Maria Bartiromo may have placed Fox in more peril than other network personalities — here's why

Testimony given by Fox Business host Maria Bartiromo in Dominion Voting System's $1.6 billion defamation lawsuit could punch a hole in the reported lawyers defense strategy for Fox News are using to stave off what one legal analyst called the possibility of a "financial death penalty."

According to a report from the Los Angeles Times, attorneys for the embattled conservative news network are trying to dismiss private emails and text messages exchanged by on-air personalities and executives where they admitted they were trafficking in lies about 2020 election fraud with Dominion singled out.

Attorneys for Fox have suggested that the Fox hosts were just offering opinions, not making statements of fact, when spreading the election lies, but Bartiromo is presenting them with a major problem as they try to make their case.

As the Times is reporting, "In released court documents and deposition testimony connected to the case, Bartiromo is cited throughout for allowing former President Trump's false claims about 2020 election fraud to air on the network in an effort to stop angry viewers from abandoning the network," before adding, "Court testimony shows that in the days leading up to and following the 2020 election, colleagues and executives raised questions about Bartiromo's online activity and expressed concerns that she was influenced by right-wing conspiracy theorists."

RELATED: Maria Bartiromo thrown under the bus by Rupert Murdoch during Dominion questioning

With the report adding, "Bartiromo is one of four Fox News and Fox Business Network personalities cited in the suit along with Sean Hannity, Jeanine Pirro and Lou Dobbs, who is no longer part of the company. Fox Corp. Chairman Rupert Murdoch admitted under oath that they all promoted false claims about the 2020 election, which he believed was fair," the Times is reporting that Bartiromo stated in testimony that she is a journalist and not an on-air personality providing commentary -- and that is a problem for Fox.

"The difference with Bartiromo is she identifies as a news anchor, as she indicated in her testimony," The Times is reporting. "Hannity, Dobbs and Pirro are considered opinion hosts, and executives at Fox News testified that they are not held to the same journalistic standards as straight news programs."

Even worse for the embattled news network, the Times notes, "Bartiromo testified that no one in management did anything to stop her or force her to correct the record."

"Bartiromo herself made misstatements, such as repeating inaccurate claims that Dominion was owned by voting software company Smartmatic, which is also suing Fox News and other conservative networks for defamation," the report states before adding, "... several Fox News executives in their testimony concurred with Dominion's assertions that Bartiromo did not challenge any of [Sidney] Powell's false statements when she appeared on 'Sunday Morning Futures.' Bartiromo also admitted that she never presented any evidence to counter Powell's claims, even though she was provided with correct information provided by Dominion and other Fox News journalists."

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