(Update) Fox News Denies Receiving Letter Regarding Ensign Affair

[sabra]

Source: TVNewser

Fox News is denying reports the network received a letter from Doug Hampton, whose wife had an affair with Sen. John Ensign, sent five days before Ensign's news conference, detailing the entirety of the affair.

The Las Vegas Sun reported this morning: "The letter presented for the first time Doug Hampton's view of what took place. It was addressed to Megyn Kelly at Fox News' corporate office in New York."

But Fox News tells The Huffington Post the letter never made it to Kelly or the network. "He might have sent it, but we never received it," said Tom Lowell, senior producer of America's Newsroom. "He did reach out to us about 24 hours before the news conference, and he sent an e-mail to a booker on my staff...We followed up with him, but he seemed evasive and not credible, thus we didn't pursue it."

At the time of Ensign's announcement, a spokesperson said Hampton had contacted "a major television news channel," before the conference. "I categorically deny that we ever reached out to the senator in any way shape or form prior to him making his announcement," said Lowell.

Read more: http://www.mediabistro.com/tvnewser/fnc/fox_news_denies_receiving_letter_regarding_ensign_affair_119435.asp

[leftynyc]

1. I wonder how evasive

and not credible he would have seemed if he was going after a Democrat.

[Kingofalldems]

4. +1

[kestrel91316]

2. Ok, so WHO wrote the letter? And who turned it over to the LV Sun??

This just gets mysteriouser and mysteriouser......

Did Ensign try to turn the blackmail tables on Hampton and fake the letter so he could make Hampton look bad?? He is not the smartest tack in the box, in spite of his DVM, and I can TOTALLY see him writing that grammatically and spellingly laughable letter himself.

I have trouble even comprehending some of the Byzantine goings-on of politics.

[Oceansaway]

3. Ensigns just another frikkin lying

repuke....i'm thinkin theres WAY MORE to this story.....

[tom_paine]

5. Fox "News" lies, but that's not news.

[madaboutharry]

6. If I was sending a letter like that, I would have it

notarized and send it certified mail.

I am not getting this story folks, it is just too weird.

[pattmarty]

7. Uh, huh. "The check's in the mail".

[tomm2thumbs]

8. a Fox ate my homework /nt

[ThirdWorldJohn]

9. Ensign's office reported that he had contacted a mojor news channel. Who else but FAUX?

“Mr. Hampton first approached the media,” Ensign’s spokesman said by e-mail. “He approached a major television news channel before Tuesday. We learned of this fact before the press conference.”

http://www.lasvegassun.com/news/2009/jun/18/ensigns-office-womans-husband-approached-media-sto/

[Soylent Brice]

10. oh, sure...

NOT.

[Alcibiades]

11. Here's how I think it went

Fox got the letter. But, since Ensign is a sitting REPUBLICAN US Senator, they cannot run the story without confirmation. So they call Ensign's office, and they deny the allegations and the alligator. Fox spindles the story. The Ensign staffer who handled the call goes to his boss and says "Do we need to do damage control?" The story then becomes news through Ensign's office, not Fox. Meanwhile Fox, who looks even less credible than usual, hatches up this amazingly lame cover story.

[EC]

13. I think you're right ...to a point

I think when Fox got the letter, they gave a "heads up" to Ensign, so he could get in front of it. Rather Fox tried to cover it up.

[Alcibiades]

14. They would have to confirm the story

Most news organizations probably wouldn't do it by calling the person in question first, but I bet that's what they did.

[EC]

16. yep... n/t

[Xipe Totec]

12. See, this is where credibility would have come in handy.

Too bad they utterly destroyed their credibility over the last 8 years.

If FOX news reported the sky is blue, I would still check for myself rather than rely on their statement.

[rhett o rick]

15. Not to dump on the victim, but... Mr. Hampton demonstrates how little sense conservatives have.

In his letter he quite clearly is afraid. Yet he turns to the Fox News for help. What a terrible mistake. I am convinced that the dogma for conservatives is so strong they would rather die than trust a liberal.

[tabasco]

17. Of course, their credibility is unimpeachable

so I wonder what could have happened to that letter.

:shrug:

[UpInArms]

18. I have great respect and affection for Fox News and many of your collages (sic).

http://www.lasvegassun.com/news/2009/jun/19/text-husbands-letter/

oooohhhh

this hurts my head \\