Tuesday, November 1, 2016

CNN distances itself from DNC chair following email leak

With only a week until Election Day, CNN is scrambling to separate itself from a political crisis.

On Monday, Wikileaks released hacked emails from presidential nominee Hillary Clinton’s campaign chairman, John Podesta. The hack alleges that former CNN contributor and interim Democratic National Committee chair Donna Brazile leaked two primary event questions to Clinton.

USA Today reported:

The email, originally sent March 5, 2016, warned that “One of the questions directed to HRC tomorrow is from a woman with a rash.”

“Her family has lead poison and she will ask what, if anything, will Hillary do as president to help the ppl of Flint,” Brazile wrote.

During the March 6 debate, Lee-Anne Walters, who said her family was poisoned by lead, asked Clinton and Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders if they would “make a personal promise to me right now.”

“As president, in your first 100 days in office, you will make it a requirement that all public water systems must remove all lead service lines throughout the entire United States, and notification made to the — citizens that have said service lines,” Walters asked.

CNN swiftly announced that it had accepted Brazile’s resignation as a network contributor two weeks ago, though Brazile tweeted the news on Monday:

CNN spokeswoman Lauren Pratapas issued the following statement:

On October 14th, CNN accepted Donna Brazile’s resignation as a CNN contributor. (Her deal had previously been suspended in July when she became the interim head of the DNC.) CNN never gave Brazile access to any questions, prep material, attendee list, background information or meetings in advance of a town hall or debate. We are completely uncomfortable with what we have learned about her interactions with the Clinton campaign while she was a CNN contributor.

Brazile tweeted the following after the emails surfaced:

RELATED: Keep your cool in a crisis with these tips.

The statement she gave Oct. 11—after the first allegation surfaced—read:

As a longtime political activist with deep ties to our party, I supported all of our candidates for president. I often shared my thoughts with each and every campaign, and any suggestions that indicate otherwise are simply untrue. As it pertains to the CNN Debates, I never had access to questions and would never have shared them with the candidates if I did.

On Monday night, Brazile tweeted the following in response to critics and supporters:

CNN has remained silent beyond its statement that it had cut ties with Brazile. The DNC has not issued any statements about the allegations.

Though the allegations involve Brazile, they could be “more damaging” to CNN, The New York Times reported:

The episode has cast a harsh spotlight on the cable news practice of paying partisan political operatives to appear as on-air commentators. Like Ms. Brazile, these guests can offer a plugged-in viewpoint on the day’s events, but they often also parrot campaign talking points and, as in this case, create potential ethical conflicts.

CNN has already faced criticism over its hiring of Corey Lewandowski, Donald J. Trump’s former campaign manager, as a paid contributor, even as he remains an informal adviser to the candidate.

Ms. Brazile’s infraction, however, may be more damaging. Her sharing of questions with a candidate would seem to undercut the impartiality of the event and, as a CNN contributor, potentially reflect poorly on the network, which received big ratings, and thus profits, from primary debates and town halls.

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