ABC Kills Story on Misdeeds in Congress

NEW YORK — ABC network news executives killed a story about alleged congressional malfeasance that was to have aired Friday night on the newsmagazine “20/20,” prompting a censorship charge from the journalist who originated the probe.

The story--which was based on a new book, “Inside Congress,” by journalist Ronald Kessler--included allegations of sexual harassment against Rep. Sonny Bono (R-Palm Springs) and of sexual activities by other unnamed lawmakers. Bono has denied the charge.

Kessler charged that the story was killed because ABC was fearful of Congress, but ABC officials said it was shelved because it was weak and unsubstantiated.

“Everything that was in the TV piece is in the book,” said Kessler, who previously collaborated with “20/20” on a story about his book “Inside the White House.” “I think ABC killed it out of fear of congressional regulation and sensitivity on the part of [ABC News President] David Westin about having some congressman talk about Westin’s own personal life.”

Westin recently has been the subject of several articles about his reported romantic relationship with ABC public relations executive Sherrie Rollins.

An ABC News producer who asked for anonymity said “Westin is a former corporate lawyer from Washington, and Disney [ABC’s parent company] has regulatory issues pending before Congress. There’s fear here that this piece was killed because the network didn’t want to take on Congress.”

ABC News spokeswoman Eileen Murphy strongly denied that there were any non-journalistic reasons for yanking the story.

ABC News Chairman Roone Arledge “killed the story and Westin agreed with the decision,” Murphy said Friday. “There were serious problems with the story. We’re not afraid to take on Congress--we do that all the time in stories on ABC News. This story said that sexual harassment was rampant in Congress but it did not support those allegations.”

Sources at ABC said that the story had been cleared by network lawyers before Arledge and Westin made their decision Thursday. The network already had sent out press releases saying it would be on Friday’s broadcast.

In the piece, a former intern in Bono’s office says that she was sexually harassed by the congressman, a charge Bono denied.

The story also was said to include interviews with former Capitol police who say they know of members of Congress who have had sex with their employees. It also contained an interview with former Sen. Paul Simon (D-Ill.) about the Senate giving Federal Express a special exemption from certain labor laws.