Thread: NBC waited for green light from lawyers before airing Trump video

NBC waited for green light from lawyers before airing Trump video

By Paul Farhi October 8 at 11:56 PM

NBC News was aware of video footage of Donald Trump making lewd and disparaging remarks about women for nearly four days, a network executive said Saturday, but held onto the recording until lawyers finished reviewing the material.

The network’s caution led to an awkward result: NBC News was scooped by The Washington Post, which took just five hours to vet and post its story. A tip from a source led to the Post breaking one of the most consequential stories of the 2016 presidential campaign.

The disclosure of Trump’s unguarded comments, which were made while he was wearing a microphone for an interview on “Access Hollywood” in 2005, has led to calls for him to step down as the Republican nominee. Trump, who squares off against Hillary Clinton on Sunday in the second presidential debate, has vowed to remain in the race.

NBC News first became aware of the footage late Monday after receiving notice from producers at “Access Hollywood,” a syndicated entertainment-news program owned by NBC. The program’s producers had combed their archives for interviews with Trump after reading an Associated Press account of crude remarks he had made about female contestants on “The Apprentice,” the NBC reality program that Trump had starred on for 14 seasons.

In this video from 2005, Donald Trump prepares for an appearance on "Days of Our Lives" with actress Arianne Zucker. He is accompanied to the set by "Access Hollywood" host Billy Bush. The Post has edited this video for length. (Obtained by The Washington Post)

They found the 2005 segment, in which Trump and “Access Hollywood” co-host Billy Bush banter crudely about women while traveling to a studio taping.

By Tuesday morning, NBC News determined that the footage was newsworthy, and began to prepare a story. The news division agreed to let “Access Hollywood” break the story first, given that it had shot and unearthed the tape, according to an NBC executive who agreed to give the network’s account on condition he not be named or quoted directly.

But the tape languished, unseen by the public, for several days after it first came to light.

Although NBC and “Access” both recognized the newsworthiness of the tape and intended to air it, it first had to undergo a review by the company’s lawyers, the executive said. The executive was unaware of any specific legal issue raised by airing an 11-year-old recording of a presidential candidate who was apparently aware at the time that he was being recorded by a TV program.

News outlets often submit potentially sensitive stories to lawyers for review before publication or broadcast.

Trump has used the threat of lawsuits in the past. The Republican nominee threatened to sue NBC last year after the network’s entertainment division dropped plans to air the Miss USA beauty pageant in the wake of Trump’s inflammatory remarks about Mexican immigrants. Trump backed off those threats when NBC sold its share of the pageant’s rights to him in September 2015.

Following a Friday report by The Washington Post on a 2005 video of the GOP presidential nominee, various Republicans have said they no longer plan to vote for him and some call for him to drop out.

Although the news division had nearly completed its work on the story by Friday morning, the story was still not scheduled to air by then. “Access Hollywood,” a daily program, had also not established an air date for its piece.

At that point, a still-anonymous source forced the issue. The source called Washington Post reporter David Fahrenthold around 11 a.m. Friday morning and pointed him to a copy of the tape on which Trump brags to “Access Hollywood” co-host Billy Bush that his celebrity status entitles him to grope women.

The Post reported and posted its story within five hours. NBC News, tipped that The Post story was imminent, finally decided to go with the story it had been holding all week. It waited until The Post’s account was online and aired its story on MSNBC seven minutes later. “Access Hollywood” broadcast a piece later that evening.

The network executive said he does not know who The Post’s source was, but noted that numerous people had access to the footage throughout the week, including employees of “Access Hollywood,” NBC News and NBC’s corporate staff.

He also would not speculate over the source’s motives.

There are no plans, he said, to investigate the source of the leak within NBC’s news division.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifes...b66_story.html

Excerpt from New York Times article:

Of course, his banter with Billy Bush during his “Access Hollywood” appearance is far worse. The Washington Post was the first to expose the tape because an “Access Hollywood” report was delayed, pushing back one that NBC News was preparing to run immediately afterward. Over the weekend, some political commentators wondered why NBC News didn’t take the lead anyway.

But what’s the difference? It all leads to the same place. The question for Mr. Trump is whether that place is the end of the road.

http://www.nytimes.com/2016/10/10/bu...eg-lights.html

NBC couldn't take the lead on the story because it would have violated their contract with Trump. That's why their lawyers didn't approve it. So what's a Hillary-favoring Network to do?

Cheat.

They leak it to the Washington Post. Then run their own story 14 minutes later and refuse to investigate the source of the leak. Do they really think Trump is that stupid? Do they really believe that Trump and Trump Supporters won't see through that?

At least 1 Trump Supporter saw through it and soon all Trump Supporters will see through it.

Shame on you NBC. Shame On You. Do you not have any grasp or concept of what you're trying to accomplish? You're trying to throw a US election of the highest office in our land, based on a "hot mic" private conversation between 2 guys who work for you. Yes, that's right, Donald Trump worked for you. He was on that bus with Billy Bush to help you with one of your soap operas, Days of Our Lives, because he was working for you with the Apprentice, its first season just completed. Donald Trump worked for you, and he did a great job for you. He made you a fortune off his Apprentice show, and even more off his Celebrity Apprentice show.

And THIS is how you treat him? He's good enough to work for you for 15 years making you a frigging fortune, but he's not good enough to work for the people of the United States? Really?!

Well, let me tell you, Trump will get his lawyers on this phony scheme of yours. And he will prevail against you if he so desires because that little contract you have with him, it protects private moments such as these and you know it, which is why after 4 days your lawyers hadn't approved your news division to release it. And, you are just as legally responsible for a "leaked" audio or video or in this case both, as you are if you had published the story first yourselves.

And Billy Bush, how long did it take you make the deal with him so he wouldn't sue you? Simple apology and no harm to him when he was the fat on the fire in the whole conversation. Just another witness for Trump at the trial under oath with all the powers of relevant discovery.

There's a little rule in our country, "if it happens in Vegas, it stays in Vegas". That same rule applies to NBC and most other corporations. If it happens at NBC, under your contracts with your employees, actors and actresses, it stays at NBC.

Your network is a national disgrace. You've violated everything the American People believed they could trust in a major news and entertainment network. You've tried a stunt as shallow, spineless and ultimately pointless as this to try to throw a Presidential Election in the United States to a Globalist Crook.

You and your morons who work for you clearly don't understand what's going on here. What's going on here is the American People have decided to take our country back. Translation: There is no Pussy Gate big enough to stop Donald Trump and his Trump Supporters.