Dominion was the target of conspiracy theories claiming widespread election fraud and other wrongdoing in the wake of the November 2020 presidential election, and the companyeventually suedseveral of Trump’s closest allies, including Fox News, for allegedly repeating lies about its machines.
Speaking to NBC News' Cynthia McFadden in herfirst television interviewthis week, Grossberg alleges she was “bullied, intimidated and coerced into saying that [under oath] just to keep my job and stay at the company.”
She continued in the interview: “And the question a lot of people would have is, ‘Why would you do that?’ I made the decision to keep my job so that I can keep paying my bills. It seemed like the safer decision for me at the time.”
“The assertion that Ms. Grossberg was coached or intimidated into being dishonest during her Dominion deposition is patently false,” Fox responded in a statement. “We will continue to vigorously defend Fox against her unmeritorious legal claims, which are riddled with false allegations against the network and our employees.”
Fox News further defended itself against Grossberg’s claims with the following explanation: “Like most organizations, FOX News Media’s attorneys engage in privileged communications with our employees as necessary to provide legal advice. Our attorneys advised Ms. Grossberg that, while she was free to file whatever legal claims she wished, she was in possession of our privileged information and was not authorized to disclose it publicly. We were clear that if she violated our instructions, Fox would take appropriate action including termination. Ms. Grossberg ignored these communications and chose to file her complaint without taking any steps to protect those portions containing Fox’s privileged information.”"
Legal filings have demonstrated that even some of the network’s most publicly opinionated personalities publicly doubted that the 2020 election was rigged, all while the network offered a platform to Trump loyalists who amplified the false claims.
Messages made public in the filing show that even Fox ChairmanRupert Murdochexpressed disbelief in Trump’s election fraud claims, which he called “really crazy stuff,” writing in an email to Fox News CEO Suzanne Scott that the claims were “damaging everybody, I fear.”
Scott, in a reply, wrote: “Yes Sean [Hannity] and even [Jeanine] Pirro agrees.”
Speaking to NBC, Grossberg claimed that the environment at Fox grew to be so toxic that she called a crisis hotline one night, after thinking about stepping in front of a moving car.
“And I wouldn’t have to go to work tomorrow,” Grossberg said. “That crossed my mind. It definitely did. I really had no hope in those moments.”
Grossberg’s full interview is set to air Thursday onNBC Nightly News with Lester Holt.
source: people.com
