AP Retracts False Story that Virginia Govr Candidate McAuliffe Lied to Inve

iMediaEthics publishes international media ethics news stories and investigations into journalism ethics lapses.

Menu

Home » Apologies & Retractions»

Terry McAuliffe. (Credit: YouTube, "Terry McAuliffe for Governor," screenshot)

The Associated Press made a retraction last night after falsely claiming that Terry McAuliffe, who is running for governor of Virginia, lied to investigators about an insurance scam.

The story was titled, according to Politico, “Court records: McAuliffe lied to postal inspector investigating RI death benefits scam.”

The AP story, by Bob Lewis, reported that McAuliffe “was accused in court documents of having lied to a federal investigator looking into a benefit scheme,” according to a statement on the AP’s website.  In the documents, someone identified as “T.M.” reportedly was accused of lying, but the T.M. isn’t McAuliffe.

Lewis “mistook” T.M. as McAuliffe, according to entertainment and media news site The Wrap. “Though he apparently has the same initials as McAuliffe, he is a completely different person,” The Wrap reported, noting that McAuliffe was listed as an “investor into what would later turn out to be an insurance scam that used the identities of terminally ill people to obtain death benefits from insurance companies.”

McAuliffe’s campaign denied the accusations to Richmond, Virginia NBC-affiliate WWBT. Campaign press secretary Josh Schwerin said:

“The person referenced on page 68 is absolutely not Terry McAuliffe since he was a passive investor and did none of the things referenced: First, he was not interviewed by law enforcement on April 20, 2010; rather, he was in Richmond for a day of meetings. Second, he was never involved in the referral of any annuitants to Mr. Caramadre, ever.”

In its statement on the retraction, the AP quoted its media relations director Paul Colford as saying the bogus story was live for an hour and 38 minutes, and pointed to the AP’s new story about McAuliffe and the court documents.

That new story, published Oct. 10, reported that McAuliffe was “among scores of those who invested with a Rhode Island estate planner who profited from death benefits paid on policies issued on terminally ill people without their knowledge.”  It added that “there is no allegation of wrongdoing by McAuliffe,” and mentioned the AP’s earlier inaccurate reporting.

Bob Lewis, who wrote the story for the AP, admitted “the error was mine” in an Oct. 10 tweet.

 


 

He also asked for any who shared his original report to “pass along the retraction.”
 

 

iMediaEthics has written to the McAuliffe campaign for further comment and will update with any response.

Hat Tip: Greg Mitchell and Media Bistro’s Morning Newsletter

CORRECTION - October 10, 2013 06:51 PM

Bob Lewis’s tweet about his error was on Oct. 10 not 15th. Thanks for Andy Carvin for tweeting and pointing out this error! https://twitter.com/acarvin/status/388398714794287104

Submit a tip / Report a problem

AP Falsely Accused Virginia Gov. Candidate McAuliffe, Said Lied to Fed Investigator

Share this article:

คาสิโน
สล็อต
sa gaming
tkb365
https://tkb399.com/login
ทดลองเล่นสล็อต
ทำความรู้จักกับ
PG
สล็อต
tkb138
sa gaming
https://www.hotelplayagolf.com/es/instalaciones/piscinas
tkb365
บาคาร่า
สล็อตเว็บตรง
บาคาร่า
ทดลองเล่นสล็อตฟรี
ทดลองเล่นสล็อต pg
สล็อตเว็บตรง
สล็อตเว็บตรง
tkb138
ซุปเปอร์สล็อต
tkb138
tkb365
ทดลองเล่นสล็อต
changbet789
สูตรสล็อต pg ทดลองเล่นฟรี
สล็อต ดาวน์โหลด รับเครดิตฟรี
สล็อต
ทดลองเล่นสล็อต
tkb138
https://www.hotelalbora.com/
https://tkb108.co/register
tkb696
สล็อตเว็บตรง
changbet789
สล็อตทดลอง
pg
betflix
pg slot
สล็อต
pg slot
สล็อตเว็บจริง100%
ทดลองเล่นสล็อต
sbobet
ดลองเล่นสล็อต pg
tkb138
https://titanium-hotel.com/
สล็อต
tkb138
taokaebet
tkb777
อันดับแรก
คาสิโน
changbet789
แจกเครดิตฟรี 100%
ทดลองเล่นสล็อตทุกค่ายฟรี
สล็อต
changbet789
tkb365
ทดลองเล่นสล็อต
changbet789
finfinbet
คาสิโน
changbet789
tkb108
tkbneko
สล็อตเว็บตรง
สล็อต
สล็อต
สล็อต
https://www.gday96.com/
สล็อต888
สล็อต
PG
บาคาร่าเว็บตรง
changbet789
ทดลองเล่นสล็อต pg
ทดลองเล่นสล็อต
ทดลองเล่นสล็อตฟรี
tkb365
tkb365
tkb365
tkb555
tkb555
tkb555
tkb555
tkb555
tkb555
tkb555
tkbking
tkbking
tkbking
tkbking
tkbking
tkbking
thb889
thb889
thb889
thb889
thb889
thb889
thb889
tkb4
tkb4
tkb4
tkb4
tkb4
tkb4
tkb4
tkb9
tkb9
tkb9
tkb9
tkb9
tkb9
tkb9
tkb33
tkb33
tkb33
tkb33
tkb33
tkb33
tkb33
finfinbet
finfinbet
finfinbet
finfinbet
finfinbet
finfinbet
finfinbet
TKB96
tkb96
tkb96
tkb96
tkb96
tkb96
tkb96
tkbfun
tkbfun
tkbfun
tkbfun
tkbfun
tkbfun
tkbfun
tkbpg
tkbpg
tkbpg
tkbpg
tkbpg
tkbpg
tkbpg
tkbpussy
tkbpussy
tkbpussy
tkbpussy
tkbpussy
tkbpussy
tkbpussy
tkbrich
tkbrich
tkbrich
tkbrich
tkbrich
tkbrich
tkbrich
tkbsexy
tkbsexy
tkbsexy
tkbsexy
tkbsexy
tkbsexy
tkb777
tkb777
tkb777
tkb777
tkb777
tkb777
tkb777
taokaebet
taokaebet
taokaebet
taokaebet
taokaebet
taokaebet
taokaebet
tkbsexy
tkbrich
tkbpussy
tkbpg
tkbfun
tkb96
tkb33
tkb9
tkb4
thb889
tkbking
tkb555
tkb365
changbet789
บาคาร่า
คาสิโนออนไลน์
sa gaming
คาสิโนออนไลน์สด
สล็อต
สล็อต
สล็อตเว็บตรง
ทดลองเล่นสล็อต pg ซื้อฟรีสปิน
ทดลองเล่นสล็อต
บาคาร่า
สล็อต เว็บตรงไม่ผ่านเอเย่นต์ไม่มีขั้นต่ำ
ทดลองเล่นสล็อต
สล็อต