NBC News retracts stunning report on Paul Pelosi attack
NBC News went viral with an explosive report about what allegedly transpired when police responded to the attack on Paul Pelosi but the network's retraction is fueling even more questions.
NBC News national correspondent Miguel Almaguer hasn't appeared on the network in 11 days since his explosive report on the Paul Pelosi attack was retracted, but he and NBC News have remained silent since the scrubbing of his report suggesting the House Speaker’s husband may not have been in danger when police arrived.
The ordeal has puzzled NBC News insiders, with some believing the report was squashed because it went against the mainstream narrative. A former senior NBC News executive who worked with Almaguer believes the network needs to explain what’s going on.
"NBC News must be more transparent with its viewers about this error. Who wrote Miguel’s script? Who approved the script? Are he and his producers suspended during an internal investigation? NBC’s silence on this matter speaks volumes. NBC owes it to its audience to be truthful and not cover this up," the former executive said.
NBC News retracted its report from correspondent Miguel Almaguer about stunning details from the Paul Pelosi attack. (Screenshot/NBC News)
NBC SILENT AFTER RETRACTING PAUL PELOSI REPORT UNDER MYSTERIOUS CIRCUMSTANCES
It started when Almaguer went viral after he appeared on the Nov. 4 installment of "Today" and offered stunning revelations of what may have transpired when police arrived to Pelosi's San Francisco home following a 911 call.
The NBC News report attempted to answer lingering questions about the alleged home invasion that left Paul Pelosi with a fractured skull. Almaguer cited sources familiar with the situation who said the police didn’t know they were responding to the Pelosi residence, Pelosi opened the door but didn’t attempt to escape or declare an emergency, and even walked away from law enforcement and toward his eventual attacker.
Almaguer concluded his report by telling "Today" co-host Craig Melvin "we still don't know exactly what unfolded between Mr. Pelosi and the suspect for the 30 minutes they were alone inside that house before police arrive. Officials who are investigating this matter would not go into further details about these new details."
Later in the day as the segment gained prominence on Twitter, Almaguer’s report was erased from all NBC News platforms. It was deleted from social media, and NBC News issued an editor's note on its website, reading, "This piece has been removed from publication because it did not meet NBC News reporting standards."
It is unclear what specifically from Almaguer's report did not meet the network's "reporting standards." NBC refused to elaborate, and its digital platforms said the video "expired."
PAUL PELOSI ATTACK BODYCAM, 911 CALL REMAIN UNDISCLOSED AS SUSPECT DAVID DEPAPE DUE BACK IN COURT
Paul Pelosi (L) and Nancy Pelosi on April 25, 2015 in Washington, DC.; Image shows FBI agents outside the home of Nancy and Paul Pelosi on Oct. 28, 2022. (Dimitrios Kambouris/VF15/WireImage ; Fox News )
On Monday, Fourth Watch editor Steve Krakauer, a former NBC page who has been critical of NBC News’ handling of the ordeal, noticed that Almaguer has been absent since the report was retracted.
"It has been 10 days since @Miguelnbc went on NBC and delivered his Paul Pelosi report, that was ‘expired’ hours later," Krakauer tweeted.
Indeed, Almaguer did not appear on NBC from the since-retracted report through Monday’s edition of "Nightly News," according to a search of transcripts using Grabien Media. NBC News did not immediately respond to a series of questions, including whether he was disciplined and what was wrong with his report in the first place.
Hours after Krakauer’s tweet, the Daily Beast reported it had learned Almaguer has been "suspended pending an internal investigation." Again, NBC News did not respond when asked for comment by Fox News Digital.
Almaguer, who sent nine tweets over the first three days of November, did not tweet from the day before his report was retracted through Monday evening.
Almaguer did not respond to a voicemail left by Fox News Digital.
Another NBC News insider expressed disbelief at the story getting through editors in the first place, saying they "couldn't believe they'd follow a conspiracy theory days after it was disproven."
A third NBC News insider told Fox News Digital that something "shady" must have happened but couldn’t pinpoint exactly what it was.
Others feel the situation could be similar to the 2012 incident when NBC News quietly cut ties with multiple journalists responsible for deceptively editing audio from a 911 call placed by George Zimmerman the night he killed Trayvon Martin. "Today" aired a doctored 911 call that removed the dispatcher asking Zimmerman to describe Martin's race. The version that aired on "Today" made it seem like Zimmerman said Martin was Black without being asked.
The Zimmerman call was a major media scandal at the time, and NBC News wasn’t particularly transparent at first but apologized after an internal investigation.
Many of the NBC News executives who oversaw the Zimmerman 911 call aftermath – such as then-president Steve Capus – have moved on. But Comcast remains NBC's parent company, and the Zimmerman 911 call scandal occurred only a few months after telecommunications conglomerate consolidated NBC News, MSNBC and CNBC.
PAUL PELOSI RETURNS HOME FROM HOSPITAL DAYS AFTER HAMMER ATTACK
Krakauer previously suggested Almaguer could have reported something that was supposed to stay off-the-record, or the veteran reporter was offering an angle the San Francisco Police Department wanted out there.
"Whatever the backstory is, we don't know it - and it's incumbent on NBC to be more transparent about the process, and say publicly what, if anything, was inaccurate in the report," Krakauer wrote. "In the meantime, the rest of the media have pretended it didn't happen."
Paul Pelosi's suspected attacker, a 42-year-old illegal immigrant from Canada named David DePape, is being held without bail on a slew of state and federal charges, including attempted murder. Police recovered zip ties in Pelosi’s bedroom, found glass broken at the rear of the house, tape, rope, gloves and a journal, according to the FBI affidavit.
Paul Pelosi returned home six days after the home invasion that left him with a fractured skull.
Fox News’ Joseph A. Wulfsohn, Michael Ruiz and David Rutz contributed to this report.
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