NBC and MSNBC, the networks that allowed massive conflicts of interest with the racial activism of the Rev. Al Sharpton and employed Chelsea Clinton as a “reporter” on puffball subjects, drew one bright line against conflicts of interest today. Washington Post media blogger Erik Wemple explained how they signed and then unsigned Democratic helper Stephanie Cutter:
This morning, Politico Playbook’s Mike Allen reported two somewhat uncomfortable developments right alongside each other:
OBAMA ALUMNI: “Stephanie Cutter has joined NBC News and MSNBC as a Political Analyst. She will contribute exclusively on a range of topics across all platforms including Meet the Press, TODAY, Nightly and MSNBC.” She’ll be on Andrea Mitchell Reports at noon today. [For the record, Cutter did not appear with Mitchell, perhaps in part to breaking news on the captured Paris attacker.]
–NYT A17, “Obama Mobilizes Campaign Veterans to Push for Court Nominee,” by Michael D. Shear and Eric Lipton: “[Stephanie] Cutter … will oversee the efforts by the new group, to be called the Constitutional Responsibility Project. Anita Dunn, the former White House communications director, is handling the news media, along with Amy Brundage, a veteran Obama aide.
That’s right: The person who was signing up to provide all manner of commentary on the airwaves of NBC News/MSNBC was also signing up with the Constitutional Responsibility Project, an effort by a group of former Obama White House aides to advocate on behalf of the president’s Supreme Court nominee, Judge Merrick B. Garland. The New York Times described the group as “essentially a miniature version of Obama for America, the formal name of Mr. Obama’s presidential campaign operations in 2008 and 2012, but with a new mission: to serve as an umbrella organization for the constellation of liberal groups that typically wage fights on behalf of Democratic court nominees.”
NBC’s official statement recanting its new hire reads as follows: “We look forward to Stephanie’s insights on our air during this election year, but she will appear as a guest and not as an analyst due to her leadership role in the battle over the President’s Supreme Court nomination.”
Wemple noted that CNN dismissed similar concerns when Cutter and Newt Gingrich co-hosted the reboot of Crossfire without giving up various other political commitments.
More recently, he also noted, Lee Fang of the leftist website the Intercept reported that the networks — ABC, CBS, CNN and NBC — were failing to disclose financial ties between pro-Clinton guests/commentators and the Hillary Clinton presidential campaign. Fang reported a Cutter appearance on Meet the Press failed to disclose that her firm Precision Strategies did work for the Clinton campaign.
Fang also noted Cutter spoke warmly of the savvy Clinton campaign: "I think that Hillary Clinton has done everything right. She has run a good campaign. She has outperformed in debates. She’s raised money. She’s got a great ground game. But what she can’t control is this string of anger that is connecting both parties right now."
She's "done everything right"....including hiring Cutter's firm.
The Washington Free Beacon notes Cutter has also donated the maximum $2,700 to Hillary Clinton's campaign.
