Fired Fox producer Abby Grossberg receives a subpoena in Fox lawsuit from Smartmatic

Abby Grossberg, a former Tucker Carlson producer who Fox News is accused of forcing her to give false testimony in the Dominion Voting Systems defamation case, has been subpoenaed by another voting software company suing the conservative cable giant over its coverage of the 2020 election.

In a subpoena issued Monday by Smartmatic, Grossberg was ordered to produce any documentary evidence she has related to potential malice on Fox’s part while disseminating allegations of voter fraud about the voting systems company. Specifically, the subpoena calls for all correspondence related to former Trump attorneys Rudy Giuliani and Sidney Powell, who posted baseless conspiracy theories on Fox about “rigged” voting machines shortly after former President Donald Trump lost the election.

Similar to Dominion’s $1.6 billion lawsuit going to trial later this month, Smartmatic is suing Fox News for $2.7 billion over allegations that it knowingly disseminated false claims about the company after the 2020 election have. Trump allies like Giuliani and Powell have repeatedly aired debunked claims on Fox airwaves that Dominion and Smartmatic passed millions of votes to President Joe Biden and Trump “stole” the White House.

Meanwhile, Grossberg’s legal team has claimed that after a Delaware judge ruled last month that the Dominion case would go to trial, Fox News removed the ex-producer’s name from its witness list after being subpoenaed by Smartmatic. In addition, they insist that the evidence Grossberg provided to Fox was not presented to the Delaware court.

“While at Fox News, Ms. Grossberg provided Fox News with access to evidence of this nature in connection with Dominion/Fox’s $1.6 billion defamation lawsuit,” said Parisis G. Filippatos and Tanvir H. Rahman, Grossberg’s attorneys issued a statement.

“However, it does not appear that this evidence was actually presented to the Delaware Superior Court in this case prior to the court’s March 31, 2023 decision questioning whether Fox News acted maliciously in publishing alleged defamatory material.” Dominion Voting Systems, Inc. left the court open,” the attorneys added. “It is noteworthy that on April 4, 2023, after being informed of Smartmatic’s subpoena to Ms. Grossberg, Fox News reversed course and removed Ms. Grossberg from its witness list in the Dominion/Fox lawsuit without explanation.”

In a statement first shown to NBC News, a Fox News spokesman said the right-wing network was unaware that Smartmatic issued a subpoena earlier in the week and followed all court rules.

“Smartmatic has not notified Fox News of a subpoena issued to Ms. Grossberg in this case,” the spokesman said. “Regarding the Dominion case, Fox News does not know what Ms. Grossberg’s attorney is talking about and we have complied with our disclosure obligations.”

The Fox Flack added: “We are confident that we will prevail as freedom of the press is fundamental to our democracy and must be protected while the claims for damages in this case are outrageous, unsupported and not based on sound financial analysis, which serves nothing more than a flagrant attempt to keep our journalists from their work.”

Grossberg, who was fired from Fox News last month after filing an explosive lawsuit against the network, worked as a senior booking producer for Fox host Maria Bartiromo during the 2020 election. She alleges that network lawyers pressured her to make misleading statements during her testimony at the Dominion and that she and Bartiromo were made scapegoats for Fox’s coverage of the election.

Grossberg’s lawsuit also alleges that she was exposed to a toxic and misogynistic work environment, particularly after she left Bartiromo’s show and began working for Carlson as a booker and producer. Fox News, meanwhile, said it fired Grossberg after filing her lawsuit alleging that the producer broke company rules by releasing privileged and confidential information. The network has also called Grossberg’s claims that she was trained and intimidated “unmerited” and “manifestly false”.

In additions to their March 27 lawsuits, Grossberg offered Dominion leniency, adding that she “never testifies on behalf of Fox News at the trial” and “will only testify voluntarily — if at all – on behalf of Dominion.” The Voting software company has indicated that they will accept this offer.

In his filing that the Dominion lawsuit must go to trial, Judge Eric Davis ruled that evidence showed that it is “CRYSTALALLY clear that none of the statements made regarding Dominion about the 2020 election are true.” At the same time, Davis noted that it’s still up to a jury to decide whether the conservative broadcaster acted with “actual malice.”

Fox News denies any wrongdoing in the case and says it will “continue to vigorously defend the rights to freedom of expression and a free press as we move to the next phase of this process.”