St. Louis Anchor Off-Air Following IRS Claim

Larry Connors

Longtime KMOV (Channel 4-St. Louis) anchorman Larry Conners is “off the air” until further notice.

Dan Caesar at stltoday.com reports the station is examining Conners’ recent allegations that he was targeted by the Internal Revenue Service after interviewing President Barack Obama.

“He’s not suspended. We just all thought it made sense (for him) to take a few days off,” news director Sean McLaughlin said Thursday.

“We take this very seriously, and we don’t expect this to drag on. We’re still looking into the situation and weighing our options,” he said.

The situation arose Monday night with a post from Conners on his Facebook page. In that post, Conners said he had been getting “pressure” from the IRS after the Obama interview in April 2012.  (See original posting, Click Here.)

The Facebook post begins: “I don’t accept ‘conspiracy theories,’ but I do know that almost immediately after the interview, the IRS started hammering me.”

In conclusion, Conners wrote: “Can I prove it? At this time, no. But it is a fact that since that April 2012 interview … the IRS has been pressuring me.”

Obama recently booted the acting IRS director because of allegations that the Internal Revenue Service has targeted conservative groups for extra scrutiny when applying for nonprofit status.

On Tuesday — in a televised statement near the end of KMOV’s 5 p.m. newscast — Conners backed off that initial claim.

“To be fair, I should disclose that my issues with the IRS preceded that interview (with Obama) by several years,” Conners said Tuesday in the 35-second statement.

Read More Now.