MSNBC's O'Donnell Retracts Trump-Russia Story

MSNBC host Lawrence O'Donnell on Wednesday backed away from his previous night's reporting on alleged financial ties between President Trump and Russian oligarchs, saying he had made "an error in judgment" and that he had been wrong to report the story, according to The Hill.

Last night I made an error in judgment by reporting an item about the president’s finances that didn’t go through our rigorous verification and standards process. I shouldn’t have reported it and I was wrong to discuss it on the air. I will address the issue on my show tonight.

— Lawrence O'Donnell (@Lawrence) August 28, 2019

O'Donnell first shared his report during a handoff from his lead-in host, Rachel Maddow, who appeared surprised by his remarks.

“I may have some information, in this next hour, which would add a great deal to their understanding of that, if true, and I’ll be discussing it here,” O’Donnell said. "I stress ‘if true,’ because this is a single source who has told me that Deutsche Bank obtained tax returns."

"This single source close to Deutsche Bank has told me that Donald Trump’s loan documents there show that he has co-signers. That’s how he was able to obtain those loans and that the co-signers are Russian oligarchs," he added.

“What? Really?” Maddow said.

"That would explain every kind word Donald Trump has ever said about Russia and Vladimir Putin," O'Donnell added. “I stress the ‘if true.'"