NBC Uniquely Notes Some Dems Voted to Sanction Holder
Uniquely among the broadcast network evening newscasts, the NBC Nightly News, not only ran a full report on the House of Representatives vote to hold Attorney General Eric Holder in contempt of Congress, but the network also noted that some Democrats joined Republicans on the vote.
By contrast, ABC's World News and the CBS Evening News only mentioned the dozens of Democrats who walked out of the Capitol in protest as they devoted only about half a minute each to the story.
Even though it took NBC more than 20 minutes to get to the report, anchor Brian Williams alerted viewers of the upcoming story right after he teased the day's lead item, the Supreme Court ruling on ObamaCare, as he opened the show: "In contempt: The vote in Congress against the U.S. Attorney General late today and the dramatic walkout in protest."
He later introduced the report:
Eric Holder today became the first United States Attorney General ever to be held in contempt of Congress. The vote was a result of a dispute over a botched federal anti-gun trafficking operation known as Fast and Furious. Some of the guns ended up in Mexico. Two of them were found at the scene of a fatal shooting of a U.S. border patrol agent. House Republicans say Holder misled them about the operation and that he's withholding documents. They're accusing the Justice Department of a coverup.
NBC correspondent Kelly O'Donnell began her piece by focusing on the Democrats who walked out and their complaints, before getting to the Republican side. Referring to the 17 Democrats who voted with the GOP to find Holder in contempt, O'Donnell eventually informed viewers:
Inside the chamber, House Republicans joined by more than a dozen Democrats voted to sanction the Attorney General. They say Holder failed to turn over subpoenaed documents that might explain why the Justice Department gave Congress false information.
Complete transcripts of the relevant reports from ABC's World News, the CBS Evening News, and the NBC Nightly News can be found here.
- Brad Wilmouth's blog
- Login to post comments















Comments
OK Boehner and Issa
Submitted by c5then on Fri, 06/29/2012 - 9:17am.
The ball is back in your court...What now?
Your bluff has been called.
Now you will ask a federal judge to rule on the Executive Priviledge claim. That will take months and months. Meanwhile the Fast & Furious issue will be gone from the news while you wait.
Will you press forward and begin impeachment proceedings? I bet you won't.
Madison and Jefferson and Franklin built a Republic - Roberts killed it!
Holder
Submitted by HudsonRiverGirl on Fri, 06/29/2012 - 9:53am.
All the msm including FNC led with the headline.........GOP Led vote for contempt
No one daring to tell the truth. If not for the internet we would be the most uninformed citizenry since the days of the soviet union.
NPR Handled it "Well"
Submitted by NC Boy on Fri, 06/29/2012 - 9:43am.
Even before the vote, NPR noted that some Democrats who are beholden to the NRA would vote for the Contempt order.
OK, Romney. Get rid of Obamacare first, but second de-fund NPR.
Good job NBC, but more proof the evening news reports only
Submitted by merly1 on Fri, 06/29/2012 - 11:11am.
what it wants to report, ie Roberts crosses over is news, 17 Dems voting against Holder is not news
It's certainly possible-a
Submitted by RR GOP on Fri, 06/29/2012 - 6:57pm.
It's certainly possible-a minority of reps or Senators of both parties who do have principles do really exist, but in such small numbers that it really doesn't matter.
I would hope that if Holder were a GOP appointee, that this vote would have gone the same way, but sadly, I doubt it.
"Under Capitalism, man exploits man. Under Communism it's just the opposite."
"All that Communism needs to make it successful is for someone to feed and clothe it."
A random act of news reporting
Submitted by James Youngblood on Fri, 06/29/2012 - 10:03pm.
Some heads will roll at NBC for this random act of news reporting.
J. Youngblood