The Political Insider

Shelby Talcott on September 18, 2019

ABC, CBS and NBC almost completely ignored reporting that Christine Blasey Ford’s friend reportedly said she doesn’t believe Ford’s accusations against Justice Brett Kavanaugh, according to a media research center.

The three outlets spent 31 minutes, 47 seconds in three days of reporting on allegations of sexual misconduct against Kavanaugh, Newsbusters’ Curtis Houck first reported. The news comes on the heels of book titled “The Education of Brett Kavanaugh: An Investigation.”

The book, written by New York Times journalists Robin Pogrebin and Kate Kelly, reported that a friend put Kavanaugh’s penis into an unnamed women’s hand while at a college party.

It also reportedly noted that Leland Keyser, a friend of Ford, doesn’t believe Ford’s account that Kavanaugh sexually assaulted her at a party in the 1980s.

“I don’t have any confidence in the story,” Leland noted in the book, according to The Washington Examiner, which reviewed a copy in advance.

ABC, CBS and NBC have heavily discussed the allegations between Sunday and Tuesday, Newsbusters reported. ABC and NBC spent zero seconds reporting on Keyser’s statement, the analysis found.

CBS spent 36 seconds talking about Keyser not believing Ford’s story, the media research center reported.

CBS correspondent Jan Crawford and “CBS Evening News” anchor Norah O’Donnell were the only ones to mention this detail as of the time of publishing, according to Newsbusters.

“And Jan Crawford reports tonight we’re hearing from a close friend of Christine Blasey Ford who Ford says was with her on the night the alleged assault happened,” O’Donnell said Monday.

“Speaking publicly for the first time to the Times reporters, Ford’s close friend Leland Keyser, who Ford said was at the party, said she didn’t believe Ford’s account and that it ‘just didn’t make any sense,’” Crawford continued. “She also said she told the FBI that Ford’s allies pressured her to say otherwise. Now, all four people that Ford identified as being at that high school party in the summer of 1982 have now said no such party occurred.”

The lack of reporting follows a New York Times news analysis Saturday evening that omitted key details regarding allegations against Kavanaugh. It originally failed to include that the unnamed woman reportedly — according to friends — did not remember the incident occurring and declined to be interviewed.

The article, written by Pogrebin and Kelly, was published ahead of the book’s launch and added a clarification to include the exculpatory evidence about the allegations.

ABC, CBS and NBC did not respond to the Daily Caller News Foundation’s request for comment.