11 Years Ago

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It was 11 years ago that NBC suspended news anchor Brian Williams for six months without pay after it came to light that he lied about his experience covering the Iraq War.

  • The False Claim: Williams frequently recounted that back in 2003, his Chinook helicopter was hit and crippled by enemy fire (RPG and AK-47) in Iraq.

  • The Truth: Veterans on the flight that was actually hit challenged his story on Facebook. It was revealed Williams was on a different aircraft that landed safely nearby due to a sandstorm, an hour after the real attack.

  • Consequences: Following the controversy, NBC suspended him for six months in February 2015. He was subsequently removed from his role as Nightly News anchor and moved to MSNBC.

  • "Fog of Memory": Williams blamed the false story on a "misremembering" or "conflation" of events over the preceding 12 years. 

It seems strange now that Brian Willams was suspended without pay and lost his Anchor job.

These days, the United States Secretary of Commerce, Howard Lutnick can lie to the American people about cutting ties with Jeffery Epstein. Claiming he was never on his island and the media barely covers the story, and the guy keeps his job.

A lot has changed in 11 years.