Bob Lewis, the Associated Press political reporter who last week published an erroneous report about Virginia gubernatorial candidate Terry McAuliffe, has been temporarily suspended, POLITICO has learned.
Lewis, a highly respected veteran on the Richmond political scene, will no longer cover the race between McAuliffe and Ken Cuccinelli, and may be suspended through the election. His last story on the race was published Oct. 14.
Lewis did not respond to a request for comment regarding the suspension. The Associated Press declined to comment on personnel matters.
On Oct. 9, Lewis published an exclusive report for the AP alleging that McAuliffe had lied to a federal official investigating a death benefits scam, seemingly upending one of this year’s most contentious political races. The Associated Press retracted the story one hour and thirty-eight minutes later, on the grounds that the initials referenced in the indictment did not identify McAuliffe. Lewis immediately took responsibility.
A suspension seems harsh, especially for a well-respected reporter like Bob Lewis who is pretty much a straight arrow. However, a mistake like the one he reported could be critical in a campaign. In fact, I saw one Cuccinelli ad featuring the erroneous information already. I believe Lewis was suspended until after the election. I see both sides of the suspension. Hung jury here.
Cuccinelli needs to pull that ad immediately, especially in light of the suspension. For him to continue to use bad information that was pulled less than 2 hours after it was reported is simply intellectually and politically dishonest.
UPDATE: The Richmond Times Dispatch and Politico both report that Bob Lewis has been fired, not suspended.
Pull the ad, but people are still spreading it in comment sections. Hard to put the feathers back in the pillow.
Absolutely, Cindy. What’s even worse, the story was retracted within 2 hours. That didn’t stop Cuccinelli from running that hideous ad.
I have a problem with both parties running things they know is a distorted lie. It’s dishonest and brings a new dimension to weasel words, I don’t care which one is doing it.
Sorry Bob Lewis was fired. The Cuccinelli ad is still running – I saw it last night. Feathers.
I agree. While I am furious over that ad, Lewis is a human being and we do make mistakes. I think his treatment was far too harsh.
Firing Bob Lewis won’t put those feathers back in the pillow. The man had an almost unblemished track record.
It says a lot about Cuccinelli’s moral character -you know, that quality that some R’s think only they possess – that he’s still willing to run that ad.
I find it disturbing that he still runs that ad. I find a lot of things that happen in campaigns to be disturbing. Tonight the McAuliffe campaign is taking down flyers and posters that were deemed inappropriate…on college campuses.
I got my voting issue resolved today. Cynthia Martinez rules. My latest snafu said I had voted. It was a typo.
Two editors also fired over the AP story:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/style/ap-reporters-mistake-did-the-punishment-fit-the-crime/2013/10/22/95b32b64-3b52-11e3-a94f-b58017bfee6c_story.html?hpid=z2
Two editor and a reporter. Take no prisoners. It was a bad mistake but..a mistake. Human beings make mistakes. I think the AP has gone way overboard.