Statement Analysis: Eric Bolling, Fox News

This was my analysis of Mr. Bolling's statement of an alleged sexual harassment claim by multiple women who have or work at Fox News. I stated in my analysis that Mr. Bolling statement was very equivocal and he was not committed to his statements. Fox News must have felt the same way after their investigation. Mr. Bolling's was fired today from Fox News and his show was cancelled.

Fox News
Sexual Harassment

Eric Bolling has made a statement through his attorney regarding a claim of sexual harassment by multiple women who work or have worked at Fox News. They have accused him of sending lewd photos of a man's genitalia through text messages. Mr. Bollings has denied these accusations.
The statement below was made by his attorney on Bollings behalf. This statement was not made directly by Bollings but by his attorney, so in all fairness to Mr. Bollings I must be careful that my analysis does not fall victim to "para phrasing." These statements made by Bollings attorney are somewhat equivocal and lack true conviction on Mr. Bollings innocence.

Bolling’s lawyer, Michael J. Bowe, did not immediately return a request for comment on Heldman’s accusations. But in response to HuffPost’s report about Bolling’s current and former colleagues accusing him of sending lewd photos, he said, “ Mr. Bolling recalls no such inappropriate communications, does not believe he sent any such communications, and will vigorously pursue his legal remedies for any false and defamatory accusations that are made.”

Analysis:

“Mr. Bolling recalls no such inappropriate communications,"

This statement falls short of stating Mr. Bollings didn't do it, a better statement should have stated "I didn't send out or Mr. Bollings stated he didn't send lewd photos to his colleagues or send out inappropriate communications." People do not want to tell a direct lie, having a lapse of memory is a way to deny an accusation and have it sound like a good denial rather than stating outright "I didn’t do that." Also what may seem as "inappropriate" to his colleagues may not seem "inappropriate" in Mr. Bollings mind. Also there are no synonyms in statement analysis. His attorney used the statement "inappropriate communications" not "lewd photos" as was stated in the accusations. "inappropriate communications" and "lewd photos" do not mean the same thing.

"…does not believe he sent any such communications."

The word "believe" means he is unsure. It falls short of stating "He/I didn't do it."

"I didn't send out lewd photos to anyone." Also there is a missing pronoun in the attorney's statement. "who does not believe" I can only believe what you tell me. A stronger statement should have stated "he/Mr.Bollings does not believe or Mr. Bollings does not believe." The attorney fell short of stating that.

"and will vigorously pursue his legal remedies for any false and defamatory accusations that are made.”

Who will vigorously pursue? The words "that are made" his attorney is talking about the present and possible future accusations. What about the accusations that "were" made in the past. The past accusations? Also the word "pursue" is a strong statement and sounds like a threat.

Based on his attorney's statements Mr. Bolling's has a problem here.