Published without comment, because none is needed.
NBC acknowledged Friday that NBC Nightly News anchor Brian Williams was wrong when he said during Thursday's broadcast that charges for New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie had been "ruled out" by federal investigators looking into the BridgeGate scandal.
“An unscripted line of our Nightly News report was imprecise and implied that a final decision had been reached,’’ NBC spokeswoman Erika Masonhall told the Asbury Park Press in a statement.
From the
Washington Post:
It’s always tricky to report on high-profile federal investigations that are in progress. But that’s no excuse for “NBC Nightly News” anchor Brian Williams, who delivered a report last night about the “Bridgegate” probe involving New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie (R). Williams said that “federal charges are now ruled out” for the embattled governor, who is regarded as a serious contender for the Republican presidential nomination in 2016.
As reported in the Asbury Park Press today, however, NBC News has backtracked on this information.
The Washington Post kindly characterizes Williams' reporting as "overzealous." His statement to millions of Americans was
drawn from the reporting of a local affiliate.
Indeed, the Williams report went much further than a highly cited story by WNBC-TV investigative reporter Jonathan Dienst. Here’s the first paragraph of that story:
The U.S. Justice Department investigation into Gov. Chris Christie’s role in the George Washington Bridge lane closure scandal has thus far uncovered no evidence indicating that he either knew in advance or directed the closure of traffic lanes on the span, federal officials tell NBC 4 New York.
Bold text highlighted for an important reason — the nine-month-old probe hasn’t yet concluded and “no final determination has been made,” noted Dienst’s report, which also carries the bylines of Joe Valiquette and Pete Williams.
Here is Williams. Attempting to correct his shoddy negligence:
"We may have added confusion to some complex reporting last night — and it has to do with New Jersey Governor Chris Christie and the multiple investigations underway into so-called “Bridgegate,” when Christie surrogates allegedly ordered politically motivated lane closures on the busiest bridge in the world. The state of play is this: The Feds have SO FAR found no grounds for charges — no involvement of the Governor himself. Both the federal and state investigations continue."
And they wonder why no one pays attention to them anymore.