Fox News’ Maria Bartiromo offered a master class in how to promote disinformation as she egged on Sidney Powell’s “explosive” accusations of election fraud without any concern that Powell refused to provide any proof “on national TV.”
Bartiromo – who should consider changing her name to “TrumpAGoGo” - opened the interview by saying that Powell’s allegations are “troubling” and describing her as “leading the charge against Dominion” without mentioning that the charge has been debunked. “She says she has enough evidence of fraud to launch a massive criminal investigation,” Bartiromo added.
It never seemed to occur to Bartiromo to ask Powell, an attorney for the Trump campaign, why she hasn’t gone to the Department of Justice with this accusation, given that Attorney General William Barr has already expressed his willingness to prosecute such matters.
Nevertheless, Powell claimed that Joe Biden’s presidential team will soon be “non-existent because we’re fixing to overturn the results of the election in multiple states and President Trump won by not just hundreds of thousands of votes but by millions of votes.”
No challenge from Bartiromo!
Powell yammered on, challenge free, with her accusations about the software, until she finally said, “We have evidence from 2016 in California. We have so much evidence, I feel like it’s coming in through a fire hose.”
“Wow!” exclaimed the enthusiastic host. “So, Sidney, you feel that you will be able to prove this. Do you have the software in your possession? Do you have the hardware in your possession? How will you prove this, Sidney?”
“Well, I’ve got lots of ways to prove it, Maria, but I’m not gonna tell you on national TV what all we have. I just can’t do that,” Powell answered.
Bartiromo’s concern with that response? Powell’s ability to produce her evidence in time to prevent Biden from taking office. “OK, but you have a very small time frame here. The elections are supposed to be certified in early December,” Bartiromo replied. “Do you believe that you can present this to the courts and be successful within this just couple of weeks?”
Powell said, “I never say anything I can’t prove” and then claimed evidence of “massive election fraud” is “coming in so fast I can’t even process it all.”
Bartiromo didn’t question why Trump’s lawyers have not presented such overwhelming evidence to any courts. Probably because even Ms. TrumpAGoGo, knows there isn’t any.
So, she let Powell do the talking while Bartiromo looked on with concerned credulousness.
“We’ve even got evidence of some kickbacks, essentially,” Powell said, conveniently teasing before a break.
Bartiromo took her at her word. “I want to ask you about the kickbacks and who took kickbacks, in which state … we’ve got more breaking news this morning from Sidney Powell,” Bartiromo said.
You probably won’t be surprised to learn that Powell’s “evidence” was underwhelming. “We are collecting evidence now from various whistleblowers that are aware of substantial sums of money being given to family members of state officials who bought this software," she said.
Bartiromo had no questions as Powell went on with her allegations that she has clearly not substantiated.
Then Powell tied it into a familiar Bartiromo/Fox/Trump meme: the demonization of CIA Director Gina Haspel. “Nobody in our government has paid any attention” to “how corrupt this software is,” Powell said. “Which makes me wonder how much the CIA has used it for its own benefit in different places and why Gina Haspel is still there in the CIA is beyond my comprehension. She should be fired immediately."
Bartiromo asked,“Which governor or which government official accepted hundreds of millions of dollars in benefits for their family as they took on this software?”
Powell then specifically admitted she had no proof of any of it. “If I said hundreds of millions of dollars there, I misspoke. I don’t know the exact amount of money yet. We are still collecting the evidence on that but it’s more than one,” Powell said.
“So, you can’t say who you believe took kickbacks,” Bartiromo acknowledged, while still keeping the someone-took-kickbacks meme alive. Then she moved right along to promote the next Trumpy talking point. “What is the CIA’s role? Why do you think Gina Haspel should be fired immediately? You’re saying that the CIA is behind the Dominion or Smartmatic voting software as well?”
“Well, the CIA and the FBI and other government organizations have received multiple reports of wrongdoing and failures and vulnerabilities in this company’s product,” Powell alleged.
Bartiromo did not ask where Powell got that information or how viewers might read those reports.
But once again, the proof is just about to arrive, according to Powell. “We are going to show the public exactly how rotten the entire state is,” she said.
Bartiromo claimed to have spoken “with a few whistleblowers,” herself, over the weekend.
After another long jag of allegations of what could be done to rig the machines, Bartiromo once again validated Powell. “Sidney, you say you have an affidavit from someone who knows how this system works and was there with the planning of it. You believe you can prove this in court,” Bartiromo said obligingly.
“Oh, yes, we have a sworn, essentially a sworn statement from a witness who knew exactly how it worked.”
Bartiromo has to know that “essentially a sworn statement” is not the same as an actual sworn statement. But again, instead of asking questions, she legitimized Powell. “Wow, this is explosive,” Bartiromo gushed, “and we certainly will continue to follow it. Sidney, thank you so much for your work.”
You can see another example of why Bartiromo is a disgrace to journalism below, from the November 15, 2020 Sunday Morning Futures with Maria Bartiromo.
Hm. What a coincidence — Biden’s winning in the popular vote by about 5 million. Hm. Last time, tRump said 3 million people voted illegally for Hillary — the margin tRump lost in the popular vote in 2016.
I wonder if this spokesperson will say what she said on Fox under oath on court. Doubt it.