Fox News Analyst Lis Wiehl Seems to Think Meredith’s Murder Is One Terrific Great Joke



You can see the self-infatuation of the notoriously narcissistic Lis Wiehl leaking out here from her very first words.

When the rather disbelieving host, Don Imus, pulls her up for not knowing the facts, her smarmy response to him is to the effect that she knows them a lot better than he does.

Try again, Lis Wiehl.

In this six-minute segment, we did not count ONE fact you got right. Here are some corrections to your mean-spirited and wildly inaccurate claims to help you come back down to Planet Earth..

  • There was no 14-hour interrogation. Ever. There were two interrogations on the night of the 6th of November (see also here) each of them under two hours. One as a witness and one as a suspect. Knox had a lawyer present for most of the second. Before he arrived she spontaneously presented the prosecutor with a scenario indicating her involvement. This was disallowed, but later she helpfully wrote it out anyway, and that was entered into evidence.
  • Mr Mignin is NOT under indictment for a criminal offense. His one remaining charge which is likely to be tossed out soon relates to his seemingly guessing RIGHT in the Monster of Florence case - that there probably was a cabal, a fact which Doug Preston has suspiciously been trying hard to bury.
  • No sign of a cleanup? Of fingerprints having been wiped clean? The ONLY fingerprints of Amanda Knox in the entire house were found on a glass in the kitchen. Even in her own room there was not one print.
  • Amanda Knox was TOLD the day after the investigation commenced that she was not to leave Italy. As a material witness she had no choice but to stay. One of Meredith’s English friends was also told to remain in Perugia. She remained in effect trapped in Perugia for two months at her expense, and lost an entire year of study at university.
  • Despite Lisa Wiehl’s ugly sneering anti-Italianism at the end there, this trial was NOT about Italy or the judges or investigators or prosecutor saving face. The case was reviewed altogether by 19 judges and the caution adopted throughout was beyond anything American courts normally see.

And by the way, there pretty well was a smoking gun in this case.

Read this post and see if you disagree.

Posted by Peter Quennell on 12/10/09 at 08:38 PM in News media & moviesHoaxers from 2007Knox-Marriott PRMore hoaxers

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Comments

I think this is probably the worst report/discussion (if you can even call it that) on the case that I have ever seen. Where did they find this woman? She went to HARVARD?!

Not only does she not present any correct information about Amanda and Raffaele’s trial she also claims that Rudy Guede was never convicted in the case.

The worst bit of all for me was her sliming of Meredith and the fate she suffered by stating that anyone who had a housemate they didn’t like wouldn’t be ‘jumping up and down the street’ on discovering they’d been brutally murdered, but they wouldn’t be ‘bothered that much by it either’

I think Ms Wiehl should be investigated by Fox as I actually think she was mildly intoxicated when she went on air. There were a number of times I saw her stifle what appeared to be a hiccup.

Disgusting.

Posted by Miss Represented on 12/10/09 at 09:41 PM | #

I find Lisa Wiehl´s introduction in this segment offensive.

Upon asked what the case is about she says: It´s a horrible case about a girl from the University of Washington in Seattle, which is where I went, etc.. without even mentioning that this girl is convicted for the murder of Meredith.

Shocking how shamelessly self-centered and chauvinistic this so-called LEGAL ANALYST presents subjective information on a news station.

Oh well, FOX, I should have known that that is a conservative propaganda machine, not a news network.

Even liberal CNN is tempted now not to take Amanda Knox´s side. Before the verdict and conviction was spoken, not even CNN came out with objective information about this case.

Posted by saskia on 12/10/09 at 09:54 PM | #

Hi everyone…These reports need to stop!  Case in point:  I was discussing the trial with an aunt of mine, and, living in Washington State, the only reports she had seen all said there was no evidence against Amanda. 

She brought up an excellent point.  She asked why, if what I told her about the evidence was true, wasn’t the evidence being printed in the papers, or discussed on the news? I don’t know why and I don’t have an answer.

She wants to see the evidence printed in a magazine or newspaper and will not trust anything from the internet.  If anyone comes across a good public record of the trial, please link to this site!

Why are all the stations in Seattle along with some of the national shows, catering to Edda and Curt?  It is their job to report the facts!

Are the reporters and news anchors afraid of AK’s family?  What do they think will happen if they report the details of the crime?

The propaganda from FOA and her family is unbelievable!  And to add to the problem, our Washington State U.S. Senator made a mockery out of the Italian legal system and this trial.

It is so infuriating to hear over and over again that there was no evidence, that AK was set-up. I could go on and on.  I am just happy that the verdict and sentencing came back the way it did!

Posted by BARBM on 12/10/09 at 11:50 PM | #

Don’t forget this is Fox News Channel - A great propaganda machine. The same channel who mislead the whole American Public using their propaganda skills and took US into Iraq war.

Lisa Wiehl has catered to one close minded group in America who thinks that Amanda is innocent because she is American. Bad news for her that in United States there is no support for Amanda Knox for her heinous criminal activities.

At the same time old habits die hard, so Fox News will continue to mislead the people as usual.

Posted by AmericaCalling on 12/11/09 at 12:58 AM | #

The above newscast with that stupid (allegedly highly educated) bimbo and the crusty, racist Don Imus is nauseating, reducing everything to poorly thought-out and crass, insensitive sound bites.

Everyone on that panel should ashamed of themselves. And this passes for professional journalism? What a disgrace. She’s been rightly convicted of a heinous crime. The U.S has the death penalty and had she been convicted of a similar crime in Washington State, she possibly would have been facing execution or life without parole.

The trial was fair and thorough. End of story. i hope Amanda and the others use their lengthy sentences to reflect on the pain they’ve caused to the Kercher family and not their own self pitying pathetic self absorbed whining.

Posted by Compboy on 12/11/09 at 01:31 AM | #

Two cartoon characters have a meeting of the minds. That really was offensive.

Posted by mortytoad on 12/11/09 at 02:09 AM | #

Don’t expect much from Fox “news”, they have an agenda and a real disdain for everything European. A lot of people have no problem saying a middle-class, pretty white girl could do no wrong. However, a black man of the same age is guilty, guilty, guilty. Many Americans have racism so ingrained in their hearts they can’t even realize their own prejudice.

Posted by stevema14420 on 12/11/09 at 02:32 AM | #

Sorry, I’ve looked through this site, and there is no “smoking gun.”  Instead, there is much cause for reasonable doubt:

The motive:  I’ve never heard of anyone being murdered for declining to participate in a 3-way.  As far as I can tell, the only evidence for the “sex game gone bad” theory is the prosecutor’s kinky imagination.

Amanda’s confusing statements: Between police interrogation techniques designed to confuse and badger suspects into confession, plus the fact that Amanda was not as fluent in Italian at the time as she later became, plus the stress & confusion of your roommate being murdered, it is not surprising that Amanda’s statements to the police were inconsistent & contradictory.

The forensics: Modern DNA science is extremely sensitive.  Amanda lived in the apartment and shared a bathroom with Meredith.  Her residual DNA would be all over the place.  Blood stains were a mixture of M&A;‘s blood?  As far as I know Amanda had no injuries which would gave produced bleeding.

Character assasination:  Years ago, victims in rape trials were grilled about their sex lives in order to imply that women who are sexually active, morally impure were “asking” to be raped.  The picture of Amanda as this wild wonton woman who engages in kinky sex games implies that she deserves what’s coming to her, even if there’s no evidence whatsoever of kinky sex games.

This case reminds me of the JFK assisination.  Just like Oswald, there is strong evidence against Guede, but because we can’t prove they did it alone, people look for others who don’t have a strong alibi.

Posted by Racnad on 12/11/09 at 03:32 AM | #

Hi Racnad. The last of the Lone Wolf theorists. Yours is even more superficial than most, and over 100 good lawyers now would disagree with you.

Perhaps you should read this and this.  The same evidence was presented at the present trial and it stood up just as strongly this time around.

Posted by Peter Quennell on 12/11/09 at 03:48 AM | #

Absolutely disgusting. Imagine how Meredith’s family would feel if they saw this - I sincerely hope they do not.

I suggest we all write in and complain.

Their feedback email that I found on their homepage is: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)

Posted by Vedantist on 12/11/09 at 05:48 AM | #

This woman is a disgrace. It would be laughable if it wasn’t so tragic.

Everyone on this site is doing a great job in countering the myths and outright ignorance of the media, and it’s good to see that the firestorm of protest that the Knox family tried to ignite is..simply not happening.  It flashed, and it now petering out. 

The noisome “Friends of Amanda” have revamped their site and - to be honest - it looks pretty good and would be fairly compelling to someone who wasn’t aware of the real facts in this case. Are their any plans or one or more of you hardworking and dedicated bloggers to rebut the lies on that website, point-by-point? It would be another great service to the truth and to Meredith.

Posted by NicholasK on 12/11/09 at 06:27 AM | #

...and this is the person Fox has analyzing the Obama administration?  Good grief.  What a ditz.

Doesn’t she remind you of Edda?  Powerful women - in the category of “stupid and insensitive.”

Posted by Professor Snape on 12/11/09 at 06:49 AM | #

i, like barbm, am frustrated at how little of the truth is being presented on american television. 

how many times have i heard people say that amanda could have left but chose to stay in italy immediately after the murder.  even her mother commented “i wish amanda had gone to germany; if she had, she would not be in the position she is in now.”  is it a myth that she was not ALLOWED to leave italy? 

i am just really confused as to why none of what we have read on this site for two years still fails to become public knowledge.  is there no one out there who understands what really happened and can acquaint the public with the TRUTH?

Posted by gramjan on 12/11/09 at 08:03 AM | #

The lack of balance and truth in reporting from the US and its blatant xenophobia only leads one to believe that one would receive anything but a fair trial as a foreigner in America. I would be covering my ears to block out this broadcast if I were an Amanda supporter.

Amanda herself is showing long awaited signs of diplomacy, albeit expedient, even stating that she believes she received a fair trial. She may be finally realising that the support of her friends in the press was inimical to her case.

This woman is a great embarrassment and exemplifies everything poor and sorry in tabloid journalism. She appears to have a terrific ego to feed which does not require anything like a few facts to impede it.

Posted by pensky on 12/11/09 at 09:21 AM | #

And there was me thinking that people that rise to an academic level of ‘Professor’ are intelligent and balanced in their understanding and communication of all data out there - to be able to speak with conviction and respect.

This woman is a cheap disgrace to all academia. It is amazing how powerful the ego can become when left unchecked. Freedom of the press and being able to express oneself freely should not allow dangerous idiots to free reign without consequence.

Posted by Terence on 12/11/09 at 11:11 AM | #

I’ve written a letter of complaint to Fox regarding this as it simply beggars belief that this piece was deemed “fit for broadcast”.

Lis Wiehl’s behaviour was abhorrent and her inability to grasp even the basic facts about this case was simply staggering. Her laughing and giggling throughout was utterly cringworthy and beneath contempt.

She was repeatedly asked about the other convicted party in this case - RG - but hadn’t a clue about his existence and mumbled incoherently about RF instead, despite being reminded of the facts several times by the THREE other participants.

TBH, regardless of your views about this case - this piece does no-one any favours and has to be right up in there in contention for one of the poorest pieces of journalism ever to grace our screens.

Unbelievable

Yossa

Posted by Yossa on 12/11/09 at 03:22 PM | #

This offensive, moronic, narcissistic bottle-blond bimbo went to Harvard?  Did she graduate? What in?
Basket-weaving would be too difficult for her!!
And what was with the dude in the stetson? Words fail me.
Is this what passes for “current affairs” on American TV?
From what I read above this disgrace to the female sex is a professor!  As an old-time 60s feminist, I hate to descend to sexist insult, so I will not speculate on how she obtained her chair, except to say she was probably not sitting on it.
As Terence says, this type of programme is dangerous.

Posted by Tiziano on 12/11/09 at 03:24 PM | #

This is tabloid tv at its worst, right down to the ‘hot babe’ Lis Wiehl.
The guy with the cowboy hat obviously lends some serious discussion to the case. *sarc off*
At the end of the day, justice has prevailed.

Posted by Deathfish2000 on 12/11/09 at 05:58 PM | #

Peter. Completely irresponsible of you to post this clip. This woman is obviously an idiot. Anyone who knows anything about the case would realize that as soon as she opens her mouth. You just gave her more air time she did not deserve. You must be careful in your battle for “True Justice For Merideth” not to sink to this level. Most Americans are very smart and know that the mainstream media and Imus don’t do research. (Although he knew more than she did.) We can also sort out reality from nonsense. You would be better off spending your time on positive efforts to get the facts out. This is sensationalism on your part as you attack the American media for the same transgressions. Just read the posts here. Please careful Peter.

Posted by kendall on 12/11/09 at 06:11 PM | #

Yes Kendall. I can certainly understand your dismay.

But in fact posts just like this are among the most successful weapons we have in the cause of justice for Meredith. Reducing the stream of sock-puppets is a major way to create a balance in the meme.

Time and again we have faced down inaccurate commenters and they are then not heard from again. John Q Kelly was the latest of these but there have been nearly two dozen others.

Are we weak on the facts do you think, Kendall? I didn’t think we were.

Posted by Peter Quennell on 12/11/09 at 06:27 PM | #

Kendall, I have to disagree with you, sorry. The reasoning behind the inclusion of this clip is to illustrate just how atrocious the US media reporting is regarding this case. It is a comparative post to the previous post with Jeannine Pirro who clearly demonstra more integrity to the real situation.

This interview with the “offensive, moronic, narcissistic bottle-blond bimbo” does nothing short of ridiculing the FOA and pro-Amanda supporters.

Keep it posted as long as possible Peter.

Posted by jhansigirl on 12/11/09 at 06:37 PM | #

I can’t even begin to list all the things that make this report so sickening. This is probably the MOST offensive line where I recoiled in shock and sympathy for the Kercher family. “…her roommate ended up dead.” You don’t “end up dead”. The case is about how a young woman ended up brutally and horrifically murdered and how the irresponsible family of one of the convicted murderers is falsely accusing the Italian court system of “unfairness” and lying on as many national TV stations as they can pay to get themselves on that their is “No evidence”. I used to feel sorry for the Knox family but not anymore, Edda knows and she is just completely lying.

Another disgusting thing is that this person being interviewed by Don Imus says, “University of Washington, the school I WENT to…” You don’t say went to, if you taught there. You say, I taught there or I worked there. Imus then questions her by saying, “You went there?” That’s when INSTEAD of answering, “No, I taught there” she starts namedropping the Ivy league schools and keeps saying, “well, you asked…” She was NOT asked where she went, she was asked to confirm if she “went” to U. of W.

She is probably NOT a professor, maybe an instructor. She probably lied about the Ivy League schools or maybe she “went there” to visit a boyfriend. In addition, she probably was drunk.

Thanks for letting me vent.

Posted by bedelia on 12/11/09 at 07:22 PM | #

Hi Racnad,

Amanda Knox is a compulsive liar who lied deliberately and repeatedly to the police and her friends.

Please note that she repeatedly lied before Meredith’s body was discovered, so her lies can’t be attributed to stress or police interrogation techniques.

Amanda Knox claimed that she and Raffaele Sollecito had called 112 before the postal police arrived at the cottage. Sollecito admitted that this wasn’t true on 5 November 2007 and said that she had asked him to lie.

She told Filomena that she had already phoned the police. Her mobile phone records prove that this was untrue.

Knox told the postal police that Meredith always kept her door locked. Filomena strongly disagreed with her, and told the postal police the opposite was true.

Knox lied to her friends in her e-mail on 4 November 2007. She claimed she called Meredith’s phones after speaking to Filomena. Knox’s mobile phone records prove that this was untrue.

She claimed when she called Meredith’s Italian phone it “just kept ringing, no answer”. Her mobile phone records show this call lasted just three seconds.

At the police station on 5 November 2007 she told the police that she didn’t text Diya Lumumba on the night of the murder.

Posted by The Machine on 12/11/09 at 08:49 PM | #

Ta, the Machine, for listing off the pre-Questura lies. Emphasising these fibs told before she was even called in for questioning proves the point that she must have had something to hide. Don’t forget, as well, the first phone call home to Edda (who quoted the content of that call in her own statement), the one AK twice said on the stand she had no recollection of making.
If only Amanda had hastily jetted off to Germany. Her protective clan could have packed her in a crate and shipped it off to Argentina, notorious safe refuge for “her people” wishing to escape justice.

Posted by mimi on 12/11/09 at 11:01 PM | #

More morons on the case: http://saberpoint.blogspot.com/2009/12/ann-coulter-is-wrong-on-amanda-knox.html

Posted by Patou on 12/11/09 at 11:53 PM | #

‘Her protective clan could have packed her in a crate and shipped it off to Argentina, notorious safe refuge for “her people” wishing to escape justice.’

you got that right! cut from the same cloth…

Posted by wayra on 12/12/09 at 06:24 AM | #

Hi gravyboat,

Amanda Knox and Raffaele Sollecito are clearly not innocent. They were unanimously found guilty of murdering Meredith. 19 separate judges, including judges at the Italian Supreme Court, thought there were serious indications of Knox’s and Sollecito’s guilt.

Posted by The Machine on 12/12/09 at 03:26 PM | #

Kendall: In reprimanding Peter for posting this segment, you said that “Most Americans are very smart and know that the mainstream media and Imus don’t do research”.

I don’t necessarily agree with this statement. Of course there are plenty of smart Americans - but I don’t think they’re watching Imus. People with less discrimination watch shows like Imus and will buy this kind of trash, not being aware that no research has gone into it and that it has no factual basis. It’s only right to shine the light on such inaccurate portrayals of this case by bringing them to the attention of people with some discrimination.

Posted by Vedantist on 12/12/09 at 07:09 PM | #

Wow, this video is painful to watch. Making Dom Imus look intelligent is quite an accomplishment, one which Lis Wiehl can now add to her resume.

And Hopeful: I love your poem! Especially this part:

I had more smiles than tears,
Something few can say
After they’ve lived many years.

Thanks for sharing!!!

Posted by Earthling on 12/12/09 at 07:35 PM | #

sorry Kendall, but why would you argue that “most Americans are very smart and know that the mainstream media and Imus don’t do research” and that most of us “can also sort out reality from nonsense.”  ?? 

As an american my experience has been the total opposite.  The media since 9/11 has shown me the truth about our so called “News”, where jumping on the most popular view bandwagon has been the norm and researching before presenting a “report” seems to be the rare exception to the rule..

I’ve been forced to stop watching any and all U.S. “news” television stations to learn about current affairs, since the TRUTH is actually important to me, and instead have gone to foreign news outlets on the internet, where I can learn more truth about what is actually happening in the U.S…

I find it very sad that I must go outside of this country to learn its news. Every morning I have to bite my tongue as I listen to the talk in my office discussing what they heard about on Fox, ABC, CBS, etc. even CNN (the last U.S. network that i have recently lost all faith in)...  thats 15 or so educated “smart” adults believing what the “news” told them… 

So I strongly Beg To Differ!

Posted by rach on 12/15/09 at 08:23 PM | #

In the two-weeks-plus since this post and thread went up, Lis Wiehl has continued her periodic gigs on Fox Business News on the morning show with Don Imus.

Lis Wiehl seems transformed. She now seems nervous, hesitant, vague, pleading, and uncertain. Her sense of humor such as it was has departed, and the self-adulation is under very tight control. No mention of Perugia at all.

Let us hazard a guess here! She came here and read all of this. It was not picked up by the main media but it is easy to google and still could be.

Looks like yet another sockpuppet has bitten the dust. Quite a few now are back there in the dust. Timothy Egan’s robotic reinsertion of himself intro the case is actually the rare exception.

Posted by Peter Quennell on 12/27/09 at 03:32 PM | #

I have long ceased listening to or watching anything that the Fox network puts out.  They are the most biased of all the networks and accuracy is not one of their hallmarks.  They are the epitome of yellow tabloid journalism, masquerading as “news”.

Posted by Mo-in-Mass.,USA on 12/27/09 at 04:28 PM | #

I also noticed - as all of you I guess! - that when a new article on “poor Amanda” or “Mater Dolorosa Edda” comes out, there are more and more unsupportive comments. More people have done their homework and read unbiased info.

Posted by Patou on 12/27/09 at 05:48 PM | #
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