Texts Show Jeanine Pirro Called Hannity an ‘Egomaniac,’ Boasted About Helping Trump While at Fox News

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Newly revealed text messages show that U.S. Attorney and former Fox News host Jeanine Pirro complained about Sean Hannity being an “egomaniac” and bragged about helping President Donald Trump and the Republican Party while she was a Fox News host, according to a court filing. Pirro is at the center of a defamation lawsuit brought by Smartmatic against the network.

The filing was first reported on Tuesday night by The Washington Post, which noted that Fox News bars its on-air talent from political involvement.

Pirro is now the U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia in Trump’s Department of Justice.

“I work so hard for the party across the country,” Pirro texted then-Republican National Committee Chair Ronna McDaniel in 2020. “I’m the Number 1 watched show on all news cable all weekend. I work so hard for the President and party.”

The message was included in a newly unredacted filing by Smartmatic, which is seeking $2.7 billion in damages from Fox News.

Smartmatic, which provided election technology to Los Angeles County in 2020, alleges that Pirro sought to curry favor with Trump in part to secure a pardon for Albert Pirro, her ex-husband, who was convicted of tax evasion and conspiracy. Toward the end of Trump’s first term, she found out that Albert Pirro was not in line for clemency, prompting her to tell Eric Trump that she was “upset.” Trump ultimately pardoned Albert Pirro.

Elsewhere in the texts, Pirro called Hannity an “egomaniac”:

According to another previously unpublished message included in the filing, Pirro referred to Fox News host Sean Hannity as an “egomaniac.” Recalling an Oval Office meeting with Trump, Pirro wrote in an Oct. 27, 2020, text message to a friend that Hannity “[stormed] 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 … It’s all abt him, period. No one else matters.”

Smartmatic alleges that Pirro’s weekend show, Justice with Judge Jeanine, was a clearinghouse for election conspiracies after the 2020 election, which Trump lost. The company alleges that Fox hosts and guests made knowingly false claims about its role in the 2020 election.

Pirro’s producer, Jerry Andrews, cautioned her against making false claims in public.

“You should be very careful with this stuff and protect yourself given the ongoing calls for evidence that has not materialized,” Andrews told her.

Pirro was incensed after Fox did not run the Nov. 7, 2020 episode of her show.

In response, Pirro texted Hannity, “I’M TIRED OF THE CENSORSHIP AND I’M EMBARRASSED BY HOW THEY CALLED THIS ELECTION.”

Hannity replied that Pirro was getting a lot of airtime.

“Fox News promoting u every 5 seconds. It’s hilarious,” he texted her.

Fox News insists that Smartmatic’s suit is without merit.

“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 in a statement. “Now, in the aftermath of Smartmatic’s executives getting indicted for bribery charges, we are eager and ready to continue defending our press freedoms.”

In 2023, Fox settled a defamation lawsuit with Dominion Voting Systems for $787.5 million.