CBS News Editor-in-Chief Bari Weiss and “60 Minutes” boss Nick Bilton were saved in the darkish about a deported migrant’s claim on immigration paperwork that he was homosexual forward of a controversial section that aired on the TV information magazine show last Sunday, The Post has realized.
Weiss and Bilton “went ballistic” when they realized from the Department of Homeland Security’s post on X on late Sunday that “60 Minutes” producers ignored info that Moussa Diawara appeared to have claimed he was homosexual on immigration paperwork in order to gain asylum in the US, a source close to the state of affairs said.
Instead, the program, which aired last Sunday, reported that in 2012, a US decide ruled that Diawara could not be deported to Mali, a Muslim-majority nation, because he “converted to Christianity” eight months earlier.
Moussa Diawara, who has a spouse and two youngsters, claimed he would be persecuted for homosexuality if returned home to Mali. 60 Minutes/CBS News
A CBS News source said the section, which was anchored by beginner contributor Gianna Toboni and produced by veteran Andy Court, deliberately left out the homosexual claim to “protect him.”
An individual acquainted with the matter added that Court made a deal with Diawari’s lawyer to not point out the homosexual claim and did not loop in Bilton or any other higher-ups at the show or community.
The blowback from the piece prompted Bilton to grill Toboni and Court in a closed-door assembly Thursday, The Post has realized. Sources say the community is weighing disciplinary motion or firing Court, a 28-year veteran of the community with a slew of producing awards to his title.
According to a copy of DHS’s electronic mail obtained by The Post, on Oct. 6 — more than two weeks before the piece aired — DHS replied to several CBS News staff concerned in the manufacturing telling them that Moussa Diawara, “who is married to a woman he shares two children with, oddly claimed he would be persecuted for homosexuality if returned home to Mali.”
CBS News boss Bari Weiss was saved in the darkish about the ommission and didn’t be taught about it until after the piece aired, a source briefed on the matter said. Getty Images for The Free Press
A community source instructed The Post that DHS didn’t “explicitly state he was committing fraud in the email,” including, “out of consideration for his safety they omitted his sexuality.”
It is unclear why the piece was not shelved or even scrapped. One source recommended that “60 Minutes” Bilton is “under a lot of pressure to deliver” and that he had “nothing else on deck.”
A community source denied that, saying the show has “dozens of stories in production they can get ready to air.”
DHS’s response to “60 Minutes.”
Another insider speculated that the section, which included a sitdown with Diawara in an undisclosed nation in Africa, was costly and that reshooting it would be “too costly.”
An individual familar with the matter said Bilton would possible have amended the piece to embody DHS’s info, however.
Court, Bilton, Weiss did not remark. CBS News declined to remark.
Department of Homeland Security General Counsel James Percival talks about third-country deportations with “60 Minutes’” contributor Gianna Toboni. CBS/Youtube
“60 Minutes” producer Andy Court may face disciplary motion, The Post has realized.
Pictured with his spouse and youngsters, Moussa Diawara, 57, was deported following a ruling after overstaying a vacationer visa in the US. 60 Minutes/CBS News
Ben Bogardus, Professor and Chair of the Journalism Department at Quinnipiac University, called the episode a “self-inflicted wound for journalists at a time when people think journalists are pushing an agenda.”
“It’s very disappointing to see something like this,” he said. “I would have erred on the side of including the information. To me, this is a big part of the story.”
“60 Minutes” contributor Gianna Toboni, led the piece on third-country deportations. CBS/Youtube
A fourth CBS source chalked the entire factor up to inexperience.
It is unclear if there will be any fallout from the newest snafu, or if “60 Minutes” will replace the story on this Sunday’s show.
But Weiss, who on Wednesday implored critics to “judge us by our journalism” during The Information’s WTF Summit, is keenly conscious of blowback.
After the section aired, the Trump administration went on a tear on social media, slamming “60 Minutes” for failing to point out the key cause why Diawari was deported to Ghana in July, more than a decade after he overstayed a vacationer visa and claimed refugee standing that barred him from being despatched back to Mali.
“60 Minutes” govt producer Nick Bilton held a closed-door assembly with Toboni and producer Andy Court amid the fallout from the section. Getty Images
DHS General Counsel James Percival revealed in an X post that he pulled Diawara’s immigration file and found “his claimed reason for fearing Mali was that he is ‘gay,’ just in case you’re wondering how bad the immigration fraud problem is.”
A community source said all the noise is because “the ’60 Minutes’ story “struck a nerve with Percival and the DHS by laying out the facts about people being deported to third countries and ending up in places US immigration judges have ruled off limites.”
On his asylum utility, Diawara — who has a spouse and is described as a “Texas dad” by CBS News — rejoiced that “since I came to the USA I had the possibilities to express my feelings to men without any embarrassment [and] no reserve.”
Diawara fled Mali for an undisclosed African nation. 60 Minutes/CBS News
“Although I was born as a boy, but things appeared differently for me as I was already having female behaviors and feelings,” he wrote. “I was more comfortable being intimate with boys rather than with girls.”
In the section, Diawara alleged that within days of arriving in Ghana, authorities in the West African nation compelled him on a flight to Mali.
He has since fled Mali and is dwelling in an undisclosed nation, according to “60 Minutes.”
“This was basically giving the Trump administration more ammunition that ’60 Minutes’ has an agenda,” a TV insider said. “It’s embarrassing.”
