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 Schadenfreude  |
Posted on 08/13/2003 7:31:19 PM PDT by swilhelm73
BBC journalist Andrew Gilligan LIED to MPs about the sexed-up dossier affair, it was revealed yesterday.
He also MISLED them about his contacts with tragic Ministry of Defence weapons expert Dr David Kelly.
And in a dramatic twist to the war between the BBC and No10 he was BLASTED by his own boss for “flawed” reporting.
As Gilligan, 34, gave evidence on the second day of the Hutton Inquiry into Dr Kelly’s suicide, the full text of the secret evidence the reporter gave to the foreign affairs select committee was released.
It showed he changed his story about the role played by Downing Street media supremo Alastair Campbell.
When Gilligan was first quizzed by the MPs, he claimed Campbell was responsible for spinning the notorious pre-war intelligence dossier on the threat posed by Iraq.
He said Campbell inserted a clause saying Saddam Hussein’s forces could deploy weapons of mass destruction in 45 minutes.
His source was Dr Kelly, who killed himself last month.
Hauled back for a second grilling on the day the scientist died, Gilligan seemed not so sure about Campbell.
Contact ... tragic Dr David Kelly Picture: REUTERS He told the MPs: “The only context in which my source mentioned Campbell was in the context of the transformation of the dossier.
“The allegation was made that the 45-minute claim was inserted against ‘our wishes’. But it is not a specific claim with a specific person’s name tied to it.”
That triggered an explosion of fury from the committee, who branded him an “unsatisfactory witness”.
Tory MP Sir John Stanley raged: “You are now making a dramatically, totally, totally different allegation. You have led this whole committee, and the wider public, up the garden path in a most staggering way.”
Labour’s Eric Illsley accused Gilligan of drawing a false inference from his meetings with Dr Kelly.
He said: “It is not true, basically, it is fiction. You have misled the whole world.”
It was also revealed that the first time he faced the committee Gilligan said Dr Kelly had been fully supportive of his sensational report about the “sexed-up” dossier.
But on his second appearance, he was forced to admit he had NO contact with the scientist after the broadcast. Therefore, he could not have known if Dr Kelly supported him or not.
Yesterday he was challenged by inquiry QC James Dingemans about his apparent U-turn on Campbell.
The newsman, defence correspondent for Radio 4’s Today programme, replied lamely: “I was thrown off balance. I had been disconcerted by the hostility of the questioning.”
He added: “I was making a pedantic distinction. I said Kelly had said Campbell was responsible for the transformation.
“David Kelly had not put Alastair Campbell and the 45 minutes in the same sentence but he was quite clearly linking them.” Gilligan was further rocked by revelations that he was lambasted by his bosses over his vital despatch.
One blast came in an email fired off by Today’s editor Kevin Marsh to the BBC’s head of radio news Stephen Mitchell.
In it, Mr Marsh apparently referred to a meeting he and Today host John Humphrys were reported to have had with MI6 chief Sir Richard Dearlove.
He wrote: “I hope my worst fears based on what I heard from the spooks this afternoon are not realised. This story was a good piece of investigative journalism marred by flawed reporting. The biggest millstone has been the loose use of language and lack of judgment in some of the phraseology.”
Mr Marsh also took a dig at Gilligan for his “loose and distant relationship” with Today.
In a second email to Mr Mitchell, a furious Mr Marsh said Gilligan went over his head when he “outed” Campbell in an article he wrote for the Mail on Sunday.
The newsman also came under fire from the BBC’s board of governors, who at a meeting last month noted that he had not used “careful language” throughout his reporting.
Gilligan looked shaken as the criticisms were revealed by Mr Dingemans at the High Court inquiry. He admitted he had not been aware of the documents.
But he said of Mr Marsh’s email: “It was the only time Kevin raises any concerns about the reporting of that story. I do not think it is necessarily representative of his broader views.”
Yet more questions over the affair were raised by glaring discrepancies between Gilligan’s version of events and that given by Dr Kelly before his death. Gilligan said it was the scientist who first mentioned Campbell’s name and the 45-minute “alert”. Dr Kelly said Gilligan raised both issues.
The BBC man claimed he had three meetings with Dr Kelly, who said there were four.
Gilligan said he took notes on a personal organiser at their crucial meeting on May 22. Dr Kelly said he used a notebook. The newsman said the meeting lasted 45 minutes. Dr Kelly said it was 90 minutes.
Yesterday Gilligan defiantly insisted the main thrust of his report was true, saying Dr Kelly told him the dossier had been sexed up and that the scientist mentioned Campbell by name.
He was supported by colleague Susan Watts, Newsnight’s science editor, who said Dr Kelly made similar remarks to her.
But Gilligan admitted he may have given the impression the Government invented the 45-minute claim. He told the inquiry: “In hindsight it wasn’t wrong but it wasn’t perfect either. It wasn’t my intention to give the impression the Government had lied.”
First law of Beeb: Look out for No1
ANDREW Gilligan was given a rough ride in the High Court yesterday — not by the inquiry counsel, but by his own Today programme bosses.
Most news organisations rally around a colleague under fire. But when it comes to solidarity under fire at the BBC, forget it.
What emerges from the evidence is that behind the Beeb’s defiant refusal to apologise to Downing Street was an unedifying attempt to cover backs.
As The Sun revealed at the height of the row, the BBC was near meltdown.
Within hours of receiving Alastair Campbell’s first angry letter, Today editor Kevin Marsh distanced himself from an employee he had just promised a pay rise.
In a colourful herogram to Gilligan he had hailed his strident reports for boosting Today’s morale, and urged him to break into his late night lifestyle, “creak open the coffin lid”— and come to see him about his salary.
A few days later, as the storm broke over the flagship programme, he was branding Gilligan as a “flawed” reporter.
“Our biggest millstone has been his loose use of language and lack of judgment in some of his phraseology,” he said.
The mood of panic spread to the top levels of the BBC as the sheer folly of their clash with the Government dawned on directors.
As they prepared their statement of defiance, an emergency board meeting condemned Gilligan’s radio style.
“Careful language has not been applied by Andrew Gilligan,” said the governors.
But if Gilligan is in trouble, Dr David Kelly’s reputation is also being hurt by the inquiry.
There is no doubt that this distinguished scientist lied to his bosses, lied to the Commons Foreign Affairs Committee and lied to the Intelligence and Security Committee.
What drove him to lie may emerge as the inquiry proceeds. But it is clear he did go beyond his scientific brief.
In one amazing act of indiscretion he discussed with journalist Susan Watts what he had discussed at lunch with Defence Secretary Geoff Hoon.
Gilligan did not invent everything in his notorious Today broadcast. There clearly WERE misgivings in intelligence about claims Iraq could deploy weapons in 45 minutes.
There WAS only one source for this information, a detail Gilligan could not have learned from any other source.
Kelly himself WAS deeply involved in writing the dossier. And he DID have close contacts with “the spooks.”
There is plenty more evidence to come.
And Gilligan has done himself no favours by lying to the Foreign Affairs Select Committee. His twists and turns over meetings with Kelly and his failure to take a notebook — a basic tool of the trade — are worrying.
His unsatisfactory attempts to cover his efforts to contact Kelly before his death raise serious questions over his credibility.
His performance yesterday was flaky. His head, and others, could roll at the BBC.
Well, journalists use notebooks frequently. But fiction writers have less need of the things.
You've got to read this one!
BTW I watched that awful show today. Mary Ann is tough as nails.
Indeed, our own media was already pouncing on this "sexed up" dossier story as additional evidence against Bush and Blair along with the Niger/uranium story.
It was all a lie.
And finally, unless I missed it, a story about this without the usual "But Blair still has much to answer for" garbage.
Also in the article:
But if Gilligan is in trouble, Dr David Kelly’s reputation is also being hurt by the inquiry.
There is no doubt that this distinguished scientist lied to his bosses, lied to the Commons Foreign Affairs Committee and lied to the Intelligence and Security Committee.
What drove him to lie may emerge as the inquiry proceeds. But it is clear he did go beyond his scientific brief.
In one amazing act of indiscretion he discussed with journalist Susan Watts what he had discussed at lunch with Defence Secretary Geoff Hoon.
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Schadenfreude |
Amazing! Pinged! Thank you!
Becki
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