During a hearing last Wednesday, Delaware Superior Court Judge Eric Davis sanctioned Fox News for withholding audio recordings of Fox News host Maria Bartiromo speaking off-camera to Trump’s former lawyers Sidney Powell and Rudy Guiliani after the 2020 election from attorneys for Dominion Voting Systems.
The recordings were not turned over to Dominion’s attorneys until two weeks ago when they were revealed in a separate lawsuit against Fox filed by former producer Abby Grossberg, who worked on Maria Bartiromo’s show.
In one recording, Giuliani is heard telling Bartiromo that he can’t prove some of the allegations he made about Dominion. In another, Bartiromo suggested promoting Sidney Powell’s fundraising site on a chyron during her interview with the former Trump lawyer.
Davida Brook, a lawyer for Dominion, told the judge that Fox only turned over the recordings the previous week after Grossberg revealed them in her amended lawsuit.
According to the Washington Post, while questioning Fox’s lawyer Michael Skokna about the recordings, Judge Davis took a shot at Bartiromo over her clear bias.
Judge Davis described the recordings as “extremely relevant” to the case since they directly relate to “one of the statements we are litigating.”
Skokna argued that the defense only recently learned about the recordings and produced them to the plaintiff as soon as they did. He added that the full recordings provide evidence to the claim of actual malice by showing what Bartiromo knew and “what she was saying off air versus on air.”
This prompted Judge Davis to sarcastically remark, “She’s clearly neutral.” When Skokna responded with “Excuse me,” Davis repeated the remark and added, “I’m being sarcastic.”
The judge said he heard the recording of Bartiromo saying she wanted to promote the fundraising website, which was overriding her director. “Clearly not neutral,” Judge Davis said.
When Skokna noted that the fundraising website did not appear on the chyron for the show, Judge Davis remarked, “Thank goodness.”
