CBS news chief denies allegations as FBI informant on Oklahoma City bombing
Linked in the bombing incident is news bureau chief for CBS Washington, Chris Isham, who was still with ABC News when the bombing incident occurred more than a decade ago.
A CBS news bureau chief has denied allegations that he was the FBI informant being linked to the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing.
Reuters named the news bureau chief for CBS Washington as Chris Isham, who was still with ABC News when the bombing incident occurred more than a decade ago.
And Isham is the ‘anonymous journalist’ allegedly cited in a ‘once-classified FBI memo’ which was uncovered by Utah lawyer, Jesse Trentadue. Trentadue according to Reuters, has apparently been spending years researching the Oklahoma City bombing case and the lawyer has been cited in a report Tuesday by the Center for Public Integrit (CPI).
Citing a report by CPI, Reuters said that the memo documented a journalist in question who had worked with the FBI by giving information to the agency about a source that allegedly connecting the Oklahoma bombing to an Iraqi group.
The memo also said, noted in the CPI report that the journalist had even provided the FBI the name of his source. Reuters emphasized that the move of the journalist to name his confidential source ‘would have been a possible violation of professional ethics if the source had not agreed to be named’.
The CPI report expounded the memo’s content describing how the alleged reporter called the FBI hours after the Oklahoma City bombing instigated by the reported terrorist, Timothy McVeigh.
Though the information passed on by the journalist was proven as ‘untrue’ it is believed that the reporter told the FBI "that a source within the Saudi Arabian Intelligence Service advised that the Oklahoma City bombing was sponsored by the Iraqi Special Services."
The CPI report cited a source from ABC asserting the network’s uncertainty of the journalist’s identity, emphasizing that it does not believe he (or she) remains associated with the network.
When asked about the recent development on Oklahoma bombing and his name being dragged on the case, Isham said Reuters, called the allegations as ‘outrageous and untrue’.
"Like every investigative reporter, my job for 25 years has been to check out information and tips from sources. In the heat of the Oklahoma City bombing, it would not be unusual for me or any journalist to run information by a source within the FBI for confirmation or to notify authorities about a pending terrorist attack,” Isham was quoted as saying by Reuters.
Isham also underscored that he run the story the way any journalist from any news organization would have handled it.
He said, “This is consistent with the policies at every news organization. But at no time did I compromise a confidential source with the FBI or anyone else. Mr. Cannistraro was not a confidential source, but rather a colleague -- a paid consultant to ABC News who had already spoken to the FBI about information he had received."
For its part, CBS said that it’s now looking into the allegations linking Isham to the Oklahoma City bombing incident.
"CBS News has strict standards regarding the handling of source material and we are discussing the facts of the allegations with Chris," Reuters quoted a source from CBS News. "The events in question are a matter between the FBI and ABC News."