Audio released by MSNBC includes Rudy Giulani privately admitting to Fox News personality Maria Bartiromo that he knew little about Dominion Voting Systems and had difficulty defending false claims that the company was involved with election fraud.
Recordings aired by the network on 12 April also include audio from a Donald Trump campaign official stating that a review from Georgia’s top election official did not discover any physical issues with Dominion machines.
The release of the audio comes at the start of a trial against the network stemming from a $1.6bn defamation lawsuit from Dominion, which has accused the network and its leadership of spreading false claims and baseless conspiracy theories about the company’s role in the 2020 presidential election.
The first recording includes an off-air conversation between Mr Giuliani and Ms Bartiromo on 8 November, 2020, just days after Mr Trump’s loss to Joe Biden in that year’s election.
“I’m going to be asking you for as much evidence as you can tell us about these lawsuits. Whatever you can tell us in terms of evidence would be really helpful,” Ms Bartiromo said, according to the recording.
“I can tell you exactly what we have,” Mr Giuliani replied.
He admitted that providing evidence about Dominion’s software to defend statements about the company is “a little harder.”
Mr Giuliani also said he “can’t prove” that now-former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi had an interest in Dominion.
Another recording captures an exchange between a Fox News producer and Trump campaign official from 5 December, 2020.
The producer is heard asking: “Have any of the machines been looked at? [Steve Bannon] had said that one was looked at in Georgia.
The official, then asking to speak off the record, said; “When the Secretary of State did its audit, there was a lot, I think a fair bit of looking at the machines … The audit came in pretty darn close to what the machine count was with the receipts. So, I don’t know the outcome of those, but our understanding, again – this is from the Secretary of State’s Office – was that there weren’t any physical issues with machines on those inspections.”
The tapes were provided by former Fox News producer Abby Grossberg, who has separately sued the network in a pair of filings accusing the network of fostering a sexist work environment and pressuring her into giving false testimony in the defamation case.
“As counsel explained to the court, Fox produced the supplemental information from Ms Grossberg when we first learned it,” Fox News said in a statement to NBC News.
Attorneys for Ms Grossberg said that the recordings were not provided to Dominion’s lawyers during discovery in the defamation case.
“If Dominion had these audio tapes and been able to use it in their summary judgment motion, maybe they would have gotten a complete victory,” he told MSNBC.
On 12 April, Delaware Superior Court Judge Eric Davis said he would impose sanctions on the network and investigate whether its legal team had deliberately withheld evidence, scolding attorneys for Fox News for failing to be “straightforward” with him.
He also said he would impose a special master, an outside counsel, to investigate Fox’s handling of discovery materials and whether Fox withheld information about the nature and scope of Rupert Murdoch’s involvement.
The lawsuit was filed in 2021, and Fox has argued that the right-wing media mogul and senior leadership at Fox Corporation, the parent company on which he sits as chairman, have had no roles with running the network.
“We are pleased that the court recognized the very serious apparent discovery-related and other gross misconduct perpetrated by Fox News and its team of high-powered attorneys in relation to the Dominion v Fox lawsuit that our client, Abby Grossberg, has courageously and repeatedly revealed in her lawsuits,” according to a statement from Ms Grossberg’s attorneys shared with The Independent.
“Ms. Grossberg remains committed to speaking the truth in all appropriate forums, including before a Special Master appointed by the Court, while our firm will continue to ensure that she obtains the justice she deserves,” they added.
Jury selection in the closely watched case is expected to close on 14 April, and the trial is scheduled to begin on 17 April.
