Trump Threatens NBC's Broadcast License After Network Killed Weinstein Story

"Fumbling around making excuses for their probably highly unethical conduct"

Tue, 09/04/2018 - 11:58

President Trump renewed his attack on "Fake News" coming from the mainstream media, suggesting that NBC's license to broadcast should be challenged due to their "fumbling around" and "making excuses" for killing the Harvey Weinstein story, which Trump called "probably highly unethical," adding "Look at their license?"




Donald J. Trump‏Verified account @realDonaldTrump
NBC FAKE NEWS, which is under intense scrutiny over their killing the Harvey Weinstein story, is now fumbling around making excuses for their probably highly unethical conduct. I have long criticized NBC and their journalistic standards-worse than even CNN. Look at their license?

And while there wasn't a specific reference to the FCC, Trump seemed to be suggesting that federal regulators review the network's license after trading barbs with former correspondent Ronan Farrow - who said Monday night: "The story was twice cleared and deemed ‘reportable’ by legal and standards only to be blocked by executives who refused to allow us to seek comment from Harvey Weinstein"

Weinstein notably hired a private firm run by former Israeli Mossad agents in a failed attempt to silence his accusers and prevent The New York Times and The New Yorker from publishing allegations of sexual harassment, assault and rape – according to an explosive New Yorker article by Farrow. The firm, US-based Black Cube, was referred to Weinstein by former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barack, and promotes itself as “a select group of veterans from the Israeli elite intelligence units."
Meanwhile, former NBC News producer Rich McHugh took a swipe at the network, advocating for an independent investigation of what happened.
Following his remarks to the New York Times last week that NBC News committed a “massive breach of journalistic integrity” in not running Farrow’s Weinstein reporting, ex-NBC Investigative Unit producer Rich McHugh took another strong swing at his old employer late Monday. In a tweet, McHugh advocated an “independent investigation” of what happened, saying that “the release of an internally drafted report without a complete investigation and transparency for participants only raises more questions than answers.” -Deadline
What's more, one of Weinstein's accusers, Emily Nestor, backed Farrow - saying late Monday that she was "immensely disappointed in, but not surprised to read NBC's recent comments."

Rich McHugh‏ @RichMcHugh
NBC recently published a memo and "fact sheet" from Andy Lack regarding their handling of the Harvey Weinstein sexual assault story that was never aired. Here is my response:



This isn't the first time Trump has suggested NBC's broadcast license should be called into question. Last October, Trump lashed out after the network "made up a story" that he wanted a "tenfold" increase in the US nuclear arsenal, which he called "pure fiction."

Donald J. Trump‏Verified account @realDonaldTrump
With all of the Fake News coming out of NBC and the Networks, at what point is it appropriate to challenge their License? Bad for country!
6:55 AM - 11 Oct 2017

"That was just fake news by NBC, which gives a lot of fake news lately," Trump said Wednesday during a brief interaction with the White House press pool ahead of a meeting with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. "It's frankly disgusting the way the press is able to write whatever they want to write. And people should look into it." -Politico
And while last October's outburst was in response to unfavorable coverage, Trump's Tuesday tweet takes aim at the network shutting down an unfavorable report on Weinstein, who posted $1 million bail after his arrest in late May.



https://www.zerohedge.com/news/2018-...einstein-story