NBC News retracts stunning report on Paul Pelosi attack
NBC News went viral with an explosive report about what allegedly transpired when police responded to the attack on Paul Pelosi but the network's retraction is fueling even more questions.
NBC News’ biggest stars, including at "Today," have remained silent about the ongoing drama surrounding correspondent Miguel Almaguer, whose Nov. 4 report was retracted without explanation after it suggested Paul Pelosi may not have been in immediate danger when police arrived the night he was assaulted.
NBC News political director Chuck Todd, "NBC Nightly News" anchor Lester Holt and "Today" hosts Savannah Guthrie and Hoda Kotb have all refrained from calling on their employer to provide an explanation. They haven’t issued any public shows of support for Almaguer, either.
Almaguer, a Los Angeles-based correspondent, has regularly been on the scene of California’s biggest news events since he joined NBC in 2009. He’s collected an assortment of journalism accolades during his two-decade career, including the prestigious Edward R. Murrow Award. From covering devastating earthquakes and wildfires to partaking in the network’s Olympics coverage, he's become a familiar face and voice to viewers of NBC's flagship programs "Today" and "Nightly News."
NBC News’ biggest stars have remained silent about the ongoing drama surrounding correspondent Miguel Almaguer. (REUTERS/Mike Segar)
But those same viewers haven’t seen Almaguer since he vanished from public view after his Paul Pelosi report for "Today" was retracted on Nov. 4. Almaguer reported police who responded to the 911 call didn’t realize it was Speaker Nancy Pelosi's residence, and that Paul Pelosi opened the door himself but didn’t attempt to escape or declare an emergency before walking away from cops and back toward alleged attacker David DePape. Almaguer also said nobody has any idea what Pelosi and DePape were doing for roughly 30 minutes before police arrived.
NBC News retracted the stunning report by that afternoon, scrubbing it from the internet. Almaguer, who has reportedly been suspended, hasn’t appeared on air or posted anything to social media since, and NBC News has refused to explain what was wrong about Almaguer’s report aside from a vague line that it didn’t meet company standards. NBC News hasn’t even admitted Almaguer is suspended with an on-the-record statement.
An NBC News insider told Fox News Digital that the word inside Rockefeller Center is that Almaguer's source was "biased," while others feel the report was halted because it didn’t align with the mainstream narrative. However, a separate report on NBC’s local affiliate in San Francisco has since reported many of the same details that landed Almaguer in hot water.
"I think they had different sources," an NBC Bay Area source told Fox News Digital.
Almaguer hasn’t been mentioned on air since the day his stunning report was scrubbed.
"Are he and his producers suspended during an internal investigation? NBC’s silence on this matter speaks volumes," a former senior NBC News executive who worked with Almaguer told Fox News Digital earlier this week before reports that Almaguer was, indeed, suspended.
Almaguer did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
A source with direct knowledge of what occurred on Nov. 4 said some NBC News Digital staffers received a vague email informing them to remove Almaguer's video report from the website because it didn’t meet company standards.
"There was no reason given," the insider told Fox News Digital. "The whole thing just seemed very strange, just because of the pulling of the video and then adding the editorial note, it definitely seemed weird."
FETTERMAN STILL HAS 'A HARD TIME UNDERSTANDING' CONVERSATIONS, NBC NEWS CORRESPONDENT REPORTS
NBC viewers haven’t seen Miguel Almaguer since his Paul Pelosi report was mysteriously retracted without clarification on Nov. 4. (Screenshot/NBC News)
This is the second month in row that an NBC News reporter was seemingly hung out to dry by colleagues.
NBC's Dasha Burns was famously criticized last month after noting that Pennsylvania Democratic Senate candidate John Fetterman, who suffered a stroke earlier this year, struggled with "small talk" before their interview. While liberal journalists leapt to his defense and insisted he had no issue communicating in their own interviews with him, Fetterman then struggled to speak clearly at his only debate, somewhat vindicating Burns' reporting.
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Burns was vilified by media peers, with some of her own NBC colleagues even openly questioning her observations. She was defended on air by some though, including MSNBC's "Morning Joe" and former anchor Chris Matthews.
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