Complaint
A reader of this article about events at the Congressional committee investigating the 6 January 2021 riot at the US Capitol complained that, as the aide in question had not said in her evidence that President Trump had urged his supporters to storm the Capitol, the headline was inaccurate – as were the opening lines of the article, which read “Donald Trump knew supporters had weapons when he urged them to storm the Capitol to overturn the 2020 election, a former White House aide has said”. The ECU considered the complaint in the light of the ’s editorial standards of accuracy.
Outcome
Having consulted the transcript of her evidence, the ECU noted that the aide had testified that President Trump had known that his supporters marching to the Capitol were armed. However, it was not she but the Chair of the Congressional Committee who had referred to his urging his supporters to storm the Capitol. Accordingly, the ECU upheld the complaint in relation to accuracy.
Upheld
Further action
The headline was amended to read “Trump knew supporters marching to the Capitol were armed – aide”, the first sentence was amended to read “Donald Trump knew supporters marching to the US Capitol to try to overturn the 2020 election were armed, a former White House aide has said”, and a note explaining the changes was appended to the article. Similar changes were made to another article on the topic, to which the complainant had drawn the ’s attention, where the term “sٴǰ” had been used erroneously in relation to the aide’s testimony.