US Politics
Jeanine Pirro accused of helping Trump and Republican Party while a Fox News host: report claims
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Jeanine Pirro, the U.S. Attorney for D.C., has been accused of helping President Donald Trump and the Republican Party while she was a Fox News weekend host, according to a new report.
Newly unredacted court documents from the voting machine company Smartmatic, which The Washington Post has reported on, have revealed alarming texts from Pirro around the time of the 2020 election.
Smartmatic is suing Fox News for $2.7 billion, arguing the network aired claims that it rigged former President Joe Biden’s victory over Trump, despite knowing those allegations were false. Fox News has denied Smartmatic’s allegations, arguing it was partaking in journalism, rather than defamation.
In one text Pirro sent to then-Republican National Committee Chair Ronna McDaniel in September 2020, she reportedly said, “I work so hard for the party across the country.”
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“I’m the Number 1 watched show on all news cable all weekend. I work so hard for the President and party,” Pirro, who hosted “Justice with Judge Jeanine,” said, according to the outlet.
Pirro also reportedly told lawyer Sidney Powell, who later pleaded guilty in a scheme to overturn Trump’s 2020 election loss in Georgia, to “Keep fighting” in a November 2020 text message shortly after Election Day.
Smartmatic argues Pirro agreed the 2020 election was “fair and free” in a deposition.
“I believe that there’s been no showing that Smartmatic engaged in any problems,” she said, according to court documents.
Fox News told The Independent Tuesday, “The evidence shows that Smartmatic’s business and reputation were badly suffering long before any claims by President Trump’s lawyers on Fox News and that Smartmatic grossly inflated its damage claims to generate headlines and chill free speech.
“Now, in the aftermath of Smartmatic’s executives getting indicted for bribery charges, we are eager and ready to continue defending our press freedoms.”
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The Independent has also reached out to Pirro’s D.C. office and the White House for comment.
Fox News has already agreed to pay Dominion Voting Systems $787.5 million in a defamation lawsuit over its post-2020 election coverage.
Dominion also sued another right-leaning network, Newsmax, for false claims it had rigged the election, leading to a $67 million settlement. Newsmax agreed to pay Smartmatic $40 million in a similar defamation suit.
