CNN Lawyers Gagged in Fight With Justice Dept. Over Reporter’s Email Data

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The disclosure of the aggressive leak investigation tactic followed a similar revelation involving The New York Times.

WASHINGTON — CNN secretly fought an attempt by the Justice Department to seize tens of thousands of email logs of one of its reporters, the network disclosed on Wednesday, adding that the government imposed a gag order on CNN’s lawyers and its president, Jeff Zucker, as part of the legal battle.

The disclosure — including that CNN ultimately agreed to turn over “a limited set of email logs” involving the reporter, Barbara Starr — was the latest to recently come to light in a series of aggressive steps that federal prosecutors secretly took in leak investigations late in the Trump administration.

It is also the second such episode known to have spilled over into the early Biden administration. CNN struck a deal with prosecutors to settle the matter on Jan. 26, it said, and the government only recently lifted the gag order. Continue reading.

CNN Cuts Ties With Contributor Rick Santorum

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CNN is parting ways with contributor Rick Santorum, the former Republican Senator and presidential candidate who has come under fire for remarks he made last month about Native American culture.

Speaking to an audience last month at an event organized by Young America’s Foundation, Santorum suggested Native American people had little influence on U.S. culture. “We birthed a nation from nothing. I mean, there was nothing here,” he told a gathering of students. “I mean, yes, we have Native Americans, but candidly, there isn’t much Native American culture in American culture.”

The comments drew criticism from groups like the National Congress of American Indians. Santorum didn’t help matters when he appeared on CNN’s “Cuomo Prime Time” and declined to apologize for the remarks or how they were interpreted, simply telling the anchor they were taken out of context. CNN confirmed a previous report in The Huffington Post revealing that the politician and the network were cutting ties. Santorum was first named a CNN contributor in 2017. Continue reading.

Trump administration secretly obtained CNN reporter’s phone and email records

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WASHINGTON — The Trump administration secretly sought and obtained the 2017 phone and email records of a CNN correspondent, the latest instance where federal prosecutors have taken aggressive steps targeting journalists in leak investigations.

The Justice Department informed CNN Pentagon correspondent Barbara Starr, in a May 13 letter, that prosecutors had obtained her phone and email records covering two months, between June 1, 2017 to July 31, 2017. The letter listed phone numbers for Starr’s Pentagon extension, the CNN Pentagon booth phone number and her home and cell phones, as well as Starr’s work and personal email accounts.

It is unclear when the investigation was opened, whether it happened under Attorney General Jeff Sessions or Attorney General William Barr, and what the Trump administration was looking for in Starr’s records. The Justice Department confirmed the records were sought through the courts last year but provided no further explanation or context. Continue reading.

CNN’s Brianna Keilar Scorches Republicans Who Say Impeachment Is Too Divisive

She called out lawmakers who enabled Trump’s election lies, then complained after an insurrection that impeachment would sow division.

CNN’s Brianna Keilar on Thursday looked back at the divisive rhetoric of Republicans who voted against the second impeachment of Donald Trump because they claimed it would be too divisive.

“The very people who have been saying for months that Trump won an election that he did not ― who are knowingly telling supporters this lie, who have enabled a president who wants to break the system as he tries to harness the rage of extremists and racists for his own self preservation ― are telling people who want accountability to let it go. It’s ‘too divisive.’”

Trump on Tuesday spoke out about the impeachment proceedings, claiming that it was causing “tremendous anger,” after he spent months spreading disinformation about the presidential election and fomenting political unrest that culminated in a violent insurrection on the U.S. Capitol from his supporters, who sought to overturn the election results. Continue reading.

‘There’s no pandemic!’ Tennessee pastor explodes at CNN reporter asking if he’ll take COVID vaccine

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In conversation with CNN’s Ellie Reed broadcast on Thursday, Pastor Greg Locke of Global Vision Bible Church in Mount Juliet, Tennessee exploded when asked his position on the COVID-19 vaccine, denying that there even was a pandemic at all.

“Faith over fear. I ain’t worried about some fake pandemic,” said Locke, a pro-Trump preacher who has previously drawn controversy for claiming that history classes in public schools are part of an “Islamic invasion.” “I’m not saying the sickness isn’t real. I’m saying the pandemic is not.”

“I don’t understand what you mean when you say the pandemic is not real,” said Reed. “What do you think a pandemic is?” Continue reading.

Project Veritas’s James O’Keefe crashed a private CNN teleconference. CNN says he may have broken the law.

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Over the last few years, Project Veritas has gathered evidence in an effort to prove that CNN slants its coverage to hurt President Trump. In the past, that has meant surreptitiously recording and releasing videos of unsuspecting CNN employees talking about the network’s coverage, as well as releasing leaked tapes of commentsmade by network executives and staffers in editorial meetings. Last year, the conservative group revealed that a contractor hired by CNN as a satellite uplink technician had been a primary “whistleblower” on the effort.

But on Tuesday, Project Veritas — an organization that has used deceptive tactics in some of its attempts to capture proof of what it says is liberal bias and corruption in mainstream media and government — may have crossed a line. To help promote a new cache of two months of recordings of CNN’s daily morning editorial calls, the group’s founder, James O’Keefe, filmed himself calling in to the network’s 9 a.m. meeting and pressing CNN President Jeff Zucker on the network’s journalistic integrity.

While Project Veritas had previously disseminated covert recordings of CNN’s daily meeting, in this video O’Keefe himself could be seen dialing in to a private CNN call — apparently without the knowledge or consent of participants. Continue reading.

‘I’m not going to let you do this’: CNN anchor shuts down Republican’s attempt to dodge Trump’s lies

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If you haven’t heard, this Donald Trump guy doesn’t seem to be a particularly good guy. He doesn’t seem to be a particularly competent guy. Frankly, he seems like he’s bad for our country. Hold on while I set fire to my possessions for fear I catch and spread the very real United States coronavirus pandemic. As former journalist turned celebrity political author Bob Woodward releases excerpts and audio recordings of President Trump to promote Woodward’s new book, the public is once again being treated to information we already knew, just coming out of the pedestrian mouth of the Donald himself.

Republican Sen. John Kennedy of Louisiana has made a name for himself as a slow-talking craven insect of a politician. Whether he is defending the Confederacy, or promote pro-Putin conspiracy theories on the Sunday shows, or blaming China and Mardi Gras drinking for the spread of the coronavirus in Louisiana, Sen. Kennedy has shown himself to not only be a foolish mind, but also a truly shameless one.

Kennedy came on CNN to talk with anchor Pamela Brown about the day’s news. Brown’s opening question to Kennedy was whether or not Trump’s admission that he “downplayed” the threat of the virus—literally calling it the “new Democratic hoax”—was “acceptable to you?” Kennedy gave a nice via satellite pause before beginning on-brand dumb: “You’re talking about the Woodward book?” Oh, man. Wow. It is literally the reason he is on the show, to be asked his thoughts on a Republican leader who has been recorded admitting to misleading the public about the then-impending public health crisis. A crisis that has claimed hundreds of thousands of American lives, and will potentially take hundreds of thousands more American lives. Continue reading.

Jake Tapper: ‘Trump Stands With Dead, Racist Losers’ by Honoring Confederate Commanders

“It does not take much moral clarity to understand that a good place to start would be for the United States to stop honoring traitors and terrorists,” the host said

Once again, President Trump has decided to stand with racism and align himself with America’s racist history. With protests sparked nationwide by racist police brutality, a new effort has begun to rename U.S. military bases that are named after confederate officers, but the current president won’t consider the issue. He instead says the movement disrespects the country’s “history as the Greatest Nation in the World.”

This week Trump tweeted, “My Administration will not even consider the renaming of these Magnificent and Fabled Military Installations. Our history as the Greatest Nation in the World will not be tampered with. Respect our Military!”

On Sunday, CNN’s Jake Tapper blasted Trump on the topic. The host first spoke about the lengthy list of military leaders who have recently criticized Trump’s divisiveness during a time of national unrest. He then contrasted that with how the president has lashed out against them while cuddling up to the “traitors” and “losers” of America’s past. Continue reading.

CNN’s Kaitlan Collins nails Trump for repeatedly changing his story on disinfectant advice

AlterNet logoOn CNN Friday, White House correspondent Kaitlan Collins demolished President Donald Trump’s false claim that he had only been “sarcastic” when suggesting people inject themselves with household cleaners to treat coronavirus.

“Of all of the unreliable and even whackadoodle stuff that the president has said in these briefings, this may take the cake, and now the president is claiming that he wasn’t being serious,” said anchor Brianna Keilar. “What are you hearing?”

“So after there was criticism from the doctors, and as you noted, Lysol had to put out a statement saying not to pursue this route, the White House put out a statement saying that reporters were taking the president out of context, and he said that people should consult with doctors before pursuing treatment,” said Collins. “What that statement did not say was that the president was being sarcastic, which is now what he was arguing as he did in the Oval Office not long ago.” Continue reading.

Former Wall Street exec drops stunning prediction on damage Trump will inflict on US if he rushes businesses to reopen

AlterNet logoAppearing on CNN early Sunday morning, a former Wall Street executive warned Donald Trump that, if he rushes the country to get back to normal before the doctors give the go-ahead, he could do damage that could take a decade to fix.

Speaking with host John King, Alexis Glick, who currently is the CEO of GENYOUth, was asked by the host about the president’s desire to get the economy up and going while the coronavirus continues to ravage the country.

The president talks about a rocket ship,” King began. “You’re in the Bill Gates camp, that the damage here is so deep it’s going to be building blocks.” Continue reading.