ABC Suspends Wright Over Veritas Video

ABC News has suspended veteran correspondent David Wright over comments he made to a Project Veritas staffer while Wright was covering the New Hampshire primary for ABC.

The network said when Wright returns, he will be taken off the political beat.

Project Veritas is a right-leaning group that uses hidden camera video to attempt to document liberal and anti-Trump bias in the media and political censorship in Big Tech.

Related: Veritas Sues Over Massachusetts Eavesdropping Law

The Veritas staffer identified himself only as a documentarian and did not say he was filming the conversation, according to an ABC source.

Wright criticized the network's coverage of the President, saying it focused on palace intrigue and who's backstabbing who, beyond which he said "we don't cover the guy," including what he might be doing right. He also criticized Disney self-promotion that resulted in Disney princesses and Marvel Avengers on Good Morning America "as opposed to the kind of dedication to the story and a commitment to telling stories that we need to tell that are maybe hard to tell..."Our bosses don't see the upside in doing the job we're supposed to do, which is to speak truth to power and hold people to account."

“Any action that damages our reputation for fairness and impartiality or gives the appearance of compromising it harms ABC News and the individuals involved. David Wright has been suspended, and to avoid any possible appearance of bias, he will be reassigned away from political coverage when he returns.”

In the past, the President has cited Veritas videos to buttress is claim that the media are out to get him in league with his Democratic opponents.

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At press time the President had not tweeted about the latest video.

John Eggerton

Contributing editor John Eggerton has been an editor and/or writer on media regulation, legislation and policy for over four decades, including covering the FCC, FTC, Congress, the major media trade associations, and the federal courts. In addition to Multichannel News and Broadcasting + Cable, his work has appeared in Radio World, TV Technology, TV Fax, This Week in Consumer Electronics, Variety and the Encyclopedia Britannica.