Several bombshell claims were made last week in an unverified document circulating online that purports to prove close collaboration between ABC News and Kamala Harris’ team ahead of her debate with former President Donald Trump.
The document is claimed to be a sworn statement written by a staffer at ABC News. It was posted early Sunday by an X account with the name “Black Insurrectionist.”
The document, which was a sworn affidavit signed by a notary public the day before the debate, says the network gave Harris questions in advance while agreeing to a series of other preconditions to give the vice president an advantage over to Trump.
Also prohibited in the debate were questions about Harris’ time as Attorney General of California, as well as those involving his brother-in-law, Tony West, the document shows. It includes several other stipulations, as well as redactions that obscure the identity of the supposed staffer.
An ABC statement did not address the specific claims, instead saying, “ABC News followed the debate rules that both campaigns agreed to. . . . No topics or questions will be shared in advance with the campaigns or candidates.”
The unverified document, which was a sworn affidavit signed by a notary public on September 9, has sparked controversy with its mass of claims.
An ABC statement did not address the specific claims, instead saying, “ABC News followed the debate rules that both campaigns agreed to… No topics or questions will be shared in advance with campaigns or candidates.”
The document, which describes that it contains a seal from the notary public that is not really visible, says that it was written by a resident of New York.
“I have worked for ABC news for more than 10 years in various technical and administrative positions,” it read, before declaring that the staffer “observed significant transformations in the nature of news reporting in the organization” in that interval, and even a ” goes from an unbiased report to a model influenced by external factors.
The alleged staffer, who says they are not a supporter of Donald Trump, states that the intent of the affidavit is only to “address concerns regarding perceived bias in news reports in the debate of the my boss”.
It was allegedly written by a staffer who worked at the station for a decade, during which they said ABC’s reporting style became increasingly annoying.
The document goes on to cite “promises made (that) the candidates would be required to hold firm discussions regarding their proposed policy positions and that the debate would not degenerate into an advertising campaign,” where “the candidates would only make general statements without a specific policy or explanation of…’
The end of that sentence is redacted, along with several others.
The next section offers an alleged insight into the political landscape of the ABC office, where the writer stated that employees “are looking for a fair and honest debate” while questioning “the clear bias”.yes) which is well known throughout the company.’
He specifically mentions ABC News moderators David Muir and Linsey Davis, as well as C-suite staffers at the station and its related companies.
“It is common knowledge that the Debate Moderators and even the Chief Executive Officers of my employer are well known not to support Donald Trump,” the section says.
“This has led to many employees talking about how it should be debated.”
Pictured are some of the alleged agreements reached by both parties
The next section includes “specific cases related to the debate” that “raise concerns about procedural fairness.”
The first was that the Harris campaign supposedly “received special accommodations, including, but not limited to, the provision of a podium significantly smaller than that used by Donald Trump, and assurances regarding split-screen television views that would have a favorable impact on Harris’ aspect .’
The later stipulation was that Trump “would be subject to fact-checking during the debate, while Kamala Harris would not face comparable scrutiny.”
Pictured are some of the alleged agreements reached by both parties. The document is not verified
Adding that the Harris team allegedly “needed assurances that Donald Trump would be vetted,” allegedly “through multiple communications with the Harris campaign.”
“The Trump campaign was not included in the negotiations,” he continues.
He then argues that “the Harris campaign was provided with sample questions that, while not the exact questions, covered similar topics that appeared during the debate.”
The document then goes into “Restrictions imposed by the Harris campaign on the scope of questioning,” including: “No questions about the perceived health of President Joe Biden,” “No inquiries related to his tenure as Attorney General in San Francisco,” and finally. , ‘No questions regarding his brother-in-law, Tony West.’
West, a prominent attorney who once worked as general counsel for Uber, “faces allegations of embezzling billions of dollars in taxpayer funds,” according to an alleged affidavit.
A post on X with the document was viewed almost 8 million times in just over 24 hours
Those claims are also unproven and have never been reported.
The document states that West, who is married to Harris’ sister Maya, “may be involved in (his) administration if elected.”
The New York Times recently reported that West is “a major force behind Ms. Harris’s campaign and her record-breaking fundraising,” and serves as “a critical point of contact for the leaders of businesses and major donors”.
The document then states that ABC “employees who express favorable views toward (Trump) experience significant concerns about potential retribution.”
The statement is made before several lines of text income.
The alleged staffer also reportedly sent the document to House Speaker Mike Johnson.
“I have also shipped a Federal Express package containing this affidavit, mailed on September 9, 2024, and delivered to my residence on September 10, 2024, which will remain unopened for potential investigative purposes,” the document says.
The document says that ABC News gave Harris questions before the debate, along with agreeing to preconditions to give a leg up on former President Donald Trump.
The staffer later claimed to have “secretly recorded several conversations that would prove that the Harris Campaign not only insisted on fact-checking Donald Trump, but also insisted on what questions should not be asked under any circumstances.”
“I make these statements under penalty of perjury and without coercion of any kind,” he concluded.
Although unproven, the document has picked up steam on social media, being shared by several high-profile figures.
They include Ted Cruz, Marjorie Taylor Greene, billionaire Bill Ackman, and Elon Musk, with the latest statements posted expressing belief in the claims made by the Manhattan hedge-funder.
Days earlier, before the documents were released, Trump himself reposted an account claiming that “an ABC whistleblower will release an affidavit” showing that “the Harris campaign was given sample requests.”
Such claims first appeared on the account of right-wing influencer and January 6 participant Philip Anderson last week, two days after the debate.