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NBC suspends reporter who provided unofficial information about attack on Paul Pelosi

A former senior NBC manager believes that the network "must be more transparent with its viewers about this error" to clarify what happened.

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(Adam Fogen

Published by
Rosana Rábago Sainz

Miguel Almaguer, an NBC Today correspondent, was suspended on Tuesday, November 15 after giving unofficial information about what happened in the attack on Paul Pelosi. The journalist, who has been working for the television network since 2009, reported during his coverage that the assault on Paul Pelosi was not how other media outlets had described, but instead as follows:

After a 'knock and announce,' the front door was opened by Mr. Pelosi. The 82-year-old did not immediately declare an emergency or try to leave his home but instead began walking several feet back into the foyer toward the assailant and away from police. It's unclear if the 82-year-old was already injured or what his mental state was, say sources.

His story, told live on November 4, soon began to raise suspicions as it contradicted all the information that days later was told by both the police and the prosecutors in charge of the case.

This forced the network to remove Almaguer's coverage from its website stating that it "did not meet NBC News reporting standards.” The damage, however, had already been done. Many public figures, such as Elon Musk, John Oliver or presidential candidate Donald Trump assumed the information Almaguer had spread was true and soon theories about what had happened began to emerge.

That day, November 4, was the last time Almaguer appeared on NBC. The network still has not provided any information about what happened, although a former senior manager who worked with the correspondent told Fox News that NBC has some explaining to do:

NBC News must be more transparent with its viewers about this error. Who wrote Miguel’s script? Who approved the script? Are he and his producers suspended during an internal investigation? NBC’s silence on this matter speaks volumes. NBC owes it to its audience to be truthful and not cover this up.

'NBC Bay Area' claims police were present during DePape's assault on Paul Pelosi

Although the network removed Almaguer's information from its web page and social media a few hours after broadcasting it, the problems didn’t end there. The television program NBC Bay Area published a report on Friday, November 11 (still posted on its website) that shared several similar details with Almaguer's version. On that occasion, as recalled by Fox News, reporter Bigad Shaban assured anchor Jessica Aguirre that Paul Pelosi was the one who opened the door to the police in response to a question she had previously asked:

I spoke with a source familiar with the investigation who personally watched the police body camera footage from that night. He said officers knocked on the door of the Pelosi home, then backed away, and the video clearly shows Paul Pelosi open the door with his left hand.

In addition, the local NBC reporter claimed that the police were present when DePape attacked Nancy Pelosi's husband with a hammer:

The body cam video shows officers having a brief conversation with Pelosi and David DePape… before DePape starts beating Pelosi with a hammer. We reached out to the Department of Justice for an explanation of its differing account of this seemingly innocuous issue of who opened the door, but so far, we have not heard back.

Shaban, who at no time mentioned the NBC Today piece, has maintained this version of the events. Meanwhile, Miguel Almaguer and NBC continue to remain silent about what happened to the reporter's piece.

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