Report: Alleged ABC News Employee Swears in Affidavit Harris Campaign Struck Deal for Favorable Debate Treatment

An alleged ABC News employee has stated that the news outlet struck an agreement with Vice President Kamala Harris’ presidential campaign to give the Democratic candidate preferable treatment during the Sept. 10 presidential debate, according to social media posts that circulated broadly on Sunday.

The social media posts included images of what are purported to be a sworn affidavit from the alleged ABC News whistleblower dated Sept. 9, the day before the debate. Some of the allegations against ABC News, as well as the employees’ personal information, are redacted from the images that spread throughout social media on Sunday.

ABC News moderated the presidential debate between former Republican President Donald Trump and Vice President Harris, but the network only secured Harris’ participation by agreeing to certain pre-conditions, the author of the affidavit alleges.

Several social media users posted what they purported was a copy of the notarized affidavit, though it wasn’t immediately clear how the images of the document were obtained or whether they were authentic.

The document is dated Sept. 9 — the day before the debate — and the author claims to have sent correspondence to himself as well as Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) — also dated Sept. 9 — to “establish a record that the correspondence was sent before the debate commenced.”

The post follows claims made earlier in the week by former Hillary Clinton advisor Mark Penn that an ABC News whistleblower would soon come forward making claims about bias as the news outlet.

The affidavit, which purports to come from a ten-year employee at ABC News who lives in Manhattan, suggests that the Harris campaign negotiated for and received preferential conditions in advance of the Sept. 10, 2024, presidential debate.

ABC News moderators David Muir and Linsey Davis were broadly panned by media critics for their handling of the debate, both for their lopsided and often erroneous “fact-checking” of Trump as well as their light-touch approach with Harris. If the document is genuine, then it would appear that ABC News held up their end of the agreement.

According to the alleged whistleblower, the Harris campaign only agreed to the debate on the condition that ABC News’ moderators aggressively “fact-checked” Trump while refraining from asking Harris questions about certain topics.

The affidavit suggests that the Harris campaign secured an agreement from ABC News that the debate moderators would not ask about President Joe Biden’s health—or Harris’ numerous attestations that Biden’s health was not in decline.

The campaign also allegedly got ABC News to agree not to ask about Harris’ tenure as Attorney General of California.

ABC News also agreed to ask “[n]o questions concerning [Harris’s] brother-in-law, Tony West, who faces allegations of embezzling billions of dollars in taxpayer funds and who may be involved in her administration if elected,” according to the affidavit.

In the document, the author also claims to have audio recordings that will show ABC News employees discussing the alleged agreement with the Harris campaign.

The Maine Wire has not been able to verify the authenticity of the document.

Here’s the transcribed text of the images circulating related to the alleged affidavit:

County: [REDACTED]

Date: September 9, 2024

Affiant: [REDACTED]

I, [REDACTED], being duly sworn, do hereby make the following statement under penalty of perjury:

1.) My name is [REDACTED]. I reside in Manhattan, New York.

2.) I have worked for ABC News for over 10 years in various technical and administrative positions.

3.) Since the acquisition of ABC News in 1996, I have observed significant transformations in the nature of news reporting at the organization. These changes suggest a shift from unbiased reporting to a model influenced by external factors.

4.) For the record, I do not endorse Donald Trump in his capacity as candidate for President of the United States. The intent of this affidavit is to address concerns regarding perceived biases within news reporting within my employer’s debate that will be hosted on September 10, 2024.

• The Harris campaign received particular accommodations, including, but not limited to, the providing of a podium significantly smaller than that used by Donald Trump, and assurances regarding split-screen television views that would favorably impact Kamala Harris’s appearance relative to Donald Trump.

• It was agreed that Donald Trump would be subjected to fact-checking during the debate, while Kamala Harris would not face comparable scrutiny. This was widely known throughout the company that Donald Trump would be fact-checked. In fact, various people were assigned to fact-check observations it was perceived candidate Trump would make during the debate. In fact, Harris campaign required assurances that Donald Trump would be fact-checked. This was done via multiple communications with the Harris campaign whereas the Trump campaign was not included in the negotiations. To my understanding, any rules negotiations and conversations pertaining to the debate should have had both the Trump and Harris campaign involved, the Harris campaign had numerous more calls regarding the debate rules without the Trump campaign aware or on the call.

• The Harris campaign was provided with sample questions that, while not the exact questions, covered similar topics that would appear during the debate.

• Furthermore, the Harris campaign-imposed restrictions on the scope of questioning, including:
  • No questions regarding the perceived health of President Joe Biden.
  • No inquiries related to her tenure as Attorney General in San Francisco.
  • No questions concerning her brother-in-law, Tony West, who faces allegations of embezzling billions of dollars in taxpayer funds and who may be involved in her administration if elected.

5.) Internal Organizational Climate: I have observed a pronounced bias against Donald Trump within ABC News. Employees expressing favorable views towards him experience significant concerns about potential [REDACTED].

6.) Purpose and Documentation of Affidavit: This affidavit is executed to document and provide transparency regarding the issues of fairness and impartiality in the debate process and broader concerns about journalistic integrity at ABC News.

7.) Affirmation of Documentation:

• This affidavit has been signed and notarized on September 9th, 2024, to ensure that the allegations set forth are formally documented prior to the debate between Donald Trump and Kamala Harris.
• In addition to notarizing this affidavit, I have sent a certified letter to myself, postmarked September 9th, 2024, which will remain unopened for any future investigations.
• I have also dispatched a Federal Express package containing this affidavit, sent on September 9th, 2024, and delivered to my residence on September 10th, 2024, which will remain unopened for potential investigative purposes.
• Furthermore, I have sent a certified letter to Speaker Mike Johnston, dated September 9th, 2024, to establish a record that the correspondence was sent before the debate commenced.
• Additionally, for further investigation, I have secretly recorded several conversations that will prove that the Harris Campaign insisted upon not only the fact-checking of Donald Trump, but also insisted on what questions were not to be asked under any circumstances or else the Harris campaign would decline to participate in the debate.