Former top Clinton adviser calls on ABC to launch internal probe into whether debate was rigged | 12 Sept 2024 | Mark Penn, a former top adviser to Bill and Hillary Clinton, called Thursday for ABC to launch a formal internal investigation into its news [sic] division's planning and execution of this week's presidential debate to determine if there was some effort at "rigging the outcome of this debate." ABC News came under significant bipartisan criticism because its moderators [David Muir and Linsey Davis] fact-checked some of Donald Trump's statements but not a single pushback at any made by Kamala Harris. Trump said Thursday that the debate was three-on-one and declined to participate in another one before the election. "I actually think they should do a full internal investigation, hire an outside law firm. I don't know how much of this was planned in advance," Penn told the John Solomon Reports podcast. "I don't know what they told the Harris campaign. I think the day after, suspicion here is really quite high, and I think a review of all their internal texts and emails really should be done by an independent party to find out to what extent they were planning on, in effect, you know, fact-checking just one candidate and in effect, rigging the outcome of this debate. I think the situation demands nothing less than that," he added.