Media top headlines May 13
CNN boss Jeff Zucker defending his anchors becoming more ‘opinionated’ and ‘emotional’ round out today’s top media headlines
The Wall Street Journal editorial board slammed the Department of Justice's hiring of former CNN analyst Susan Hennessey as senior counsel to the its national security division, a role potentially involving "election related investigations and enforcement."
The board wrote Wednesday that Hennessey, a former fellow at the Brookings Institution and peddler of conspiracy theories involving Russian collusion in the 2016 election, was "a dangerous pick."
"Even as the 2020 stolen-election myth continues to tear at the GOP, the Biden Administration is elevating a key figure in the campaign to delegitimize Donald Trump’s election in 2016," the op-ed began, pointing out those standing up to claims the 2020 election was stolen from Trump, but not shunning those who pushed similar claims about 2016.
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Hennessey made a name for herself as a commentator on CNN by hyping up allegations of Russian collusion against the Trump campaign, in addition to touting the discredited Christopher Steele dossier.
"A former National Security Agency lawyer, she bestowed phony credibility on the Steele dossier after the 2016 election," the op-ed continued. "In 2017 she wrote that the unlawful leak of National Security Adviser Michael Flynn’s conversations with the Russian ambassador 'posed a countervailing set of extraordinary circumstances.'"
The board also pointed out Hennessey said in 2019 the decision to drop charges against Flynn was "an astonishing assault on the rule of law."
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"Ms. Hennessey has an undisguised partisan interest in the Russia probe, which is still being investigated by U.S. Attorney John Durham. After the 2020 election, Ms. Hennessey tweeted that Mr. Durham’s work was "partisan silliness," the op-ed said, referring to special counsel John Durham's probe into the origins of the investigation into Russian collusion, which began in May 2019 following the completion of Robert Mueller's probe.
The op-ed added Hennessey was the wrong person to be anywhere near the investigations, "or anything that involves her miles-long list of people she loathes."
Hennessey expressed her joy that she would be joining the Justice Department in a post on Twitter.
Hennessey's post doesn't require confirmation from the Senate.
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Her hiring continues the pipeline from the left-wing new network to the Biden administration, with multiple former CNN employees currently serving in the administration.
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