Brit Hume: This is what my former newspaper editors would have done if I submitted the NYT Kavanaugh story
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}If, decades ago, Brit Hume had pitched the supposed bombshell story about Supreme Court Associate Justice Brett Kavanaugh to his then-newspaper editors, they wouldn't have let it anywhere near print, the Fox News political analyst said.
The New York Times story – later subject of an "editor's note" correction – should never have been published, Hume said Tuesday on "Tucker Carlson Tonight."
"This is a story that should never have gotten anywhere near print," he said.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}"I can only imagine what would've happened back in my newspaper days if I went to an editor and said, 'This is what I've got'. I could see him picking up the copy and throwing it across the room."
NYT UPDATES KAVANAUGH 'BOMBSHELL' TO NOTE ACCUSER DOESN'T RECALL ALLEGED ASSAULT
Hume said the reportage was not a firsthand account and had been recounted by a witness instead of the alleged accuser herself.
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"We're talking about a second-hand account from a witness that the authors did not speak to and who is not speaking... So right there you have a huge strike against you if you're trying to get this story into the old New York Times," he said.
"On top of that, you have the fact the woman herself is not talking... and she has told friends that she doesn't remember this."
"This is nowhere near publishable," he added.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}The New York Times suddenly made a major revision to a supposed bombshell piece late Sunday concerning a resurfaced allegation of sexual assault by Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh — hours after virtually all 2020 Democratic presidential candidates had cited the original article as a reason to impeach Kavanaugh.
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The update included the significant detail that several friends of the alleged victim, Harmon Joyce, said she did not recall the purported sexual assault in question at all. The Times also stated for the first time that the alleged victim refused to be interviewed, and has made no other comment about the episode.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}The only firsthand account concerning the supposed attack in the original piece, which was published on Saturday, came from a Clinton-connected lawyer who claimed to have witnessed it. (The lawyer, Max Stier, did not actually provide his account directly; the Times acknowledged that "two officials who have communicated with Mr. Stier" had relayed his supposed version of events.)
Fox News' Gregg Re contributed to this report.