Fox has cut ties with one of its best-known pro-Trump anchors, a sign the network is still trying to protect itself from more election-lie lawsuits.

• Maria Bartiromo was fired from Fox Business, and her executive producer was let go too.
• The trigger: she reportedly wanted to run a story tying China to 2020 election fraud claims, and management said no.
• When a Fox executive told producers to keep the story off air, she screenshotted the memo and sent it to senior White House officials.
• Fox leadership found out when the White House called, and treated the leak as a firing offense — she had been off air since early August.
• The caution traces back to the $787.5 million Dominion defamation settlement, which came partly from her own 2020 broadcasts.

Outlook: Expect friction between Trump and Fox, and speculation that Bartiromo lands a job in the administration — though her exit looks like a firing, not a promotion.