CNSNews.com, the news website of the conservative Media Research Center, is reporting that former Sen. Arlen Specter (D-Pa.) is developing a Sunday morning talk show for Maryland Public Television. The first episode of The Whole Truth is scheduled to be produced Nov. 29 at the Newseum in Washington, D.C., according to CNSNews.com, and will air in January. “This is a pilot, and we hope to put on many, many additional programs — depends on how well we do and how well it is received,” Specter told the news site. His first guests include former Sen. Evan Bayh (D-Ind.) and former Sen. Fred Thompson (R-Tenn.) and the topic will be the Supreme Court decision in Citizens United v. the Federal Election Commission, which held that political spending is a form of protected speech.
Specter said in a letter to a potential guest, obtained by CNSNews.com, that the program will be an “interrogation of principal guests, speaking for both sides of the issues, and a diverse and distinguished live audience of scholars, public officials, journalists and students.”
UPDATE: Steven J. Schupak, MPT’s s.v.p., content enterprises, confirmed to Current that The Whole Truth pilot has been green-lit and plans are for 13 half-hour episodes. It will premiere on MPT at 8 p.m. Eastern on Jan. 13, 2012. No distributor has yet been set.