Democratic National Committee v. The Russian Federation et al

Filing 212

MEMORANDUM OF LAW in Support re: #211 MOTION to Dismiss Amended Complaint. . Document filed by Donald J. Trump For President, Inc.. (Attachments: #1 Exhibit 1, #2 Exhibit 2, #3 Exhibit 3, #4 Exhibit 4, #5 Exhibit 5, #6 Exhibit 6, #7 Exhibit 7, #8 Exhibit 8, #9 Exhibit 9, #10 Exhibit 10, #11 Exhibit 11, #12 Exhibit 12, #13 Exhibit 13)(Carvin, Michael)

Exhibit 5
Democratic National Committee v. Donald J. Trump for President, Inc., et al.
(No. 1:18-cv-3501-JGK-SDA)

12/7/2018

CNN Parts Ways With Donna Brazile, a Hillary Clinton Supporter - The New York Times

CNN Parts Ways With Donna Brazile, a
Hillary Clinton Supporter
By Michael M. Grynbaum
Oct. 31, 2016

CNN has severed ties with the Democratic strategist Donna Brazile, after hacked emails from
WikiLeaks showed that she shared questions for CNN-sponsored candidate events in advance
with friends on Hillary Clinton’s campaign.
Ms. Brazile, a veteran political analyst for the network, was already on leave from CNN since
becoming interim chairwoman of the Democratic National Committee. On Monday, CNN said it
had accepted her formal resignation on Oct. 14.
“We are completely uncomfortable with what we have learned about her interactions with the
Clinton campaign while she was a CNN contributor,” Lauren Pratapas, a network spokeswoman,
said in a statement.
“CNN never gave Brazile access to any questions, prep material, attendee list, background
information or meetings in advance of a town hall or debate,” Ms. Pratapas wrote.
The announcement followed the release of new emails on Monday that included a message from
Ms. Brazile on the day before a CNN-sponsored Democratic primary debate in Flint, Mich., in
March. Her subject line: “One of the questions directed to HRC tomorrow is from a woman with a
rash.”
“Her family has lead poison and she will ask what, if anything, will Hillary do as president to help
the ppl of Flint,” Ms. Brazile wrote to John D. Podesta, the Clinton campaign chairman, and
Jennifer Palmieri, the candidate’s communications director.
At the debate the next night, two women asked similar questions of Mrs. Clinton and her
opponent, Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont.
The episode has cast a harsh spotlight on the cable news practice of paying partisan political
operatives to appear as on-air commentators. Like Ms. Brazile, these guests can offer a pluggedin viewpoint on the day’s events, but they often also parrot campaign talking points and, as in this
case, create potential ethical conflicts.
CNN has already faced criticism over its hiring of Corey Lewandowski, Donald J. Trump’s former
campaign manager, as a paid contributor, even as he remains an informal adviser to the
candidate.
https://www.nytimes.com/2016/11/01/us/politics/donna-brazile-wikileaks-cnn.html

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12/7/2018

CNN Parts Ways With Donna Brazile, a Hillary Clinton Supporter - The New York Times

Ms. Brazile’s infraction, however, may be more damaging. Her sharing of questions with a
candidate would seem to undercut the impartiality of the event and, as a CNN contributor,
potentially reflect poorly on the network, which received big ratings, and thus profits, from
primary debates and town halls.
In an interview on Monday, Ms. Brazile said she offered her resignation to CNN when emails
surfaced earlier in October that showed her telling Ms. Palmieri: “From time to time I get the
questions in advance.”
“I didn’t want CNN to get involved in this WikiLeaks controversy,” Ms. Brazile said by telephone.
“I didn’t want to put CNN in the middle of what has been a real invasive cyberintrusion.”
Ms. Brazile, who said she has changed her mobile phone number twice because of harassment
related to the leaked emails, said CNN “never, never” shared advance questions with her ahead of
debates or town hall-style events.
Asked to explain her emails with the Clinton campaign, she said she “seeks as much information
as I can possibly get” ahead of a televised program, in part to prepare for her own on-air
responses.
“I often talk to everybody before an event,” she said. “I try to learn as much as I can, share as
much as I can.”
But Ms. Brazile declined to elaborate on the exchanges in question, saying: “I am not going to
verify, deny, confirm or even try to make sense out of stolen emails that were hacked.”
Her departure from CNN quickly became fodder on the campaign trail. Mr. Trump, at a rally in
Grand Rapids, Mich., on Monday, seized on Ms. Brazile’s messages to attack Mrs. Clinton and
press his case that the news media is biased against him.
“Speaking of draining the swamp, Donna Brazile did it again,” he said. “WikiLeaks today, she
gave the questions to a debate to Hillary Clinton. And that was from a couple of weeks ago.
Happened again, but this time far worse. She gave the questions to a debate to Hillary Clinton.”
If Mrs. Clinton received questions in advance from Ms. Brazile, Mr. Trump asked, “why didn’t she
report it?”
The Clinton campaign has declined to verify the authenticity of the emails.
Ms. Brazile’s discussions with the Clinton campaign first raised concerns earlier in October when
emails released by WikiLeaks showed she had contacted Ms. Palmieri to share a question about
the death penalty. Ms. Brazile said the question would be asked at a coming CNN town hall.
In the Monday interview, Ms. Brazile said her experience over the last few weeks had been “very
invasive.”
https://www.nytimes.com/2016/11/01/us/politics/donna-brazile-wikileaks-cnn.html

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12/7/2018

CNN Parts Ways With Donna Brazile, a Hillary Clinton Supporter - The New York Times

“It’s like you get hit three times,” Ms. Brazile said. “You get hit with the hack, with the fact that
your information has been stolen, and then you get hit with trying to make sense of the
nonsense.”
Find out what you need to know about the 2016 presidential race today, and get politics news updates via Facebook, Twitter
and the First Draft newsletter.
A version of this article appears in print on Nov. 1, 2016, on Page A16 of the New York edition with the headline: CNN Cuts Ties to Analyst as
Emails Show She Tipped Off Clinton Allies

https://www.nytimes.com/2016/11/01/us/politics/donna-brazile-wikileaks-cnn.html

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