'No evidence it was fiction': Ex-New York Times editor defends botched Kavanaugh story

Former New York Times executive editor Jill Abramson defended the newspaper's story on a sexual misconduct allegation against Justice Brett Kavanaugh, even after an editor's note acknowledged it left out key details.

“I think my move would have been the moves that the Times has made. I mean, no one has challenged the basic accuracy of the story that they published, or of what is in the book," Abramson said when Fox News host Harris Faulkner asked her how she would have handled the situation. "It’s true that a material fact was left out, and the Times ran the editor’s note explaining that, which is what you do when you leave something out. But it was no conspiracy to leave out that fact. It was unfortunately cut from the piece, as I understand it.”

Faulkner then pressed Abramson for what she meant by "no one has challenged" the story, saying, "How can you challenge if the alleged victim and the one witness they talk about, who actually didn’t witness anything, he did talk to senators and the FBI about what he thinks he saw, but people may have been too drunk to remember? The alleged victim didn’t remember any assault. It’s hard to take on something that even the victim doesn’t say happened.”

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