ABC reported on Sen. Reid's "new ethics controversy" but continued to ignore FBI inquiry into Rep. Weldon

The October 17 broadcast of ABC's World News with Charles Gibson featured a brief report on Senate Democratic Leader Harry Reid's (D-NV) "new ethics controversy" -- allegations that he, as the Los Angeles Times put it, "has been using campaign donations instead of his personal money to pay Christmas bonuses for support staff" at his Washington, D.C., home. Anchor Charles Gibson also noted that Reid said he would "file a new financial disclosure statement on a controversial land deal that earned him $700,000 in profit." ABC has yet to report, however, on the FBI's October 16 raids of Rep. Curt Weldon's (R-PA) daughter's home and other locations, as part of what The New York Times described as an "intensifying corruption inquiry" into whether Weldon "misused his official position to help his daughter's company obtain lobbying contracts from foreign clients and helped steer contracts to favored firms."

From the October 17 broadcast of ABC's World News with Charles Gibson:

GIBSON: The Senate Democratic Leader, Harry Reid, is dealing with a new ethics controversy. He says he's going to repay his campaign for $3,300 in campaign funds he used to give his apartment building staff Christmas bonuses. Federal law bars the use of campaign funds for personal expenses. Yesterday, Reid said, he will file a new financial disclosure statement on a controversial land deal that earned him $700,000 in profit.

—S.S.M.