In “Fact-check this,” I wrote about the alleged ABC News whistleblower and his affidavit contending that ABC tilted the terms of the debate to favor Harris in coordination with the Harris campaign. Hedge fund manager Bill Ackman has called for a response from Bob Iger, CEO of Disney, ABC’s corporate parent.
The Daily Beast sought a comment on the affidavit’s allegations from ABC News. Corbin Bolies reports:
In a statement to the Daily Beast, ABC News did not address any of the specific allegations: “ABC News followed the debate rules that both campaigns agreed on and which clearly state: No topics or questions will be shared in advance with campaigns or candidates.”
This is a non-response response. The affidavit alleged that ABC gave the Harris campaign sample questions, similar to the actual questions that would be used for the debate. The affidavit did not allege that the Harris campaign was given any of the actual questions.
Further down in the story, Bolies adds this:
ABC categorically denied to The Daily Beast last week that Harris was given any questions ahead of last week’s debate, shooting down one of the talking points that Trump and other right-wingers tried to use to explain the former president’s dismal debate performance.
“Absolutely not,” an ABC News spokesperson told The Daily Beast. “Harris was not given any questions before the debate.”
The network’s debate rules stated that “no topics or questions will be shared in advance with campaigns or candidates.”
The spokesperson also said no aides were in contact with moderators David Muir and Linsey Davis. Trump aides have attacked the moderators as “agents of the Harris campaign” following their efforts, which have been almost universally lauded.
A source familiar with the matter also dismissed the purported fact-check “assurances” as untrue. Harris’ campaign did not respond to a request for comment on Monday.
So Bolies relies on “a source familiar with the matter” to deny the alleged commitment by ABC News not to fact-check Harris.
For reasons stated in my original post, the authenticity and veracity of the affidavit should be doubted until we have more information with which to assess it. I stand by that assessment, but the Daily Beast story gives me pause.
