Brian Ross Has Dan Rather Syndrome!

"I think you can be an honest person and lie about any number of things."

-- Dan Rather on The O'Reilly Factor, May 15, 2001


ABC and Brian Ross won't back down.

The network stands by its report that Speaker of the House Dennis Hastert is being investigated by the Department of Justice in its congressional bribery probe, in spite of denials by the DOJ.
Drudge has the text of a letter sent by the legal counsel of an angry Hastert to ABC News President David Westin, George Stephanopolous, and Brian Ross.

The pdf of the letter is also posted on ABC's site.

David Westin
George Stephanopoulos
Brian Ross
ABC News
7 West 66th St.
New York, NY 10023

RE: False Story Regarding Justice Department Investigation

Dear Mr. Westin, Stephanopoulos, and Mr. Ross:

At 7:25 p.m., the Statement of the Department of Justice confirmed:

“Speaker Hastert is not under investigation by the Justice Department.”

At 10:21 p.m., you wrote:

“Whether they like it or not, members of Congress, including Hastert, are under investigation,” one federal official said tonight.”

This statement is false, and your republication of it after actual knowledge of its falsity constitutes libel and defamation. ABC News’ continued publication of this false information, after having actual knowledge of its falsity, evidences a specific and malicious intent to injure and damage Speaker Hastert’s reputation by continued repetition of a known falsehood.

We will take any and all actions necessary to rectify the harm ABC has caused and to hold those at ABC responsible for their conduct.

Please advise regarding who will accept service of process to remedy this intentional falsehood.

Very truly yours,
J. Randolph Evans
Stefan C. Passantino
Counsel to Speaker J. Dennis Hastert

Those are fighting words.

Hastert is not going to allow ABC to take him out.

Frankly, I'm surprised that ABC hasn't issued a half-hearted non-apology apology or some sort of clarification to make this all go away.

Brian Ross is positively defiant. That's a very bad sign. He's starting to show characteristics similar to those exhibited by the delusional Dan Rather.

If he keeps this up, I think Ross may be at risk of being attacked while walking along Park Avenue. He could be assaulted from behind and thrown to the ground. An attacker might chase Ross into a building and then kick him repeatedly in the back, all the while demanding to know, "Kenneth, what is the frequency?".

This could get really ugly.

Yes, someone (maybe an unnamed law enforcement official) needs to intervene before Ross goes completely over the edge.