Fox News reporter who was blocked from publishing a Stormy Daniels story demands to be released from her hush agreement
On Friday, Jane Mayer reported that Diana Falzone, the Fox News journalist who reportedly tried to break the news of President Donald Trump's hush payments to porn star Stormy Daniels during the 2016 presidential election, is seeking to be released from a nondisclosure agreement she has with the network that prevents her from discussing the incident:
New: Fox reporter Diana Falzone's lawyer Nancy Erica Smith has issued a statement demanding that Fox release her fr… https://t.co/vALqAqxuUu— Jane Mayer (@Jane Mayer) 1552091066
Nancy Erica Smith statement: 1. In light of the false and defamatory statements being made by Fox News’ agent Ken L… https://t.co/ucpqA9Ck9t— Jane Mayer (@Jane Mayer) 1552091134
2. (statement from Falzone lawyer continued) topic of her reporting in October of 2016 regarding Donald Trump payin… https://t.co/Wc7fKWdf4K— Jane Mayer (@Jane Mayer) 1552091187
On Monday, Mayer's exposé in The New Yorker of ties between Fox News and the Trump White House described how Falzone hit on the story of Trump's former personal attorney Michael Cohen making arrangements for the illegal payoff, long before the Wall Street Journal reported it, only to be rejected and told by then-editor Ken LaCorte that "Rupert wants Donald Trump to win. So just let it go." (LaCorte denies saying this.) Falzone was later demoted and sued the company, which settled the case and made her sign the nondisclosure agreement.
LaCorte has defended his decision to kill the story as a "no-brainer," claiming that Slate and The Daily Beast also had leads on the story and passed on it, and further asserting that Falzone had not included the planned hush payment in her pitch.
All of this deserves more intense scrutiny. And if Falzone is released from her legal agreement, the public could get a clearer picture of what was going on behind the scenes at Fox News.
