Fox News Benches Andrew Napolitano Over Trump Tower Wiretap Claims
March 20 2017 - 11:50PM
Dow Jones News
By Joe Flint
Fox News is temporarily benching its legal analyst Andrew
Napolitano, a former New Jersey Superior Court Judge, over his
unconfirmed report last week that British intelligence had
wiretapped Trump Tower for President Barack Obama, according to a
person familiar with the matter.
Usually a frequent contributor, Mr. Napolitano hasn't appeared
on Fox News since Thursday, when he made the comments.
The commentary was cited by the White House as it continues to
make the case that President Obama was trying to sabotage the Trump
campaign. The British intelligence agency GCHQ, which rarely makes
public statements, said last week the assertion by Mr. Napolitano
was "utterly ridiculous."
Fox News also attempted to distance itself from Mr. Napolitano's
remarks with anchor Shepard Smith saying on-air Friday that the
channel could not confirm the commentary and "knows of no evidence
of any kind that the now-president of the United States was
surveilled at any time, in any way, full stop."
Mr. Napolitano could not immediately be reached for comment.
His removal from the air may not be for very long, the person
close to the situation said. In fact, it is possible that Mr.
Napolitano could return to the network as early as later this week,
the person said.
Fox News parent 21st Century Fox and Wall Street Journal parent
News Corp. share common ownership.
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
March 20, 2017 23:35 ET (03:35 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2017 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
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