ABC NEWS investigates one of its terrorism experts

If the interview of Barack Obama conducted by Alexis Debat for the French review Politique Internationale is a fake, as Rue89 revealed, how reliable are his stories for ABC News ?

To our questions, Jeffrey Schneider, VP communication for the network sent us this statement : » In May, officials of the French government told us of problems with Debat's Sorbonne credentials. After an immediate investigation we asked for and received his resignation and initiated a review of all his work as a consultant for ABC News. That review is ongoing. So far our on-going review has uncovered no issues with regard to his work as a consultant for ABC News. We take this matter very seriously and we will continue our exhaustive probe into his work. »

The French embassy remembers a call from a reporter with ABC News questioning Debat's credentials and work. The spokeperson replied that a resume was not an official French government document and recommended to check every line of his resume with his employers. Later on, the legal department employee called the Embassy to ask for » details from the spokesperson at the French minister of Defense to check that part of his resume » .

Alexis Debat has been a source for a number of stories for Brian Ross's investigative unit at ABC News over five years. In one of them that aired in February 2003 on 20/20, he asserts that as a » former French official, » he had access to documents mentioning that Udaï Hussein, the son of the Iraqi dictator, forced two members of a French delegation » at gunpoint to have sex with each other while being taped on video » . At a time when French opposition was discredited because of alleged connections between the French and Iraqi governments, he concluded » I mean, after all, this is Saddam Hussein's son. » On her website War and Piece, Laura Rozen questions a piece in which Debat asserts that the CIA was funding the Baluchis to attack the Tehran regime.

Update : ABC News just posted a story about the fake interview of Obama on its website. Oddly enough the story is written by Brian Ross the chief investigative correspondent of the unit that used Debat.