Tom Flocco brings Retraction of Rep. Harris Story

posted by ewing2001 on Tuesday July 08, @01:40PM

Retraction of Rep. Harris Story

TomFlocco.com

July 8, 2003

Late last night we reported that Rep. Katherine Harris (R-FL) had died in a plane crash off the coast of Toronto, Canada. We were misinformed on this matter, as an unidentified staffer in Harris' office told us this morning that the Florida legislator was in her office. However, we still stand on the fact that we both talked to an individual in Harris' office at 10:30 pm and midnight Eastern Time yesterday requesting the individual to confirm or deny the story before publishing Monday on the day of the plane crash in Toronto.

Advertisement

Our phone records will also indicate that the female we both talked to was in Harris' office and did indeed answer the telephone. Moreover, Mr. Thomas lives on the West Coast and actually talked one more time to a woman in Harris' office at approximately 1:30 am Pacific Time before retiring, which would be 4:30 AM Eastern Time in Washington, DC -- confirming activity in Harris' office from 10:30 PM until 4:30 AM at a minimum.

We still question why someone other than a maintenance worker (who would be unauthorized to do so) would answer the telephone so late Monday evening during a four-day holiday weekend and tell us two times that she "did not have the authority to confirm whether Rep. Harris had died in a plane crash," instead of saying she's alive, she's fine, she's here in town, and please call her press secretary in the morning.

Why wasn't standard protocol followed pursuant to House rules, policies and procedures; and what was going on in Harris' office during the wee hours on Monday night?

We were also told by our source that Governor Jeb Bush was reportedly at the scene of the crash shortly thereafter. And not only did we confirm the small plane crash in Toronto yesterday morning via the Globe and Mail story; but we also confirmed that the Florida Governor was in Toronto, having flown there yesterday on a trade mission. Thus, a confluence of confirmed events along with our trust in the source led us to go with the story.

We apologize to Congresswoman Harris; but we still wonder who was able to obtain entrance to her office so late at night, why someone remained in her office for such a lengthy period of time, what activities may have transpired, why there was no outright denial of the story, and why there was no initial identification of a congressional office in the woman's response to our inquiry.

We also stand by the investigative reporting of Greg Palast of the BBC regarding the Florida election controversies that were delineated in our story and also Palast's newly revised book, "The Best Democracy Money Can Buy."

And we can admit when we are wrong or misinformed at a time when few media and virtually no government officials are willing to do so.

<  Fleischer and WH confirmed: Bush used incorrectly "forged documents" | Big Brother Gets a Brain  >