Former Fox producer Abby Grossberg claims Tucker Carlson was 'obsessed' with a specific Jan. 6 conspiracy
Former Fox News producer Abby Grossberg revealed all in a conversation to MSNBC host Nicolle Wallace on Tuesday.
She began by saying that she assumed that Tucker Carlson's persona on his nightly show was nothing more than an act. Carlson had worked for years at CNN and MSNBC and had remained largely moderate throughout his history. What Grossberg said, however, was that he was exactly like his persona on the show, she said.
She went on to reveal that some of the anti-Semitism she saw was when Fox was searching for a new "diversity ambassador" and couldn't find anyone other than a white Israeli man who they gave the gig to. Grossberg explained that Jewish was "diverse" in the Fox world. It came with a $10,000 stipend for the role, which they suggested could buy pizza for the whole office every week for a year.
Grossberg went on to say that Carlson was "obsessed" with searching for an FBI agent in the crowd at the Jan. 6 attacks on the Capitol. She said she couldn't find anyone. She then was asked to find a lawyer for one of the Proud Boys or Oath Keepers who were willing to say that there were FBI agents in the audience on Jan. 6 and were instigating the crowds. None of the lawyers would do it.
Still, Carlson went all in on the conspiracy about Oath Keeper Ray Epps being a secret FBI agent who pushed the crowd to attack the Capitol. Epps appeared on CBS's "60 Minutes" Sunday when he said that Carlson was "obsessed" with him.
"He's going to any means possible to destroy my life and our lives," Epps explained.
The show revealed that Carlson featured Epps in at least 20 episodes. Epps explained that he thought it was because he was labeled as a scapegoat.
Grossberg was also ordered to search through the video footage of Jan. 6 to find FBI agents.
"I found it difficult to cover the stories they wanted me to cover. I wasn't expecting it," Grossberg said. "Maybe I should have. That's what some people say. Right toward the end of my time when the Jan. 6th tapes were coming out, Tucker was very set on finding an FBI person who was implanted in the crowd and spinning this conspiracy that they were ultimately the ones responsible for the Capitol attack, not Fox News — as they're about to go into the Dominion trial. It was really the FBI that set up this thing, not Fox telling the American people that the election was rigged and the voting machines did it."
She said she went back to them and said, "Look, there's no conspiracy theory here. I called the attorney who is representing one of the Proud Boys he told me on two occasions, 'There's no conspiracy. Get away from this stuff this is dangerous. Tell Tucker to stop. I will come on your show, but I'll walk off if he asks me this."
Watch:'Very credible witness': Legal expert says Trump will struggle to put away civil rape case
The civil rape trial against former President Donald Trump has officially begun, with writer E. Jean Carroll laying out her allegations that the former president assaulted her in a department store dressing room in the 1990s — and Trump's defense counsel works to discredit it.
But the former president will have trouble putting this case away, argued former White House ethics czar Norm Eisen on CNN — because Carroll is presenting a credible account.
"Trump's lawyer is trying to poke holes in Carroll's evidence of this alleged assault, and is saying the jurors can hate donald trump but should take that to the ballot box instead of in this court of law," said anchor Wolf Blitzer. "What do you make of this opening statement?"
"Well, Wolf, Trump is going to attempt to through his lawyers in this case and more generally point to this — these accusations as being part of a political pattern," said Eisen. "For example, his attorneys have pointed to the timing, to the fact that E. Jean Carroll did not file a police report at the time, that she did not come forward publicly. But the problem is, Miss Carroll is a very credible witness. And she did talk about this with others. Some of them may testify. And of course, there's a larger pattern of conduct. I think the evidence is in Carroll's favor."
"The judge right now is demanding an answer on whether Trump will testify in person by the end of this week," said Blitzer. "How important is it for his defense that the former president actually shows up?"
"The jury is going to notice that E. Jean Carroll is there every day all day long, and the jury was very attentive today, very engaged," said Eisen. "And that there's an absence at the defense table. There's no avoiding that. That being said, having argued to juries, having served on juries, the defendant's absence here is not going to be dispositive, but I do think it leaves a gap in the courtroom. Some of those jurors are going to say, well, if Mr. Trump feels so strongly, where is he?"
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