Newly released court documents from a staggering $2.7 billion lawsuit by Smartmatic against the network have unveiled a rift between former host Jeanine Pirro and star anchor Sean Hannity, alongside accusations of on-air election fraud claims.
The Daily Mail reported that court filings made public on Tuesday, as reported by The Washington Post, reveal Pirro’s sharp criticism of Hannity, her alleged role in pushing unverified election fraud narratives, and her eventual exit from Fox News in May 2025 to become the U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia.
Pirro, a former Upstate New York judge turned fiery commentator, was caught in text messages calling Hannity an “egomaniac” and griping about his behavior, including an incident on October 27, 2020, where she claimed he used the President’s private bathroom in the Oval Office without permission.
“Looks at me and says, I got to talk to him … It’s all abt him, period,” Pirro texted, painting Hannity as self-centered. If that’s not a jab at inflated egos in the media world, what is? It’s a reminder that even conservative champions can clash when the spotlight gets tight.
But the drama didn’t stop at personal gripes. Pirro also vented to Hannity on November 7, 2020, about “censorship” and her embarrassment over how Fox News called an election, later seeing an episode of her show “Justice with Judge Jeanine” scrapped due to internal concerns. Sounds like the network was playing whack-a-mole with its talent.
Then there’s the Smartmatic lawsuit, which accuses Pirro of acting as a pipeline to Trump associates peddling claims of a stolen election.
Despite warnings from her producer, Jerry Andrews, to steer clear of such on-air assertions, Pirro went ahead and claimed Smartmatic and Dominion Voting Systems conspired to rig results. Bold moves for someone who later admitted in a deposition that she believed the election was “fair and free.”
“I do,” Pirro said in her deposition when asked if she believed Joe Biden was legitimately elected. Yet on air, she sang a different tune, pushing narratives that Smartmatic now claims damaged its reputation. It’s a head-scratcher—why risk credibility for a fight you don’t fully back?
Smartmatic’s suit, spanning over 400 pages, also targets other Fox hosts like Maria Bartiromo and Jesse Watters for spreading what it calls falsehoods.
The company points to a prior $787.5 million settlement Fox made with Dominion in 2023, noting no on-air corrections were made regarding Smartmatic. That’s a hefty price tag for sticking to a script.
Pirro’s texts from 2020 show her cozying up to power, too. She boasted to then-RNC chair Ronna McDaniel about being the “Number 1 watched show on all news cable all weekend” and working hard for the Republican Party. Humility wasn’t on the teleprompter that day.
Personal stakes surfaced when Pirro expressed frustration to Eric Trump in 2020 over a pardon for Bernard Kerik while her husband, Albert Pirro, was convicted of tax crimes, waiting.
She didn’t mince words, calling Kerik a “selfish b***ard” in messages before Albert’s eventual pardon as the last of Trump’s first term. Loyalty to family over party allies? That’s a conservative value with teeth.
Meanwhile, Pirro egged on lawyer Sidney Powell with texts on November 10, 2020, mentioning a “former CIA chief of station” tied to Dominion’s development and urging her to “keep fighting.” It’s the kind of behind-the-scenes meddling that fuels progressive cries of bias in media, though one wonders if it’s just passion for a cause.
Fox News, for its part, isn’t backing down. Their statement claims Smartmatic’s reputation was already in tatters before any Fox coverage and accuses the company of inflating damages to “chill free speech.”
With a separate federal corruption case against Smartmatic executives for alleged bribery in LA County, as reported by the Los Angeles Times on Wednesday, Fox’s defense smells blood in the water.
“Now, in the aftermath of Smartmatic’s executives getting indicted for bribery charges, we are eager and ready to continue defending our press freedoms,” Fox News declared. It’s a classic conservative counterpunch—turn the tables on the accuser. But will juries see it as deflection or a legitimate grievance?
As Pirro steps into her new role as U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia after leaving Fox in May 2025, the fallout from these revelations lingers. Her on-air bravado clashing with deposition admissions paints a picture of a woman caught between conviction and caution. It’s a cautionary tale for any pundit navigating the tightrope of truth and ratings.