What we know about Ted Cruz and Fox News host's phone call discussing 2020 election
Days before the attack on the U.S. Capitol, Sen. Ted Cruz shared with a Fox producer and host his proposal to trigger an "audit" that could potentially overturn the 2020 election results, according to audio of a private conversation that was released this week.
The Jan. 2, 2021, conversation between Cruz, Fox Business host Maria Bartiromo and Abby Grossberg, a former producer at Fox News who is suing the media company, was released by Grossberg's attorney. Later that day, Cruz and 10 other senators went public with their intent to vote against certifying the election results unless Congress called for an emergency 10-day audit.
What did Ted Cruz say on the call with Fox News?
Cruz walked Bartiromo and Grossberg through his plan to have legislators object to the electoral certification and establish a commission to review the election results.
“Is there any chance you can overturn this?” Bartiromo asked Cruz, according to The Washington Post.
“I hope so,” he responded.
Cruz said he would have rather seen the matter go to court, but the U.S. Supreme Court had thrown out multiple lawsuits contesting the results.
“You need an adjudicatory body with fact-finding and investigative authority to consider the facts to examine the record and to make determinations — that’s how they did it in 1877,” Cruz said on the call.
In 1876, a commission was created to investigate voter fraud in the election between Rutherford B. Hayes and Samuel Tilden.
What happened after the call between Ted Cruz, Maria Bartiromo and Abby Grossberg?
Cruz was among 17 Texans who refused to certify the presidential election results on Jan. 6, 2021.
"Voter fraud has posed a persistent challenge in our elections, although its breadth and scope are disputed. By any measure, the allegations of fraud and irregularities in the 2020 election exceed any in our lifetimes," Cruz and 10 other senators said in a joint statement on Jan. 2, 2021.
After the Jan. 6 insurrection, Cruz faced blowback for his part in spreading baseless claims that the election was rigged.
From 2021: How Ted Cruz, other Texas Republicans are feeling the heat after Jan. 6
Ted Cruz fires back after MSNBC host Ari Melber's claim
After the recorded phone call between Cruz, Bartiromo and Grossberg was released Tuesday, MSNBC host Ari Melber tweeted that Cruz "plotted to steal the election before Jan. 6."
Cruz pushed back, saying the phone call included statements he repeated on TV the next day.
"This @msnbc (clown) is breathlessly reporting that I 'secretly' said in a phone call…the EXACT same thing I said on national television the next morning! And then said again on the Senate floor four days later," Cruz tweeted.
This @msnbc 🤡 is breathlessly reporting that I “secretly” said in a phone call…the EXACT same thing I said on national television the next morning!
And then said again on the Senate floor four days later. 🤷🏻♂️ https://t.co/q7QMdbxZrJ— Ted Cruz (@tedcruz) April 25, 2023
Who is former Fox News producer Abby Grossberg?
Grossberg has filed two suits against Fox News, where she worked on shows including "Tucker Carlson Tonight." In one suit, she alleges she was coerced into giving misleading testimony in the Dominion Voting Systems defamation case over Fox News' baseless claims of widespread voter fraud.
The other suits takes aim aim at Fox News' workplace culture, specifically host Tucker Carlson and his show, which she claims had "a work environment that subjugates women based on vile sexist stereotypes, typecasts religious minorities and belittles their traditions, and demonstrates little to no regard for those suffering from mental illness."
Carlson and his executive producer "really were responsible for breaking me and making my life a living hell," Grossberg told MSNBC on Tuesday after Fox News announced Carlson had left the network.
Grossberg allegedly has nearly 90 audiotapes recorded during her time at Fox, her attorney Gerry Filippatos told CNN on Wednesday.
Who is Maria Bartiromo?
Bartiromo hosts multiple shows on Fox, including "Mornings with Maria" and "Sunday Morning Futures with Maria Bartiromo."
She emerged as a central figure in the Dominion Voting Systems lawsuit. She repeatedly echoed Trump's false claims that the 2020 election was rigged.
This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: Recording shows Ted Cruz's efforts to overturn 2020 election results
