MSNBC prime-time host Lawrence O’Donnell issued an on-air retraction and apology Wednesday for reporting an unverified single-sourced story that claimed Russian oligarchs were involved in President Trump’s financial situation.
O’Donnell alleged Tuesday that Deutsche Bank had the president’s tax returns, or those of an immediate family member, as well as “loan documents.” According to O’Donnell, the documents proved that the co-signers on Trump’s loan documents are “Russian billionaires close to Vladimir Putin.”
O’Donnell went on to add that if the source was correct, it would explain some of the president’s behavior toward Russia and Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Deutsche Bank is declining to comment on Lawrence O’Donnell’s reporting that Russian oligarch’s co-signed Trump’s loans. The information came from a single source who has not seen the bank records. NBC has not seen those records and has not yet been able to verify the reporting.
— Michael Del Moro (@MikeDelMoro) August 28, 2019
The report’s credibility took a hit Wednesday when an MSNBC producer revealed Deutsche Bank refused to comment on O’Donnell’s reporting. Michael Del Moro also tweeted that the source had “not seen the bank records” in question.
White House press secretary Stephanie Grisham issued a scathing statement alleging that this type of reporting is why Americans “have lost trust in the media.”
President Trump’s lawyers sent a letter to NBC Universal demanding a retraction and an apology for “false and defamatory” statements, which were “extremely damaging.”
Last night I made an error in judgment by reporting an item about the president’s finances that didn’t go through our rigorous verification and standards process. I shouldn’t have reported it and I was wrong to discuss it on the air. I will address the issue on my show tonight.
— Lawrence O’Donnell (@Lawrence) August 28, 2019
O’Donnell issued a statement on Twitter shortly after that letter, saying he “made an error in judgment by reporting an item about the president’s finances that didn’t go through our rigorous verification and standards process.”
He followed it up during the opening segment on his Wednesday show.
“Last night on this show I discussed information that wasn’t ready for reporting,” he began. “I repeated statements a single source told me about the president’s finances and loan documents with Deutsche Bank. Saying ‘if true’ as I discussed the information was simply not good enough. I did not go through the rigorous verification and standards process here at MSNBC before repeating what I heard from my source.”
O’Donnell continued, “Had it gone through that process, I would not have been permitted to report it. I should not have said it on air or posted it on Twitter. I was wrong to do so. This afternoon attorneys for the president sent us a letter asserting the story is false. They also demanded a retraction. Tonight we are retracting the story. We don’t know whether the information is inaccurate. But the fact is, we do know it wasn’t ready for broadcast, and for that I apologize.”
