Additional revelations pertaining to Dominion’s $1.6 billion lawsuit against Fox News are coming to light, and they include direct back and forth communications between Fox News/Fox Business host Maria Bartiromo and a Dominion spokesperson where the Fox Newser continues to express doubt about the 2020 presidential election results.
In a series of tweets, the Washington Post’s Jeremy Barr notes that email exchanges between Bartiromo and a Dominion rep named Tony Fratto were recently handed over to the judge presiding over the case.
New emails have been unearthed between Tony Fratto (Dominion flak) and Maria Bartiromo that Fox plans to use when arguing for summary judgement.
Fox says they are “relevant to Fox’s defense that Ms. Bartiromo did not act with actual malice.”
Here are some emails from Maria: pic.twitter.com/2ijppwqIXL
— Jeremy Barr (@jeremymbarr) March 7, 2023
In November 2020, Fratto reached out to Bartiromo directly, telling her that guests on her shows, including Rudy Guiliani and Sidney Powell, were spreading 2020 election conspiracy theories and that she should stop airing them.
And here was Tony Fratto’s Nov. 16, 2020 plea to Maria Bartiromo. Fratto is a former George W. Bush administration official. pic.twitter.com/0Rl3xrl4kq
— Jeremy Barr (@jeremymbarr) March 7, 2023
However, in one of the responses from her personal email account, Bartiromo continues to express doubt about the 2022 election process and asks Fratto, “Are you saying I should not cover a sitting president contesting a presidential election? Should I just blow it off & go with the rest of the media, who has taken us down rabbit holes based on their ideologies now for 4 years and counting? Is that what you suggest I do?”
Barr notes that the judge presiding over the case has said that he is “concerned” about how late he has received these latest communications.
The judge in the Dominion/Fox case says a new communication has been handed over between a Dominion person and a Fox person that should have been turned over earlier in the discovery process. Says he’s “concerned” that he’s getting it so late in the process.
— Jeremy Barr (@jeremymbarr) March 7, 2023
As for Fox News, it is saying that this exchange shows Bartiromo didn’t knowingly lie about the election and consequently “did not act with actual malice.” The defense says it will include the email communications as part of its oral argument for summary judgment on March 21 — two weeks from today.
Fox plans to cite this exchange in their oral argument for summary judgement on March 21 because they “are relevant to Fox’s defense that Ms. Bartiromo did not act with actual malice.”
— Jeremy Barr (@jeremymbarr) March 7, 2023
Below is Fox’s filing, which also shows that Bartiromo offered to have Dominion’s CEO on her program.