Video News Clips: In Their Own Words

CNN Host Completely Omits Own Network’s Past Of Leaking Questions To Clinton While Criticizing Opposing Outlet

[Screenshot/CNN]

A CNN host criticized Fox News on Wednesday for an alleged “breach of journalism ethics” by reportedly releasing questions to President-elect Donald Trump ahead of a town hall without once mentioning that a former staffer at their own network once relayed debate and town hall questions to former Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton.

The network cited a new book by Alex Isenstadt titled, “Revenge: The Inside Story of Trump’s Return to Power,” which alleges that an individual working for Fox News handed Trump questions ahead of a town hall in January. CNN host Kate Bolduan did not mention former Democratic National Committee chair Donna Brazile’s leakage of debate and town hall questions to the Clinton campaign during her time as a network contributor while covering the Fox News story.

“A new book claiming Donald Trump and his team were given questions in advance of his Fox News town hall in Iowa last January sent in by someone inside Fox News. To be clear, handing over questions before any interview or town hall is a serious breach of journalistic ethics,” Bouldan said.

CNN media correspondent Hadas Gold, while citing the book, reported that a senior aide received the town hall questions through a text message and had time to “workshop their answers” before the town hall which had been moderated by Fox News’ Martha MacCallum and Bret Baier.

Fox News told the Daily Caller News Foundation that they have not received evidence to back up Insenstadt’s claims, but will investigate and take the matter seriously. The network further said that if there was a breach, it was not conducted by MacCallum, Baier or any top editorial levels.

“While we do not have any evidence of this occurring, and Alex Isenstadt has conveniently refused to release the images for fact checking, we take these matters very seriously and plan to investigate should there prove to be a breach within the network,” Fox News said in a statement.

WATCH: 

During the coverage, the hosts declined to mention that its former contributor Donna Brazile provided debate and town hall questions to the Clinton campaign during the 2016 election season. Emails hacked from then-Clinton campaign chairman John Podesta’s account revealed that Brazile provided the Clinton campaign with questions intended to be asked to the then-Democratic candidate at a March 13 town hall co-hosted by CNN and TV One. Brazile had also shared a question from a debate hosted by CNN a week earlier.

A March 5, 2016, email showed that Brazile shared a question with Podesta and communications director Jennifer Palmieri that was to be asked during a March 6 debate hosted in Flint, Michigan. A separate email from March 12 showed Brazile stating that she had received a town hall question from Roland Martin, a TV One host who co-moderated the March 13 town hall with CNN host Jake Tapper.

Brazile resigned from CNN in October 2016 following the leaks of the emails. The network said they were “completely uncomfortable” with their former contributor’s actions and accepted her exit. Former CNN chief Jeff Zucker called Brazile’s leaks of debate and town hall questions “unethical” and “disgusting” in a November 2016 statement.

“I have no tolerance for her behavior or that kind of behavior,” Zucker previously told network employees.

Following her resignation, Brazile wrote in a Time Magazine piece published on March 17, 2017, that she had been “working behind the scenes” to “make all of [the] Democratic candidates look good.” She wrote that leaking the questions to the Clinton campaign was “a mistake [she] will never forget.”

“I had been working behind the scenes to add more town hall events and debates to the primary calendar, and I helped ensure those events included diverse moderators and addressed topics vital to minority communities,” Brazile wrote. “My job was to make all our Democratic candidates look good, and I worked closely with both campaigns to make that happen. But sending those emails was a mistake I will forever regret.”

Ahead of the 2024 election, Trump campaign national press secretary Karoline Leavitt said that CNN assured Trump’s campaign that the network had not leaked any questions to President Joe Biden ahead of the June 27 debate.

CNN did not immediately respond to the DCNF’s request for comment.