoff and then-Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell also supported Strange in the primary.

Moore’s campaign ultimately collapsed a month before the election after being accused of sexual misconduct with a 14-year-old girl in Gadsden in 1979 along with allegations from other women. Moore immediately denied all accusations and has stood by his denials in sworn court testimony.

Even before the allegations and after Moore won the primary, McConnell continued to withhold support.

Jones, a Democrat who was a longshot to win before the allegations against Moore, pulled the election-night surprise – prevailing by less than 2 percent more of the vote than Moore.

Asked Thursday by AL.com about Murdoch’s lack of support, Moore said it made a difference in his race.

“Judge Moore said he does not know Rupert Murdoch, never talked to him, did not know of his involvement and of course it affected the 2017 general election showing that both Republicans and Democrats joined in the conspiracy to keep him out of the United States Senate because of his strong conservative values and not willing to go along with all the (crap) going on in Washington D.C. regarding their establishment agendas,” Moore said in an email.

“It also shows Sean Hannity (host of a popular Fox primetime opinion show) and Fox News Networks involvement to keep a conservative Republican out of the U.S. Senate.”

Hannity called on Moore to drop out of the race if he couldn’t prove the allegations against him were false. That ultimatum came after Moore gave his first extended interview to Hannity on his radio show following the report of the allegations.

After Moore gave a response to Hannity’s call to prove the allegations false, Hannity – who once had a radio show in Athens — responded on his Fox News show, “I lived in Alabama. I enjoyed my time in Alabama I know these people — they are smart, great Americans. God, family, faith, country. I am very confident when everything comes out, they will make the best decision for their state.”