The Nation - News from Dec. 2, 1988

FMC Corp., a defense manufacturer, knowingly shipped defective Bradley Fighting Vehicles to the Army, which accepted them even though it was warned about the problems, ABC News reported. The “ABC World News Tonight” report came the day after FMC filed suit in Chicago against ABC News to regain what the company said were stolen documents used for an earlier story on alleged parts overcharges for the Bradley. “FMC has brought suit against ABC charging that we are wrongfully in possession of FMC documents,” anchorman Peter Jennings said at the beginning of the Bradley segment. “At ABC News we say that’s not true.” In the report, the network said it had obtained a government memo in which a Defense Department quality assurance inspector cited the Chicago-based builder for a faulty mechanism that was supposed to help the Bradley float.