Thanks for correcting that.
This sitaution seems very CYA. Why else would you issue a memo criticizing a report that hasn't been released yet?
Well, if my company's CEO had the opportunity to see an advance copy of a local news org's investigative report in which my company is portrayed in a very bad light, I would expect the CEO to send a memo to all the employees to (1) prepare us for what we're about to see and (2) respond to the allegations -- false or otherwise, it really doesn't matter -- in order to minimize the damage inside the company (morale, etc.).
So, I don't question why the memo came out before the report aired. In my opinion, the timing of the memo is not indicative of whether the report contains any truth.