Ex-Tucker Producer Feared Accurately Reporting on Election Conspiracies Would ‘Insult’ Viewers: ‘Like Negotiating With Terrorists’

Private messages unearthed by the Dominion defamation suit against Fox News continue to throw off fascinating insights into the mental gymnastics of some at the network who were caught between a desire to accurately report on election conspiracies while also trying not to anger viewers who seemed to have little interest in facts.

The Washington Post published a lengthy profile on the role of Raj Shah, who left the Trump administration to work at Fox News and was one of many senior executives caught up in the sordid affair, particularly as it pertained to outlandish claims made by Sidney Powell, and how Rudy Giuliani and Jenna Ellas distanced themselves from the “Kraken” lawyer.

Unearthed messages revealed that Alex Pfeiffer, who previously served as a producer for Tucker Carlson, expressed concern about how to handle Powell’s unhinged conspiracies about the voting machines, including outlandish ideas that millions of votes were switched behind the scenes by the Venezuelan-backed company (they weren’t and it is not.)

The Trump legal team at one point sought to distance themselves from Powell, publicly saying she was “practicing law on her own” and “not a member” of Trump’s legal team. In this context, Shah appeared to direct Carlson’s producer to establish some distance from Powell’s claims but to do it … nicely? Or, in his words, “pivot to deferential.”

Rosalind Helderman and Josh Dawsey report:

Despite his behind-the-scenes lobbying, Shah counseled a middle course in dealing with her claims on air. On the day after Carlson publicly challenged Powell, Shah and a Carlson producer weighed whether Carlson should devote time in his next show to Powell’s claim that she had an affidavit that would link Dominion to Venezuela.

“Might wanna address this, but this stuff is so f—— insane. Vote rigging to the tune of millions? C’mon,” Shah wrote.

Carlson’s producer, Alex Pfeiffer, responded: “It is so insane but our viewers believe it so addressing again how her stupid Venezuela affidavit isn’t proof might insult them.”

Shah advised that Carlson should mention the affidavit noting it was “not new info, not proof” but then quickly “pivot to being deferential.”

“One funny thing. Dominion was used in Ohio and Florida. Trump won them. Did they forget to rig those or all part of the plan?” he asked.

Shah replied by asking Pfeiffer if he saw that Newsmax host Greg Kelly “came after” Carlson for his commentary on Powell’s claims.

“[Yeah],” Pfeiffer replied. “This whole thing is surreal. Like negotiating with terrorists, but especially dumb ones. Cousin f—– types not saudi royalty.”

The back and forth above came after Carlson called Powell’s claims a “bombshell” on air, but also noted she has failed to provide any evidence in support of her claims. Here is how Mediaite reported it at the time:

Calling the Powell claims a “bombshell,” Carlson explained that she is accusing “international leftists” of changing seven million votes across the country via Dominion election software — a claim that has already been debunked by numerous news sources, and even pooh-poohed by Fox & Friends host Steve Doocy.

“Sidney Powell has been saying similar things for days, on Sunday night, we texted her after watching one of her segments. What Powell was describing what amount to the single greatest crime in American history,” Carlson noted. “Millions of votes stolen in the day. Democracy destroyed, the end of our centuries-old system of self-government, not a small thing.”

The Fox host went to say he did not dismiss Powell’s claims out of hand, despite their elaborate and hard-to-believe nature.

“A lot of people with impressive sounding credentials in this country are frauds, they have no idea what they are doing, they are children posing as authorities and when they caught they lie and blame you for it, we see that every day. It’s a central theme of the show and will continue to be,” he noted, before starting to slowly turn the segment in a different direction.