And a whistleblower said Paul Ryan played this secret role in firing Tucker Carlson.

In the wake of Fox News settling a defamation lawsuit with Dominion Voting System for $787 million, the network jettisoned Carlson and refused to renew the contract for popular host Dan Bongino.

Fox News is expected to face shareholder lawsuits over the Dominion payout and the network leaked to The New York Times that the impending investor lawsuit, where Dominion included text messages from Carlson criticizing network management and Donald Trump, played a role in Carlson's ouster.

"How Fox's executives and board handled the case in the months before the trial was scheduled to begin is expected to be at issue in shareholder lawsuits filed against the company in Delaware," The Times stated. "Though Mr. Carlson's show, 'Tucker Carlson Tonight,' was only a small factor in the Dominion suit, his personal texts were drawing outsize scrutiny."

A Fox News source told Breitbart that the Fox News board of directors – which includes RINO former Speaker of the House Paul Ryan – made the move to cut ties with Carlson and Bongino because management could not count on them to play ball with new editorial mandates.