Well, ABC News is in the hot seat again. First, the network had to punish investigative reporter Brian Ross for botching an update on the Russian collusion investigation. He first reported that candidate Donald Trump had instructed former national security adviser Michael Flynn to speak with Russian officials. It sounded pretty incriminating - until we learned it was president-elect Trump who had sent those orders. Ross was suspended for a month for the mistake. Shortly after, the outlet had to issue another Russia-related correction. ABC wrote that former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort had worked with a Russia intelligence-connected official as late as last week - only to clarify shortly after that it wasn't an official.
Now, one ABC producer is in trouble for reportedly handing exit poll data to two authors the night of the 2016 election. Chris Vlasto, a senior executive producer for investigative reporting, offered former Trump campaign chairman Corey Lewandowski and David Bossie to offer them early exit numbers. They explain it all in their new book, "Let Trump Be Trump."
“Vlasto had the early exit numbers that the consortium of news networks — the Associated Press, ABC News, CBS News, CNN, Fox News, and NBC News — had collected,” Lewandowski and Bossie wrote. “The consortium followed eleven battleground states, including Ohio, Florida, and Pennsylvania. Trump was down in eight of the eleven states by five to eight points. The news was devastating. A kill shot.” (Politico)
This was a no no. News outlets that are privy to the exit poll information usually warn their employees not to share such intel to anyone on the "outside," as Politico explains.
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Vlasto, who was once considered for a senior communications position in the Trump White House, admitted his mistake and was “reprimanded,” according to ABC News.
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