Speaking during an interview on Fox Business with Fox Business personality and anchor Maria Bartiromo on Monday, September 16, Rep. Dan Meuser, R-Pa., pointed to an unverified, unconfirmed claim from a supposed whistleblower claiming that the network worked with Vice President Kamala Harris to give her an advantage at the presidential debate, telling Bartiromo that he is working to bring in ABC to have it testify before Congress about the matter. ABC News has said the report is not real.
In the supposed whistleblower report, the alleged whistleblower, whose name is redacted, claims to be an employee of ABC News and alleges that the network, before the debate, provided the Harris campaign with sample questions similar to what was asked, promised the Harris campaign it would only fact-check Trump’s claims, and agreed not to ask questions on topics the Harris campaign deemed off-topic.
The report has not been verified or confirmed as authentic, but Rep. Meuser and Bartiromo spoke about it during his appearance. Referring to the alleged whistleblower report, Rep. Meuser said that Congress is going to try to bring in ABC to testify before Congress. He said, “Fortunately we now have a whistleblower, and I’m going to tell you something, Maria, we’re going to do what we can to bring ABC in and have them answer some questions and as well as have this whistleblower and see what’s going on as they’re trying to tear down the First Amendment.”
Bartiromo, responding, noted that Bill Ackman, a billionaire who traditionally supported the Democrats but has changed tacks since the October of 2023 attacks on Israel, has draw attention to the alleged report on X (formerly Twitter). She said, ” I’m glad you mentioned this because Fox News is reaching out to ABC for response to that affidavit and this Bill Ackman post about this whistleblower. We want answers. But Bill Ackman posted this on X about an alleged ABC whistleblower affidavit that says Harris’ campaign dictated the debate questions, camera angles, and the fact-checking of Trump at the debate.”
Continuing, Bartiromo quoted Ackman, saying, “He writes, ‘Sadly for the state of truth in media, I expect the whistleblower allegations will be deemed to be true.’ Ackman also pointed out that ABC News’ David Muir and Linsey Davis have yet to make any statements on the alleged affidavit. He said, ‘If you are not guilty as alleged, you have no choice but to immediately issue a statement denying the claims for silence is an admission of complicity.’”
Bartiromo added that ABC News has denied the supposed report, saying, “ABC News has already denied allegations of collusion between the presidential debate moderators and the Harris campaign. We know Linsey Davis is her sorority sister. But they told The Daily Beast last week, ‘Absolutely not. Harris was not given any questions before the debate.’”
She then noted that the supposed report and the unverified allegations from the alleged whistleblower therein have gained traction online despite not having being verified. She said, “We’ve reached out to ABC to verify the affidavit and for a statement on these accusations, congressman, but this affidavit and this whistleblower story is gaining traction.”
Responding, Rep. Meuser told her that Congress is looking to do a hearing to show what was going on, saying, “Yes, absolutely, and as it should. We need to have, find out what the truth is. And the thing is, is we all saw it. We actually don’t need a hearing to know what we saw. But we’re going to look to do it so as we can provide some evidence as to how manipulative they are.”
