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.
