Truth in Reporting

For John, BLUF:  This sounded dubious from the start.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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Trump 'Not Considering' Extraditing Erdogan Foe Gulen in Bid to Ease Turkish Pressure on Saudi Arabia

Here is the sub-headline:

NBC News reported the Trump administration had explored whether it could extradite Gulen, as a way to persuade Tayyip Erdogan to ease pressure on Saudi Arabia over the killing of Jamal Khashoggi

From Heeretz, from Reuters, 17 November 2018.

Here is the lede plus one:

U.S. President Donald Trump said Saturday he was not considering extraditing a U.S.-based Muslim cleric to Turkey as part of an effort to ease pressure on Saudi Arabia.

“No, it’s not under consideration,” Trump told reporters when asked about potential extradition of Fethullah Gulen, who is wanted in Turkey over accusations he was involved in a failed 2016 coup.

So, is this item from NBC what we call "Fake News"?  Or, was it a trial balloon?.

I wonder why NBC fell for this?  Did they do their due diligence? 

Hat tip to the InstaPundit.

Regards  —  Cliff