ABC News was forced to issue a correction this week after one of its stories on the Trump-Ukraine controversy fell apart.
The story revolved around the relationship between President Donald Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.
In a now-controversial phone call on July 25, the two leaders talked about 2020 Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden, who as vice president threatened to withhold $1 billion in aid from the country unless a Ukrainian prosecutor was fired
The prosecutor in question was investigating a company where Biden’s son, Hunter, served on the board.
The establishment media has been trying to prove Trump expected a sort of “quid pro quo” from his Ukrainian counterpart — that Trump wanted Zelensky to examine the Biden matter in return for aid and access.
In a story published Wednesday, ABC appeared to have found someone to back this up — an apparent adviser to Zelensky named Serhiy Leshchenko.
“Ukrainian officials were asking for a meeting with Trump for along time. As I remember, it was a clear fact that Trump wants to meet only if Biden case will be included,” Leshchenko told ABC.
“This issue was raised many times. I know that Ukrainian officials understood,” he added.
There was just issue with this bombshell revelation — well, more than one, actually.
For one thing, ABC failed to note when it first published the story that Leshchenko no longer advises Zelensky. It turns out Zelensky’s administration has been trying to distance itself from Leshchenko for months.
The outlet was forced to note as much in a correction.
“An earlier version of this article incorrectly described Serhiy Leshchenko as a current advisor to Ukraine’s president Volodymyr Zelenskiy,” the correction reads. “Leshchenko advised Zelenskiy’s transition team following his election in April but has since been distanced by the administration. He is no longer advising Zelenskiy”
Read the rest at: Ukraine story bunk
