Fox News anchor apologizes for report on Clinton Foundation probe
Fox News anchor Bret Baier apologized Friday for reporting this week that the FBI’s investigation into the Clinton Foundation would “likely” lead to an “indictment.”
Speaking to Fox News’ “Happening Now” Friday, Baier said that especially in a heated election, every word matters regardless of how well-sourced a journalist’s reporting is.
“I explained a couple of times yesterday the phrasing of one of my answers to Brit Hume on Wednesday night, saying it was inartful the way I answered the last question about whether the investigations would continue after the election. And I answered that, ‘Yes, our sources said it would, they would continue to likely an indictment.’ Well that wasn’t just inartful. It was a mistake. And for that, I’m sorry.”
Baier said that he should have said that the FBI would continue to build its case and went on to explain why he shouldn’t have used the word “indictment.”
“Indictment is obviously a very loaded word, especially in this atmosphere, and no one knows if there would or would not be an indictment, no matter how strong investigators feel their evidence is,” he added.
He also said that they stand by their sourcing at Fox News in the investigation into the Clinton Foundation.
Baier first reported about the ongoing inquiry on his own show Wednesday and on another Fox News show an hour later. “We talked to two separate sources with intimate knowledge of what’s going on with the FBI investigations... The investigations will continue, there is a lot of evidence. And barring some obstruction in some way, they believe they will continue to likely an indictment,” Baier said.
Several news outlets disputed Baier’s original report and said it wasn’t true.