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Analyst: ESPN reporter 'was on a mission' | wwltv.com New Orleans

Analyst: ESPN reporter 'was on a mission'



WWLTV.com
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Here's an interview with Eyewitness News legal analyst Donald "Chick" Foret on an ESPN report claiming GM Mickey Loomis could listen in on opponents during Saints games via an electronic device. Foret says the author of the ESPN report tried to interview him.
Foret: “They’re talking about two statutes, according to the ESPN report this afternoon. The federal statue is the electronic communication privacy act of 1986, and Louisiana law has a similar statute.
“But I have real trouble with this report. I have been told by some sources of mine that this is virtually impossible.
“The NFL has what’s called an NFL frequency coordinator who is at every game. He is controlled by the NFL, and he controls the frequency. I just don’t see that this happened.”
Angela Hill: “You had communicated with the reporter?”
Foret: “John Barr, the reporter on April 5 called me asking a lot of questions about the Saints. Obviously, everyone is piling on as a result of the bounty scandal. He called me on April 5 and he asked me some really crazy questions, and it was obvious to me that he was looking for dirt on the Saints. I felt terribly uncomfortable with the conversation. I reported it to the Saints.
“It’s obvious to me that John Barr had a mission, and it looks like he reported on that mission today.”
Karen Swensen: "Would you go so far as to say that might have included malice, and if so could Loomis potentially sue for defamation?"
Foret: "Certainly, as I think Doug Sunseri is going to talk about in a piece a little later. Certainly there is a possibility of a defamation of character lawsuit. There’s no question about that. You can’t go out and defame someone. If it’s false – I believe this report to be false, we’ll have to wait and see."
"Now it’s been turned over to the U.S. Attorney’s Office. Jim Letten is going to do his due diligence. He has turned it over to the FBI for investigation. We will find out whether or not this happened, because it looks like the FBI is gonna be put on notice. They’re going to investigate, so we’ll find out if it happened or not."
Hill: "But you know, I think people wonder. Where does this come from? Is it a disgruntled employee from the past. The Saints are sort of on their knees know, hit them when they’re vulnerable."
Foret: "John Barr in early April, as I say he called me on April 5, he was calling a number of ex employees. It seems to me he stumbled upon a disgruntled ex employee who gave him this information. I don’t know that anyone has been able to check this information out. There’s some report after Katrina.
"It just doesn’t make any sense to me, and I don’t believe it."