Brian Williams is being severely criticized for exaggerating a story about riding in a helicopter that was hit by an RPG in Iraq. It turns out that he was in a helicopter that arrived an hour later, but he has gone a decade telling people very precise details of his fake ordeal.
Well, here’s another very similar story he told about his time reporting from Katrina.
Towards the end of this video about the four minute mark, he starts the story:
My week, two weeks there, was not helped by the fact that I accidentally ingested some of the floodwater. I became very sick with dysentery, our hotel was overrun with gangs, I was rescued from the stairwell of a five star hotel in New Orleans by a young police officer we are friends to this day.
But in the Dateline special where he recounts his experiences 5 years later, there’s no mention of the story. He says that the police were in the Sheraton in New Orleans, and that his camera crew were allowed to film outside. But that’s it, he doesn’t even mention being in any other hotel. How could a hotel used as a staging area for policemen be “overrun with gangs”?
This is definitely not conclusive evidence that he lied about the attack, but it had many elements that are the same as his Iraq RPG story, which should cast doubt on any other story he speaks to that isn’t corroborated by someone else.