The Hill Promises To Release A ‘Transparent And Public’ Review Of John Solomon’s Stories
Bob Cusack, the editor-in-chief at the Hill, promised to publicly release a review of former columnist John Solomon’s stories about Ukraine on Tuesday, after the House’s impeachment investigation report revealed frequent contacts between Solomon and one of Rudy Giuliani’s indicted associates.
“The Hill is conducting a meticulous review of opinion columns written by John Solomon on the subject of Ukraine that will be handled by a team of editors and reporters,” Cusack tweeted. “All results of the review will be transparent and public.”
“The Hill’s newsroom has a decades-long history of commitment to fair and non-partisan reporting,” he continued. “Our reporters and editors cover Congress, the White House and national politics without bias or agenda and will continue to do so.”
Phone records in the House’s report exposed multiple phone calls in April between Solomon and Lev Parnas, a Ukrainian-American businessman who assisted Giuliani’s efforts to dig up dirt on President Donald Trump’s political rivals in Ukraine.
Those phone calls occurred at the same time when Solomon kept cranking out columns that boosted debunked conspiracy theories about Ukrainian election interference and Joe Biden, which were amplified by right-wing media.
Cusack released a similar statement in November in response to the impeachment witness testimonies that had pointed to Solomon’s columns as a key element in Giuliani’s smear campaign against former Ukraine ambassador Marie Yovanovitch.
The Hill editor-in-chief said at the time that the outlet was “reviewing, updating, annotating with any denials of witnesses, and when appropriate, correcting any opinion pieces” that were referenced in the investigation, though he did not indicate that the review would be publicized.
Solomon also appeared on various Fox News programs to peddle the false claims in his columns, and he was officially hired as a Fox News contributor in October several weeks after he left the Hill. It is unclear what action, if any, the network will take in wake of the new revelations.
Fox did not respond to TPM’s request for comment.