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Reporters' emails to the Clinton campaign in the Podesta leak

Podesta emails published by WikiLeaks in October 2016 showed several prominent political reporters sharing drafts, offering quote approval, or asking the Clinton campaign chairman for interview ideas. The emails are documented, though how serious each one was remains disputed.

Oct 11, 2016 ·

What the record shows

On Sept. 21, 2015, John Harwood, signing as "CNBC/NYT," emailed John Podesta with the subject "what should I ask Jeb..." about an upcoming interview with Jeb Bush. After moderating a GOP debate, Harwood emailed Podesta about how he had questioned Trump. Politico's Glenn Thrush sent Podesta part of a draft story, writing "Because I have become a hack I will send u the whole section," and asked him not to tell anyone. Politico later said sharing the full piece "was a mistake and not consistent with our policies." Emails from July 2015 showed Clinton aide Jennifer Palmieri asking New York Times reporter Mark Leibovich to leave out a Sarah Palin joke, after he had offered the campaign a veto over quotes from an interview. His published piece did not include the joke.

What the record doesn’t support

Thrush said he was checking facts, which he did with all sources, and Podesta requested no changes. Snopes found that other viral claims, such as the NYT "warning" the campaign before stories, showed only routine requests for comment, not collusion. The emails were obtained through a hack that US intelligence attributed to Russia, but the cited messages have not been shown to be inauthentic.

Sources

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