As a rule of thumb in Spades, it’s best to play the little joker after the big one’s taken a book. As a rule of thumb in colluding with a presidential campaign to keep news of its centerpiece’s lack of morality from sinking his polling numbers, the government has, like, infinity big jokers.
Thursday, House Oversight Committee Chairman Elijah Cummings formally requested former Fox News “reporter” Diana Falzone talk with committee investigators and turn over documents related to her attempts to report on Stormy Daniels’ affair with then-candidate Donald Trump in 2016.
Despite her non-disclosure agreement with the bastion of fair and balanced gold coin commercials, Falzone will comply, citing an exception.
Monday, Falzone’s lawyer Erika Smith told MSNBC host Ari Melber that her client would comply with the terms of her NDA unless and until she was subpoenaed to speak with authorities. On Thursday, Smith told Melber that “the law requires you be allowed to participate in any government investigation, and no law can stop that.”
“A valid government investigation also trumps an NDA,” she said.
In his letter, Cummings requested an interview with Falzone along with related documents regarding material related to an effort to “silence women alleging extramarital affairs with him prior to the 2016 presidential election,” along with any action taken against her attempts to report on the affairs. The New Yorker reported earlier this month that Fox had blocked Falzone’s efforts to report on Daniels’ allegations during the election to protect Trump. Fox News, represented on air by who hosts cannot tell the difference between veteran black journalists, denied the claims; one executive claimed that the story was not ready to see the light of day.
Smith called Fox’s claims a “lie,” on Melber’s The Beat with Ari Melber, adding that the executive who took credit for blocking Falzone’s story was not involved in preventing it from running.