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By Ari Melber
A former Fox News employee intends to report to Congress allegations that she has attempted to prevent him from reporting on the controversy surrounding Stormy Daniels in the 2016 election, citing an exception to a confidentiality agreement that she had signed.
On Thursday, House Watch Committee Chair Elijah Cummings formally asked journalist Diana Falzone to meet with the committee's investigators and provide her with documents relating to her attempts to denounce the allegations. Daniels that Michael Cohen, former longtime advocate of President Donald Trump, would have paid him money. an alleged case with Trump in 2006.
Falzone's lawyer, Nancy Erika Smith, told MSNBC Thursday night that Falzone would now comply with an exception to her NES with Fox News.
"The law requires you to be allowed to participate in any government investigation – and no NDA can stop it," Smith said in "The Beat with Ari Melber".
Cummings' letter requests an interview with Falzone and any documents regarding Trump's payments "to silence women who report extramarital affairs to him before the 2016 presidential election," as well as "any action taken against [Falzone] as part of attempts to report on such stories. "
The New Yorker reported in March that Fox News had prevented Falzone from reporting Daniels' allegations during the election campaign to protect Trump, which Fox denies. A former Fox News executive also said the report was set aside because he was not ready for journalists, nor because of a political agenda.
In his interview with MSNBC, Smith specifically refuted this account, calling it a "lie" and claiming that the executive was not the person who prevented the publication of Falzone's story.
"We'll see what the evidence shows about Fox's reaction to this story," Smith added.
[TheavocatdeDanielsàl'époqueKeithDavidsonadéclaréàMSNBCqueFalzonel'avaitdéjàcontactéalorsqu'elletravaillaitsurl'histoirependantlacampagneavecdes"détailsspécifiques"[ThelawyerforDanielsatthetimeKeithDavidsontellsMSNBCthatFalzonedidcontacthimwhileshewasworkingonthestoryduringthecampaignwith"specificdetails"[L’avocatdeDanielsàl’époqueKeithDavidsonadéclaréàMSNBCqueFalzonel’avaitdéjàcontactéalorsqu’elletravaillaitsurl’histoirependantlacampagneavecdes«détailsspécifiques»[ThelawyerforDanielsatthetimeKeithDavidsontellsMSNBCthatFalzonedidcontacthimwhileshewasworkingonthestoryduringthecampaignwith“specificdetails”
"She had the amount, she had the names of companies in which the original settlement was named, she had the dates of the case," said Davidson, "and she asked me to confirm these details. "
Cummings' letter comes a few days after Smith publicly suggested that Congress could help his client to express herself by providing a legal analysis of her NDA with Fox News.
"Maybe Congress should summon my client and all her records," Smith said in an interview with MSNBC, "and then we'll see exactly what Fox News had."
Many non-disclosure agreements contain provisions that largely prohibit public disclosure, while providing exceptions to comply with criminal and government investigations. Falzone has not published the text of his NDA.
Many legal experts argue that a legitimate demand of Congress outweighs a typical NDA. Even if an NDA tried to prevent such cooperation, the courts would be unlikely to punish anyone who responded to a valid request for information.
University of Florida law professor Mark Fenster, a transparency expert, said the courts usually set aside a NDA when a person "responds to a subpoena properly issued by Congress." .
Orly Lobel, an expert in labor law at the Law School of the University of San Diego, said Falzone could "tell her story" without concern if she was responding to a congressional legal demand because it was not a problem. is an "issue of public interest".
Fox News did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Cummings' request.
Other members of Congress have also weighed in on the issue.
Rep. Ted Lieu, D-Calif., Who sits on the Judiciary Committee of the House, tweeted about his willingness to use the formal demands of Congress to free people who feel "silenced" to talk about the Trump administration.
"Using NOA to intimidate and silence government employees and other potential callers is extremely disturbing," Lieu said in a statement.
Diana Marinaccio and Jacob Gardenswartz contributed.
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