Ex-Fox News Reporter Diana Falzone Wants Murdoch to Lift NDA

(Bloomberg) -- A former Fox News reporter is calling on the network and “specifically Rupert Murdoch” to release her from a non-disclosure agreement after others in the media questioned her reporting on President Donald Trump’s alleged payment to Stormy Daniels.

“The public has the right to know the truth,” Diana Falzone said in statement released on Saturday. Falzone accused former Fox News executive Ken LaCorte and Howard Kurtz, an on-air commentator at the network, of making “defamatory statements” about her.

An investigation by the New Yorker published March 4 said Falzone had confirmed before the 2016 presidential election that Trump arranged the payments to Daniels, whose real name is Stephanie Clifford, to keep her quiet about their affair.

New Yorker correspondent Jane Mayer reported that Falzone was allegedly told the story wouldn’t run because Murdoch, chairman of Twenty-First Century Fox Inc., wanted Trump to win the election.

LaCorte responded with an opinion piece on the Mediaite website explaining the decision to not run Falzone’s story. The reasons, he said, were journalistic and not motivated by an agenda.

Mayer reacted to the assertions in LaCorte’s opinion piece via Twitter.

A representative for Falzone, Karen J. Kessler, wasn’t immediately available when Bloomberg sought additional comment Saturday.

Separately, Democratic National Committee Chairman Tom Perez this week cited Mayer’s lengthy New Yorker article, which detailed what he termed an inappropriate relationship between Trump and Fox News, as a reason the network won’t be allowed to host one of the 2020 Democratic primary debates.

To contact the reporter on this story: Maria Jose Valero in New York at mvalero3@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Clementine Fletcher at cfletcher5@bloomberg.net, Ros Krasny, Matthew G. Miller

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