In this episode of Truth In Media with Ben Swann, we’re taking a look at new footage from Project Veritas revealing that ABC News refused to air an explosive story detailing Epstein’s alleged crimes years ago, and a hot mic captures exactly why ABC executives did so. This episode also discusses an independent autopsy observation of Epstein contradicting the official findings of the NY chief medical examiner, and revisiting past coverage of Epstein including an interview with journalist Whitney Webb discussing his complex ties to influential people and his powerful associates who have yet to be fully investigated.
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The ABC network refuses to air a commercial criticizing Chicago mayor Rahm Emanuel even though other networks are running the spot, The Daily Caller has learned.
As Emanuel seeks re-election in the Chicago mayoral run-off next week, the Republican-leaning Real Chicago PAC produced an ad highlighting reported instances of Emanuel’s corruption and crony capitalism, including his promotion of the transportation company Uber, in which his brother Ari is a major investor.
“We sent the commercial to the local Fox affiliate. They vetted it, they checked every single quote and every single headline to make sure it was accurate and they ran it on the night of the [mayoral] debate,” Real Chicago PAC chairman Bill Kelly told TheDC. Kelly noted that NBC also approved the ad. But the ad will not appear on ABC 7, Chicago’s highest-rated local network. And that decision came down from ABC’s national corporate infrastructure.
When Real Chicago PAC representative Laura Grock sent the commercial to ABC, Philadelphia-based Dee Parker of the network’s national sales office sent the video to its legal department, based in New York City. Parker then emailed Grock on Wednesday and demanded that the ad be changed.
ABC took issue with the ad’s claim that Emanuel made $18 million in three years as an investment banker between 1999 and 2002 for almost no work and that he used the mayoralty to turn brother Ari Emanuel’s Uber investment into a billion dollars. The ad’s makers cited multiple press articles to provide what they claim is factual basis for their assertions.
“Two of the track lines need to be revised, or this ad cannot air:” ABC’s Parker wrote in her email to Grock.
“1. There is no support for the phrase: for almost no work,” Parker wrote.
“2. There is no support for the claim, as phrased, that: He used his position to turn his brother’s investment in Uber into a billion dollars,” Parker added.
“If they took out the phrase ‘for almost no work,’ and rewrote the Uber allegation to take out the causation and the amount claims [to something like: ‘He used his position to favor his brother’s investment in Uber’],” Parker continued, without elaborating further.
Grock refused to change the commercial.
“No, we won’t change the ad — especially not at this date. The Chicago Magazine article substantiates our claim as to the ‘almost no work’ and the valuation on the Uber stock has been discussed in the media,” Grock replied.
In response to ABC’s first problem with the ad, Grock cited a Chicago Magazine article detailing Emanuel’s leisurely relationship with private equity mogul Bruce Rauner and a Chicago Reader article that reported, “In that period [1999-2002] Emanuel made about $18 million, putting together deals by tapping connections he made in the White House.”
As for ABC’s objection to the bit about Uber and Emanuel’s investor brother? Grock cited a Chicago Sun-Times piece revealing Emanuel’s brother’s stake in Uber and detailing the company’s massive expansion in Chicago after Emanuel was elected mayor in 2011.
Reached by TheDC, ABC’s Parker confirmed the email exchange but declined to speak on the record.
“That commercial should be running on ABC today,” Real Chicago PAC chairman Kelly told TheDC. “I want them to run that commercial all day until the polls close on Tuesday. They’re refusing. I think they’re being incredibly unfair and duplicitous.”
Emanuel voted early, presumably for himself, Thursday morning. When he showed up to the polling place, he referred to the crowd of reporters surrounding him as “my family.”
Emanuel leads opponent Jesus “Chuy” Garcia in Tuesday’s run-off.
Alexander Marquardt is a veteran reporter for ABC, who specializes as a correspondent in the Middle East. Despite everything he has seen thus far in his career, Marquardt maintains that the current conflict in Gaza is the worst one he has ever witnessed.
“There are no conflicts that come close to covering something like this,” Marqaurdt said, in an interview with The Huffington Post. “There are so many times when there are just these awful, tragic, heartbreaking scenes.”
“When you’re on the ground and you’re seeing things in terms of black and white, and just the human side of the story, the massive death toll, the massive level of destruction, it doesn’t matter what your politics are,” said Marquardt. “It doesn’t matter if you’re a viewer and you’re coming at this story from a certain angle. When you see children and babies crushed to death in their homes or targeted in airstrikes, it’s just heartbreaking.”
Marquardt found that the scenes that really stuck with him from Gaza were the ones that involved the Palestinian children who were victims of the conflict. He was among the journalists staying at a hotel near the beach where four Palestinian boys lost their lives, due to an Israeli airstrike. He also witnessed the death of a young boy who died after being hit by shrapnel. “These are things that really do stick with you,” Marqaurdt said.
Marqaurdt told The Huffington Post that he was shocked when NBC removed Foreign Correspondent Ayman Mohyeldin from Gaza. “It was the wrong move to pull him out,” he said. “It was certainly amazing to watch the community of journalists respond so angrily,” Marquardt added, referencing NBC’s decision to reinstate Mohyeldin as a correspondent in Gaza, after the network’s original decision created a major uproar on social media.
When comparing the coverage of the current conflict between Israel and Hamas to the coverage of the conflict between the two from 2008 to 2009, Marquardt said that the advancement of social media has “completely changed the dynamic” of the reporting.
“Israel was allowed to go about its business without as much scrutiny, whereas this time…there’s a lot more information coming out of Gaza,” said Marquardt, who added that due to the prominence of social media outlets such as Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook, it is even more important now to provide accurate and balanced coverage of the story at hand.
Despite the fact that Hamas runs a totalitarian regime in Gaza, Marquardt said, “It’s very easy to move around.” He added, “I’ve never felt like they were trying to stifle my reporting.”
However, in regards to the control exerted by Israel, Marquardt said, “I’ve never seen a PR machine like Israel’s. They are constantly bombarding you.“
