Newly unredacted court documents have cast a bright, sometimes unflattering light on the inner workings of Fox News during the tumultuous weeks following the 2020 U.S. presidential election. These revelations, made public on August 20, 2025, as part of Smartmatic’s ongoing $2.7 billion defamation lawsuit against the network, expose a swirl of private doubts, on-air bravado, and behind-the-scenes maneuvering among some of Fox’s most prominent personalities—including Jeanine Pirro, now the U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia.
The case against Fox News, brought by electronic voting machine company Smartmatic, centers on the network’s coverage of election fraud claims pushed by then-President Donald Trump and his allies. Smartmatic alleges that Fox’s anchors knowingly promoted falsehoods about its technology, causing the company immense reputational and financial harm. The network, for its part, maintains it was simply reporting on newsworthy statements made by the president and his lawyers, not endorsing them.
Among the most eye-catching disclosures are text messages sent by Jeanine Pirro in the fall of 2020, when she was still a Fox News host. In a September message to then-Republican National Committee Chair Ronna McDaniel, Pirro boasted, “I’m the Number 1 watched show on all news cable all weekend. I work so hard for the President and party.” According to The Hill, these texts were submitted in court as evidence of Pirro’s deep involvement in both the Trump campaign’s efforts and the Republican Party’s messaging machine.
Smartmatic’s filings go further, suggesting that Pirro’s loyalty to Trump may have been motivated in part by a personal agenda: the hope of securing a presidential pardon for her ex-husband, Albert Pirro, who had been convicted of tax evasion and conspiracy. As The Independent reports, Albert Pirro ultimately received a pardon from Trump—the last one of his term.
But the text messages reveal more than just political ambition. In October 2020, Pirro described an Oval Office scene where she clashed with fellow Fox anchor Sean Hannity, writing, “Sean [Hannity] is an egomaniac. I was in the Oval with Hariri talking to POTUS. He storms in like he owns the place, throws his papers on the Pres desk and says, you don’t mind if I use your private bathroom, and walks into bathroom within Oval and uses it. Looks at me and says, I got to talk to him. Ie, you go. It’s all abt him, period. No one else matters.” The Independent notes the message paints a picture of competitive jockeying for influence and access inside Trump’s White House.
Perhaps most significant to the lawsuit, however, are the communications surrounding the network’s handling of election fraud claims. Pirro is described as a conduit to Trump’s associates, notably Sidney Powell, the attorney who would become infamous for her “Kraken” lawsuits. In messages cited by Smartmatic and reported by Newsweek, Pirro encouraged Powell to “keep fighting” and referenced sources purporting to have insider knowledge about Dominion Voting Systems—another company at the center of post-election conspiracy theories.
Yet, there were clear warnings from within Fox News about the risks of amplifying unsubstantiated claims. Jerry Andrews, Pirro’s own producer, cautioned her, “You should be very careful with this stuff and protect yourself given the ongoing calls for evidence that has not materialized.” According to The Independent, Pirro would later admit in a legal deposition that the 2020 election was “fair and free” and that Joe Biden had been “legitimately elected.” When asked if she believed Smartmatic had done anything wrong, she replied, “I believe that there’s been no showing that Smartmatic engaged in any problems.”
The tension between private skepticism and public messaging wasn’t limited to Pirro. Fox News anchor Bret Baier, for example, expressed grave doubts about the claims being aired. In a text to Fox News Media president Jay Wallace, Baier wrote, “None of that is true as far as we can tell. We need to fact-check this crap.” This, as Newsweek points out, underscores a fundamental disconnect: while some anchors privately dismissed the fraud allegations, the network’s programming continued to give them airtime.
Other Fox personalities, including Jesse Watters and Greg Gutfeld, were caught discussing the potential ratings windfall from embracing the “Stop the Steal” narrative. “Think about how incredible our ratings would be if Fox went ALL in on STOP THE STEAL,” Gutfeld texted Watters in December 2020. Watters, for his part, later testified he’d seen “no evidence that Smartmatic Technology switched votes in the 2020 Election in the United States.”
Fox Business host Maria Bartiromo also played a role, urging Sidney Powell to “please please overturn this” and bring forward evidence to challenge Georgia’s election results. According to filings cited by The Washington Post and Newsweek, Bartiromo was the first to interview Powell after the election, helping to amplify her claims on national television.
Despite the swirl of conspiracy theories on air, there was a clear sense of unease among some Fox staff. The newly released texts show that skepticism about the veracity of the fraud claims was widespread—privately, if not always publicly. Fox’s defense, as articulated in statements to The Hill and The Independent, is that it was merely covering “newsworthy” statements by public figures and not making endorsements. “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,” the network said. Fox has also pointed to recent bribery and money laundering indictments against Smartmatic executives, arguing these issues predate its coverage.
Smartmatic, however, contends that Fox’s coverage crossed the line into defamation, acting with “actual malice” by prioritizing ratings and audience retention over verified reporting. The company’s legal filings argue that the network “amplified false election fraud claims as a strategic response to viewer backlash” after Fox called Arizona for Biden—a moment that triggered outrage among Trump supporters and, reportedly, panic inside Fox’s executive suites.
The stakes are enormous. The lawsuit follows Fox’s $787.5 million settlement with Dominion Voting Systems in April 2023, which also centered on the network’s post-election coverage. Unlike Dominion, Smartmatic operates mostly outside the United States, but it alleges that Fox’s broadcasts caused significant damage to its global business. The outcome of the Smartmatic lawsuit could have wide-reaching implications for the boundaries of press freedom and accountability in the age of viral misinformation.
As for Jeanine Pirro, her journey from Fox News firebrand to U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia has only intensified scrutiny. She has vowed to help President Trump crack down on crime in the capital and has clashed with community activists and Democrats who oppose the administration’s policies. The trial in the Smartmatic case is not expected for several months, but the revelations from these text messages have already reignited debate over the responsibilities of journalists, the power of media, and the thin line between covering the news and shaping it.
For now, the court of public opinion is as divided as ever, with both sides preparing for a legal showdown that could reshape the landscape of American political journalism.
