New York Times, WaPo, NBC retract reports about Giuliani’s contact with FBI

The New York Times, The Washington Post and NBC News walked back their reporting about the FBI’s communication with President Trump’s personal lawyer Rudy Giuliani regarding Russia. 

The Washington Post was the first to report on Thursday that Giuliani was warned that he was the target of a Russian influence campaign last year. The newspaper, citing people familiar with the matter, also reported that One America News Network (OANN) was given a similar warning.

But the Post issued a correction on Saturday saying it had removed assertions that Giuliani and OANN had received such warnings.

“An earlier version of this story, published Thursday, incorrectly reported that One America News was warned by the FBI that it was the target of a Russian influence operation,” the correction reads.

“That version also said the FBI had provided a similar warning to Rudolph W. Giuliani, which he has since disputed. This version has been corrected to remove assertions that OAN and Giuliani received the warnings,” the paper said.

A spokesperson for the Post had no additional comment when reached by CNN.

The New York Times similarly reported on the FBI’s contact with Giuliani.

The subject of the Times article was the FBI’s investigation into Giuliani, and it stated that the firing of former U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine Marie Yovanovitch was at the center of the probe. 

The Times had written that Giuliani had received a “formal warning” from the FBI about Russian disinformation. 

The newspaper ran a correction on Saturday saying Giuliani had not received a “so-called defensive briefing.”

“An earlier version of this article misstated whether Rudolph W. Giuliani received a formal warning from the F.B.I. about Russian disinformation. Mr. Giuliani did not receive such a so-called defensive briefing,” the newspaper said.

NBC, which also reported that Giuliani received a defensive briefing about the Russian influence operation in 2019, ran a correction Saturday afternoon saying the FBI only prepared a briefing.

The correction came after a source said the briefing wasn’t given because of concerns that it could complicate the investigation into Giuliani. 

The Hill has reached out to the Post, the Times and NBC for comment.

This week, the FBI raided Giuliani’s New York apartment and offices and seized electronic devices as part of an investigation into his dealings in Ukraine.

Giuliani told Tucker Carlson on Thursday that there was “no justification” for the raid and denied any wrongdoing.