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The Media’s Crimes
Confirmed

Donna Brazile passed CNN town hall questions to Clinton camp

Podesta emails published by WikiLeaks in October 2016 showed that Donna Brazile, then a CNN contributor, sent the Clinton campaign advance word of questions before CNN-hosted primary events. She denied it at first, CNN cut ties with her on Oct. 31, 2016, and in March 2017 she admitted it in TIME.

Oct 31, 2016 ·

What the record shows

One email under the subject line "From time to time I get the questions in advance" forwarded a death-penalty question ahead of a March 2016 CNN town hall, with the note "Here's one that worries me about HRC." Another email described a question about Flint, Michigan lead poisoning before the March 2016 debate in Flint. Brazile first said she "never had access to questions," and CNN said it had never given a town hall question to anyone in advance, suggesting the question came from its partner TV One. On Oct. 31, 2016, CNN said it had accepted Brazile's resignation as a contributor on Oct. 14 and was "completely uncomfortable" with what it had learned. In a March 2017 TIME essay, Brazile acknowledged she shared "potential town hall topics" with the campaign.

What the record doesn’t support

CNN said the question material likely reached Brazile through its partner TV One, not from CNN staff. Brazile was a paid contributor and DNC vice chair, not a CNN journalist or debate producer. In her essay she described sharing "topics" and never conceded having verbatim questions.

Sources

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