Post by CONCENTRATION CAMPERS on Jul 25, 2024 14:32:58 GMT -5
In her ruling last month, the judge, Lisa Godbey Wood of the Southern District of Georgia, found that Maddow, Hayes, and Wallace made 39 "verifiably false" allegations about Mahendra Amin, a gynecologist who treated detainees at a Georgia Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility.
A nurse at the facility had made a whistleblower complaint alleging that Amin was performing "mass hysterectomies," many of which were medically unnecessary, and that he was known as "the uterus collector." The nurse’s claims, which she admitted were based on hearsay, were later found to be false.
"In the end, we are left with this: NBC investigated the whistleblower letter's accusations; that investigation did not corroborate the accusations and even undermined some; NBC republished the letter's accusations anyway," Wood wrote in a scathing 108-page ruling on June 26. She ordered a jury trial to determine if MSNBC engaged in "actual malice," the standard to determine defamation.
The discovery process revealed how MSNBC and NBC News journalists and executives acknowledged privately—in text messages, emails, and conference calls—that they didn’t know if the allegations were true, but reported them anyway. The lawsuit could prove embarrassing to MSNBC, which bills itself the "premier destination" for news and "informed perspectives." Communications obtained during the discovery process revealed that many executives and top journalists at the network had concerns about the whistleblower, but breathlessly reported her claims anyway.
"We just don’t know if any of this is true," Chris Scholl, an NBC News veteran who is NBCUniversal's deputy director of standards, said in a conference call with Hayes on Sept. 16, 2020, according to notes released in the lawsuit. The evening before, MSNBC had broadcast a story detailing claims from the whistleblower, Dawn Wooten, a former nurse at the ICE facility.
"The guy has a pretty clean record," Scholl said of Amin in the conference call. Scholl added that Wooten "has no direct knowledge of this stuff" and "kind of has a beef," though he did not elaborate.
Despite Scholl’s concerns, Hayes, Maddow, and Wallace aired several segments about Wooten’s allegations on their evening MSNBC programs, sparking a Senate investigation into Amin’s activities.
On her top-rated MSNBC show, Maddow quoted a detainee as saying, "When I met all these women who had had surgeries, I thought this was like an experimental concentration camp."
...Amin sued MSNBC for defamation in September 2021, denying that he had performed any unnecessary medical procedures. The Senate probe found no evidence the physician had done so and that, contrary to the allegations, two hysterectomies he performed were "deemed medically necessary" by Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
A nurse at the facility had made a whistleblower complaint alleging that Amin was performing "mass hysterectomies," many of which were medically unnecessary, and that he was known as "the uterus collector." The nurse’s claims, which she admitted were based on hearsay, were later found to be false.
"In the end, we are left with this: NBC investigated the whistleblower letter's accusations; that investigation did not corroborate the accusations and even undermined some; NBC republished the letter's accusations anyway," Wood wrote in a scathing 108-page ruling on June 26. She ordered a jury trial to determine if MSNBC engaged in "actual malice," the standard to determine defamation.
The discovery process revealed how MSNBC and NBC News journalists and executives acknowledged privately—in text messages, emails, and conference calls—that they didn’t know if the allegations were true, but reported them anyway. The lawsuit could prove embarrassing to MSNBC, which bills itself the "premier destination" for news and "informed perspectives." Communications obtained during the discovery process revealed that many executives and top journalists at the network had concerns about the whistleblower, but breathlessly reported her claims anyway.
"We just don’t know if any of this is true," Chris Scholl, an NBC News veteran who is NBCUniversal's deputy director of standards, said in a conference call with Hayes on Sept. 16, 2020, according to notes released in the lawsuit. The evening before, MSNBC had broadcast a story detailing claims from the whistleblower, Dawn Wooten, a former nurse at the ICE facility.
"The guy has a pretty clean record," Scholl said of Amin in the conference call. Scholl added that Wooten "has no direct knowledge of this stuff" and "kind of has a beef," though he did not elaborate.
Despite Scholl’s concerns, Hayes, Maddow, and Wallace aired several segments about Wooten’s allegations on their evening MSNBC programs, sparking a Senate investigation into Amin’s activities.
On her top-rated MSNBC show, Maddow quoted a detainee as saying, "When I met all these women who had had surgeries, I thought this was like an experimental concentration camp."
...Amin sued MSNBC for defamation in September 2021, denying that he had performed any unnecessary medical procedures. The Senate probe found no evidence the physician had done so and that, contrary to the allegations, two hysterectomies he performed were "deemed medically necessary" by Immigration and Customs Enforcement.