REVEALED: Dylan Byers Names Names In Maria Bartiromo, Trump WH Leak Drama

Fox Business Network

Puck News senior correspondent Dylan Byers blew open the drama behind former Fox Business anchor Maria Bartiromo’s stunning departure from the network Friday, revealing the Trump adviser and network executive at the center of the drama that reportedly infuriated Fox brass.

According to Byers’s report, the dispute began July 15, when Fox Business senior vice president of programming Ralph Giordano instructed producers of Mornings With Maria not to cover President Donald Trump’s upcoming primetime speech on election integrity.

Trump used the July 16 address to revive his disputed claims surrounding the 2020 election, allege Chinese interference and push Congress for tougher voting requirements ahead of the midterms.

The guidance presented a problem for Bartiromo, who had planned to cover Trump’s remarks and book Peter Navarro, senior White House counselor, to discuss them.

Navarro told Byers that Bartiromo took a screenshot of Giordano’s message and sent it directly to him, explaining that Fox management was preventing her from covering the speech – or, as Navarro characterized it, was “censoring” it. Navarro then passed the information “up the chain” to senior administration officials.

According to Byers, an unidentified high-ranking White House official subsequently contacted Fox leadership to complain about the decision.

Fox News Media CEO Suzanne Scott and president Jay Wallace were angered by Bartiromo sharing the internal editorial guidance with the administration, Byers reported.

The episode came against a complicated backdrop, Byers noted, after Fox paid $787.5 million to settle Dominion Voting Systems’ defamation case over its 2020 election coverage, while Smartmatic’s lawsuit remains ongoing – cases Bartiromo was named in. Navarro and Bartiromo were both at the center of promoting conspiracy theories related to the election at that time.

Byers revealed that Bartiromo also had a reportedly fraught relationship with Giordano. A 2023 lawsuit from former Fox producer Abby Grossberg alleged he privately called Bartiromo a “very difficult talent” whom he did “not like at all.” Fox denied Grossberg’s allegations before settling her case.

Bartiromo remained on air for several weeks after the July incident, making her final Fox Business appearance August 7 and her final Fox News appearance August 9, with the network announcing Thursday: “Effective today, Maria Bartiromo is no longer with FOX News Media.”

Her attorney Bryan Freedman, however, disputed reports that she had been fired or was no longer employed by Fox.

“The irresponsible reports that have been published stating that Maria Bartiromo was fired or is no longer an employee of Fox are absolutely and unequivocally false,” Freedman said. “Make no mistake, we have the receipts and witnesses and they will come out whether through the courthouse or otherwise.”

Trump also quickly rallied to Bartiromo’s defense on Truth Social, calling her “a total professional, and a true warrior” while warning Fox that her “many” fans “will not be happy.”

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