Fox Report On Lamont: Unfair, Unbalanced; They Report, We Get Set Up

For "Grapevine," Hume plucked quote from Lamont letter to echo false Lieberman charge of hypocrisy

FROM: mediamatters.org

Summary: Brit Hume echoed Sen. Joe Leiberman's campaign's charge that his Democratic challenger, Ned Lamont, was "completely contradicting himself" when he criticized Lieberman for his 1998 public denunciation of former President Bill Clinton's affair with then-White House intern Monica Lewinsky. But Hume misrepresented the contents of Lamont's letter.

During the "Grapevine" segment of the September 11 edition of Fox News' Special Report with Brit Hume , Fox News Washington managing editor Brit Hume echoed independent candidate and incumbent Sen. Joseph I. Leiberman's (CT) campaign's charge that his Democratic challenger, Ned Lamont, was "completely contradicting himself" when he criticized Lieberman for his September 3, 1998, public denunciation of former President Bill Clinton's affair with then-White House intern Monica Lewinsky. But to support his assertion, Hume quoted selectively from Lamont's letter, misrepresenting its contents.

As Hume noted, according to a September 8 New York Times article , Lamont recently said that, while he condemned Clinton's behavior, Lieberman "should have handled the matter privately," because Lieberman's public condemnation created an unnecessary "media spectacle." Hume then referred to a letter Lamont sent Lieberman via email in 1998, soon after Lieberman's floor speech denouncing Clinton. In that letter, Lamont wrote: "I supported your statement because Clinton's behavior was outrageous: a Democrat had to stand up and state as much and I hoped that your statement was the beginning of the end." Based on the letter, Hume asserted that "Lamont saw things differently at the time," and echoed a Lieberman spokesman's claim that Lamont was "completely contradicting himself."

But Hume misrepresented the contents of the letter. Contrary to Hume's suggestion that Lamont fully supported Lieberman's public condemnation of Clinton at the time, Lamont, in his letter , actually wrote that he "reluctantly supported" Leiberman's actions, but still, would have preferred that the issue be handled privately. Hume, in particular, did not note -- although the Times article did -- that Lamont expressed three reasons why he was "reluctant" to support Lieberman's public condemnation of Clinton, including his concern that "it might make matters worse." Furthermore, neither Hume nor a September 9 Times article that initially published Lamont's letter to Lieberman mentioned that Lamont, in his letter, expressed a preference for handling the issue privately. "If Clinton has a sex problem, mature adults would have handled this privately, not turned it into a political crusade and legal entanglement with no end in sight." Lieberman, he wrote, should now "stand up and use [his] moral authority to put an end to this snowballing mess." From the letter:


I reluctantly supported the moral outrage you expressed on September 3. I was reluctant because I thought it might make matters worse; I was reluctant because nobody expressed moral outrage over how [former President Ronald] Reagan treated his kids or [former Speaker of the House Newt] Gingrich [R-GA] lied about supporting term limits (in other words, it was selective outrage); I was reluctant because the [independent counsel Kenneth] Starr inquisition is much more threatening to our civil liberties and national interest than Clinton's misbehavior.

I supported your statement because Clinton's behavior was outrageous: a Democrat had to stand up and state as much and I hoped that your statement was the beginning of the end.

Unfortunately, the statement was the beginning of a process that has turned more political and morally offensive. I'm the father of three and the thought that Clinton testifying about oral sex before the grand jury may be broadcast into my living room is outrageous. The Starr report read like a tabloid, not a legal recitation, and that streamed into my home via every medium available.

This sorry episode is an embarrassment to me as a father and to us as a nation. If Clinton has a sex problem, mature adults would have handled this privately, not turned it into a political crusade and legal entanglement with no end in sight.

You have expressed your outrage about the president's conduct; now stand up and use your moral authority to put an end to this snowballing mess.



From the September 11 edition of Fox News' Special Report with Brit Hume:

HUME: Democratic Senate candidate Ned Lamont ripped his Connecticut opponent Joe Lieberman last week for scolding Bill Clinton over the Monica Lewinsky scandal on the Senate floor in 1998, telling The New York Times that Lieberman should have handled the matter privately. But Lamont saw things differently at the time. Writing Lieberman, quote, "I supported your statement because Clinton's behavior was outrageous: a Democrat had to stand up and state as much, and I hoped that your statement was the beginning of the end," end quote. Lamont is standing by his latest comments, but a Lieberman spokesman says Lamont is, quote, "so desperate to lash out that he didn't seem to care that he was completely contradicting himself," end quote.