According to a Friday report, sources familiar with former top-rated Fox News host Tucker Carlson’s breach of contract case against his employer say a phone call from one of the network’s attorneys is at the center of the controversy.

The Daily Caller reported exclusively on May 3 that Fox News’ Chief Legal Counsel, Viet Dinh, called a close associate of Tucker Carlson in order to relay a message to Carlson himself. During the conversation, Dinh conveyed regret for the media coverage of the previous week.

According to reports, he reassured Carlson’s camp that Fox News had “not authorized” the disclosures that led to negative headlines. The sources also claim that Dinh warned Irena Briganti, the head of public relations at Fox News, that she would be “fired” if discovered leaking information.

Significantly, Dinh also disclosed, according to the report’s sources, that the network’s leadership suspected a member of the board of directors of communicating with the press without authorization about Carlson.

“Carlson’s camp suspected either former Speaker of the House Paul Ryan or Anne Dias, a wealthy hedge fund manager, according to a source. Both were appointed to Fox’s board in March of 2019. Carlson’s inner circle has since ruled out Ryan, according to sources, and now believes it was Dias who talked to the press,” the outlet reported further.

The former prime-time star’s attorney, Bryan Freedman, told The Daily Caller that the disclosures were tantamount to a “smear campaign”

“It strains credulity that, immediately after agreeing to pay almost $780 million to settle serious allegations of misconduct that a member of Fox’s Board of Directors would be engaging in an attempted smear campaign by illegally leaking information about Tucker Carlson,” Freedman said.

“However, we have to trust that it is true when the Chief Legal Officer informs Tucker that he believes it to be the case,” he added.

According to Axios, Carlson has sent a letter to Dinh and Briganti in which he accuses his employer of breaching his contract. Carlson bases his argument on the claim that Fox employees, including Fox founder and CEO Rupert Murdoch, promised not to disparage him. Carlson’s attorneys argue in the letter that Dinh and Murdoch intentionally violated the “material representations” specified in the contract, as reported by the outlet.

“These actions not only breached the covenant of good faith and fair dealing in the Agreement, but give rise to claims for breach of contract and intentional and negligent misrepresentation,” the letter reportedly states.

The Daily Caller, which Carlson co-founded in 2010, continues:

More on this story via Conservative Brief:

Leaks to the media included private text messages sent by Carlson along with behind-the-scenes footage of Carlson joking with coworkers prior to taping his show. CONTINUE READING…