CNN's Cuomo: It's 'illegal' for the public to possess the WikiLeaks emails
Introducing a segment on hacked Podesta emails in mid-October 2016, CNN anchor Chris Cuomo told viewers it was illegal to possess the stolen documents and that the rules were different for the media.
The claim discouraged voters from reading leaked emails that embarrassed the Clinton campaign.
What was reported
Introducing a segment on hacked Podesta emails in mid-October 2016, CNN anchor Chris Cuomo told viewers it was illegal to possess the stolen documents and that the rules were different for the media.
What actually happened
Legal scholars quickly said this was wrong. GWU law professor Jonathan Turley wrote that reading or downloading already-public WikiLeaks material is not an actionable crime for ordinary citizens and that the case law weighs heavily against the threat described on air. Free-press advocates noted that Bartnicki v. Vopper protects people who did not take part in the original theft. CNN issued no on-air correction.
The proof
Published legal analysis by Turley and others citing Supreme Court precedent (Bartnicki v. Vopper). No prosecutions of readers ever followed.
The receipt. Copy this and paste it anywhere:
CNN's Cuomo: It's 'illegal' for the public to possess the WikiLeaks emails — Debunked. Published legal analysis by Turley and others citing Supreme Court precedent (Bartnicki v. Vopper). No prosecutions of readers ever followed. Full file: https://www.thepropagandafiles.com/case/cnn-cuomo-illegal-to-possess-wikileaks/
Original reporting
- Law&Crime: Law prof smacks down Cuomo's claim it's illegal to possess WikiLeaks emails (quotes segment)https://lawandcrime.com/high-profile/law-prof-smacks-down-cnn-chris-cuomos-claim-that-its-illegal-to-possess-wikileaks-emails/amp/
Corrections, findings & records
- Jonathan Turley: CNN says it is illegal for voters to possess WikiLeaks materialhttps://jonathanturley.org/2016/10/17/cnn-it-is-illegal-for-voters-to-possess-wikileaks-material/amp/
- Techdirt: CNN tells viewers it's illegal to read WikiLeaks dumps. CNN is wronghttps://www.techdirt.com/2016/10/19/cnn-tells-viewers-illegal-them-to-read-wikileaks-document-dumps-cnn-is-wrong/
Archived copies
Stories get edited after publication. These open the Internet Archive's earliest saved copy of each original.
- Archived copy: Law&Crime: Law prof smacks down Cuomo's claim it's illegal to possess WikiLeaks emails (quotes segment)https://web.archive.org/web/2/https://lawandcrime.com/high-profile/law-prof-smacks-down-cnn-chris-cuomos-claim-that-its-illegal-to-possess-wikileaks-emails/amp/