CNN Cheerleads For Murtha; Dismisses Damning Video as ‘Old Allegations’

The Democrats may have selected Steny Hoyer to be Majority Leader, but CNN’s sympathy clearly went to Representative John Murtha. "American Morning" aired two reports on a 1980 bribery investigation that involved the Congressman and, despite a damning video in which Murtha indicates possible future interest in a bribe, both accounts gave him more than the benefit of the doubt. Andrea Koppel began her segment, which included a dismissive onscreen graphic that read "Old Allegations," by playing the grainy video footage of Murtha. She then shifted into defense mode:

Andrea Koppel: "January 7th, 1980, an undercover FBI agent shows off the bribe he's about to offer a couple of congressmen. One of them is Pennsylvania Democrat John Murtha. Murtha turns down the offer, but suggests he might be interested in the future."

FBI Agent: "You are telling me that's not what you -- you know -- that's not --

Murtha: "I'm not interested."

Agent: "Okay."

Murtha: "At this point. You know, we do business for a while, maybe I'll be interested, maybe I won't."

Koppel: "Murtha was never charged. And to this day, professes his innocence."

This is the same network that over two separate days, devoted a combined 40 minutes of coverage to the Mark Foley investigation, another individual who hadn’t been charged with a crime. Apparently, embarrassing instant messages are important, but a highly unflattering video is not.

By Koppel’s own admission, the footage showed Murtha turning down a bribe offer, but allowed that he "might be interested in the future." The CNN anchor quickly shifted to a discussion of who is responsible for bringing up the "old allegations:"

Koppel: "But on the eve of a fiercely contested leadership race for the number two position in the House, pitting Murtha against Maryland Congressman Steny Hoyer, that hasn't stopped watchdog groups, and the media, from rehashing old allegations about the sting operation known as ABSCAM. A Murtha spokesman called news coverage of this story poor journalism. While Murtha has accused his critics of a ‘Swift Boating’ attack, his spokesman questions the timing of the reports and suggested to CNN, Hoyer, or his supporters, might be responsible, a charge Hoyer's office calls outrageous. Murtha's supporters chalk it up to a tight race."

Koppel then allowed a Murtha surrogate, Congressman Anthony Weiner, to defend the Pennsylvania Representative. But no pro-Hoyer voice is heard, other then a brief clip from Hoyer himself:

Anthony Weiner: "And just like other campaigns unfortunately, we're seeing the Swift Boating of Jack Murtha, as the man with the 37-year career in the military, someone who has been honorable member of Congress, and someone widely respected. And he's someone who's going to have the voice for our party with, with perhaps an unimpeachable voice on things like national security, the war in Iraq."

Koppel: "And Murtha is now using his voice on Iraq to undermine Hoyer's candidacy, accusing the Maryland lawmaker of endorsing President Bush's stay-the-course strategy, accusing Hoyer of being in step with Republicans, like John McCain, saying they advocate sending more troops to Iraq. But just this week, Hoyer told CNN-"

Hoyer: "We need to change course in Iraq , suggesting a phased redeployment."

Less than an hour later, at 8:06a.m., Candy Crowley matched Koppel’s full throated defense of Congressman Murtha, hinting that this all may be a "perception" problem:

Crowley: "Well, first of all, as Murtha himself points out, no charges were ever brought. He was found guilty of nothing. He's been through many campaigns since then, and he has been reelected to his seat. Still, this is a Speaker-to-be, Nancy Pelosi, who has said, I'm going to run the most ethical, the most straightforward House that's ever been. So this is a problem. In Washington, as you know, sometimes perception becomes reality."

One more time, just for the record, here is Murtha’s quote to the undercover FBI agent:

Murtha: "At this point. You know, we do business for a while, maybe I'll be interested, maybe I won't."

If one is looking for another example of an accused candidate and how CNN handles the issue of "perception," there’s always the case of Republican Senator George Allen. After the Senator referred to an Indian American employee of his Democratic opponent as a "macaca," the cable network demonstrated that it isn’t always interested in shades of gray. As noted in this Newsbusters entry, CNN quickly branded the incident with a racial bent:

"...After mentioning the most recent allegations that Allen, as a college student, used a racial pejorative, [CNN reporter Bob] Franken characterized the macaca incident this way:

Franken: ‘And, of course, we know about the controversy that erupted when he used another slur, the word macaca, against an Indian-American operative for his opponent's campaign.’

Interestingly, an hour earlier, he described the event differently:

Franken: ‘Of course, we also remember Senator Allen recently, who was captured on video, when he accused an operative for his Democratic opponent of being, quote, a 'macaca,' which we found out was a racial pejorative. Something that the Senator said he did not know."

It sounds like CNN is more then a little selective as to which political candidates receive the benefit of the doubt and which don’t.

A transcript of the Andrea Koppel story, which aired at 7:10a.m. on November 16, follows:

Soledad O’Brien: "Find out later today who the Democrats are going to choose as their majority leader. Pennsylvania Congressman John Murtha, or will it be Steny Hoyer from Maryland? But could old allegations in the past doom Murtha's chances? Here's CNN's Congressional Correspondent Andrea Koppel."

Andrea Koppel: "January 7th, 1980, an undercover FBI agent shows off the bribe he's about to offer a couple of congressmen. One of them is Pennsylvania Democrat John Murtha. Murtha turns down the offer, but suggests he might be interested in the future."

FBI Agent: "You are telling me that's not what you -- you know -- that's not --

Murtha: "I'm not interested."

Agent: "Okay."

Murtha: "At this point. You know, we do business for a while, maybe I'll be interested, maybe I won't."

Koppel: "Murtha was never charged. And to this day, professes his innocence."

Murtha: "They put the money out there, and I told them I didn't want it. I was only interested in, in investment in my district."Koppel: "But on the eve of a fiercely contested leadership race for the number two position in the House, pitting Murtha against Maryland Congressman Steny Hoyer, that hasn't stopped watchdog groups, and the media, from rehashing old allegations about the sting operation known as ABSCAM. A Murtha spokesman called news coverage of this story poor journalism. While Murtha has accused his critics of a "Swift Boating" attack, his spokesman questions the timing of the reports and suggested to CNN, Hoyer, or his supporters, might be responsible, a charge Hoyer's office calls outrageous. Murtha's supporters chalk it up to a tight race."

Anthony Weiner: "And just like other campaigns unfortunately, we're seeing the Swift boating of Jack Murtha, as the man with the 37-year career in the military, someone who has been honorable member of Congress, and someone widely respected. And he's someone who's going to have the voice for our party with, with perhaps an unimpeachable voice on things like national security, the war in Iraq."

Koppel: "And Murtha is now using his voice on Iraq to undermine Hoyer's candidacy, accusing the Maryland lawmaker of endorsing President Bush's stay-the-course strategy, accusing Hoyer of being in step with Republicans, like John McCain, saying they advocate sending more troops to Iraq. But just this week, Hoyer told CNN-"

Hoyer: "We need to change course in Iraq , suggesting a phased redeployment."

O’Brien: "That was CNN's Congressional Andrea Koppel reporting. Both Murtha and Hoyer say they have the votes it's going to take to win -- Miles."