When a grand jury indicted former CNN host Don Lemon on January 29 for allegedly participating in the disruption of a Minneapolis-area church service, the corporate media erupted in outrage.
But amid all the handwringing, one crucial fact was buried: Lemon’s arrest was the result of a grand jury indictment — not some rogue move by an out-of-control Justice Department.
According to an analysis by the Media Research Center, not a single journalist on the Big Three broadcast networks — ABC, CBS, or NBC — told viewers that Lemon’s arrest stemmed from a grand jury indictment.
MRC analysts reviewed coverage across the networks’ flagship programs — Good Morning America, CBS Mornings, Today, ABC World News Tonight, CBS Evening News, and NBC Nightly News — from the morning of January 30 through the morning of February 3, 2026.
Across seven separate reports totaling more than 14 minutes, the networks never once mentioned that Lemon’s arrest followed a grand jury’s decision — the most basic and damning procedural fact of the case.
Each network covered the arrest on January 30 during its evening newscast and again the following morning. In total, ABC devoted 163 seconds, CBS 351 seconds, and NBC 334 seconds to the story. CBS Mornings also ran an additional report just hours after the arrest.
Yet despite all that airtime, viewers were left in the dark.
While the networks ignored the indictment, they repeatedly highlighted another angle — that a magistrate judge had declined to issue an arrest warrant, followed by a separate appellate court denial. CBS mentioned those details three times, NBC twice, and ABC once.
NBC’s coverage was the most aggressively sympathetic. Correspondent Liz Kreutz suggested at least eight times that Lemon was arrested merely for “reporting” on or “covering” a protest — not for allegedly participating in the disruption of a church service.
In a report that aired both the night of January 30 and again the following morning, Kreutz framed the arrest as a political attack: “[Lemon] repeatedly identifies himself as a journalist… But the DOJ is grouping Lemon, who has been critical of the Trump administration — and another independent journalist who was also arrested — with the protest organizers.”
The implication was clear: Lemon wasn’t being charged — he was being silenced.
On several occasions, reporters vaguely referenced “the indictment.” Yet not once did they explain what indictment, who issued it, or how the process works.
That omission wasn’t accidental.
It suggests the broadcast networks understand exactly why Lemon was charged — and why a grand jury’s involvement undercuts the narrative of political persecution. Instead, they chose to hide the most consequential fact and present Lemon as an obvious victim before a jury ever hears the case.
More over at MRC:
🚨 SPECIAL REPORT: The leftist media are hiding Don Lemon's grand jury indictment.
Not a single journalist from ABC, CBS or NBC has acknowledged that Don Lemon was indicted by a jury of his peers.https://t.co/gNwJ6fkY8c
— MRC NewsBusters (@newsbusters) February 3, 2026
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