Fox News what

is cited for “misconduct upon discovery”

by the judge in the $1.6 billion defamation suit brought by Dominion Voting Systems after learning that taped conversations with former President Donald Trump’s lawyers had not been turned over as evidence.

The potentially important revelation that such ties exist that could affect the trial ahead

on the case

came to light in a revised legal complaint filed Tuesday by Abby Grossberg, who worked as a producer for Fox anchor Maria Bartiromo.

Grossberg is suing the network for discrimination and wrongful termination.

An excerpt from the tapes was played at a hearing in Delaware on Thursday. Supreme Court Justice Eric Davis said the recordings belonged as evidence and admonition

quoted

Fox News lawyers

for “misconduct in discovery”

for withholding the information. Davis said he is also considering appointing a special master to determine if other relevant material has been withheld.

Dominion may also make another statement with Fox News taking the bill.

Fox News had no comment for the judge

misconduct

to govern. The company previously said it complied with discovery obligations in the case.

Davis also included a recent NPR report

in the file

said Bret Baier, Fox News’ chief political anchor, suggested a special

master

to fact-check and debunk the claims of voter fraud that had been spread by other programs on the network. The idea was not considered, according to the report, but there is no documentation in the evidence to show it was discussed.

Fox News and Dominion will go to trial Monday, where a jury will be asked to decide whether the network acted maliciously when it presented the false allegations in the months following the 2020 election, when Trump promoted false claims of voter fraud as the reason for his loss to President Biden.

Grossberg said taped conversations with Giuliani and Powell took place before they appeared on the November 15, 2020 edition of the Bartiromos program Sunday Morning Futures, where the legal duo made false statements about voter fraud claims promoted by Trump. In one conversation, Giuliani admits that he had little evidence to back up the claims he discussed on the program.

Giuliani is a target of a criminal investigation in Georgia into possible illegal attempts by Trump and others to interfere in the 2020 general election in the state where Biden won by a narrow margin.

He has denied any allegation.

Grossberg said the recordings were on her cell phone, which were made by Fox News attorneys, so that her texts and emails could be submitted as evidence prior to her testimony last year. Her complaint said the conversations were not recorded because they would harm the network’s defense in the case.

Fox News knew that these recordings conflicted with its interests with respect to the claims in the Dominion lawsuit, particularly with regard to proving actual malice, and therefore, on the basis of information and belief, intentionally or recklessly withheld this damaging discovery and/or not produced, according to the court.

Grossberg’s complaint, originally filed on March 20, cites a recording made on or about November 15 where Giuliani admitted to Bartiromo that the Trump campaign was unable to prove some of the allegations related to Dominion. Giuliani and Powell had been on Sunday Morning Futures, where they said the company’s machine used vote-rigging software to manipulate the election for President Biden.

According to the filing, Bartiromo had also questioned Powell in the same recording before she taped an interview for the program.

What is the most important and compelling thing you wish you could get out of this morning? Say. Were not rolling yet, Bartiromo said.

Powell presented nothing of substance and Bartiromo did not press her further.

Grossberg’s phone also included a conversation with a Trump campaign official who said there was no evidence that there was a problem with Georgia’s voting machines. The official urged Bartiromo to discuss the Jan. 6 vote by Congress to certify the election and how it was the last chance to reverse the outcome in Trump’s favor.

The January 6 vote was interrupted by rioting Trump supporters who stormed the Capitol. Davis ruled Wednesday that Dominion attorneys cannot discuss the uprising in their presentation.

The interviews were conducted in front of David Clark, the Fox News executive in charge of the Bartiromos program at the time, and a control room full of staffers, according to the complaint.

Grossberg, who most recently worked for the Fox News show “Tucker Carlson Tonight,” was fired by Fox News after she filed her lawsuit. The company said it was free to file a legal claim, but held privileged information and was not authorized to disclose it. Once she did that in her lawsuit, her employment ended.