CBS was the only Big Three network on Tuesday evening and Wednesday morning to continue reporting on the allegations of a quid pro quo between the FBI and the State Department related to Hillary Clinton's e-mail scandal. CBS Evening News's Scott Pelley gave a brief about Undersecretary of State Patrick Kennedy's denial of a quid pro quo. The following morning, Charlie Rose gave a brief on Wednesday's CBS This Morning about a former FBI official admitting that he proposed it. [video below]
Meanwhile, ABC was too busy devoting air time on Tuesday's World News Tonight to a rare occurrence on The Price is Right. Wednesday's Good Morning America also set aside over four minutes to Michelle Obama's Versace gown at the state dinner on Tuesday. The segment also spotlighted her "fashion legacy," as an on-screen graphic put it.
NBC's newscasts also ignored the latest developments in the FBI/State Department story. Instead, Tuesday's NBC Nightly News aired a minute and 40-second report on Bob Dylan's silence so far in response to receiving a Nobel Prize. Wednesday's Today also devoted nearly three minutes to the state dinner at the White House. NBC and ABC downplayed the possible quid pro quo issue on their Monday evening newscasts.
Pelley devoted 46 seconds on CBS Evening News to his brief on Undersecretary Kennedy's statement:
SCOTT PELLEY: We have an update for you on last night's story about State Department pressure on the FBI during its investigation of Clinton's e-mails. FBI records said that Undersecretary of State Patrick Kennedy tried to convince the FBI that one e-mail on Clinton's private server should not be classified 'secret.' In return, one FBI official said, the State Department offered to help the FBI with its request to add agents in Iraq. Well, today, in a statement, Kennedy said, 'The two matters were not linked. My motivations were never political.' Kennedy said he had 'served Democratic and Republican administrations. There was no quid pro quo, nor was there any bargaining.'
Just under 13 hours later, Rose gave his 38-second brief on CBS This Morning about the Wednesday report in the New York Times on the alleged quid pro quo:
CHARLIE ROSE: The New York Times says a former FBI official at the center of the latest controversy over Hillary Clinton's private e-mail is speaking out. Newly-released FBI documents reveal a discussion of an apparent quid pro quo when Clinton was secretary of state. They say a State Department official had asked the FBI to lower the classification of a sensitive e-mail on Clinton's server. In exchange, the FBI would get extra personnel in Iraq. Now, former FBI official Brian McCauley says he — not the State Department — suggested the quid pro quo. But McCauley said he backed down when he learned Clinton's e-mail was related to the Benghazi attack.
