“I think Hillary Clinton has done everything right,” says Stephanie Cutter in a recent “Meet the Press” panel, in which she is introduced as a Democratic campaign expert. But she failed to disclose that the firm she co-founded, Precision Strategies, was retained by the Clinton campaign for “digital consulting.”
Lee Fang talking:
we looked at a number of pundits who appear on television on cable and network news. They’re introduced as neutral campaign experts, as pundits, and they give commentary on the presidential campaign, saying that, you know, Hillary is doing well in the debates, she has a strong campaign, she’s on the path to victory. But in many cases, these pundits haven’t been disclosed that they have financial ties to the Hillary campaign, working either directly for the Hillary for America campaign or paid by the Hillary super PACs.
Cutter was—on Meet the Press was introduced as a former Obama campaign official, a Democratic campaign expert, but wasn’t—what was not disclosed was that the firm that she co-founded, Precision Strategies, has been retained for consulting work by the Hillary campaign throughout last year, including the time that she came on NBC’s Meet the Press to discuss the campaign and the state of the race.
But this is just one of many examples. For example, we analyzed transcripts for 50 different segments in which CNN had one of their contributors, Maria Cardona, come on and discuss and largely praise Hillary Clinton. What wasn’t disclosed is that Maria Cardona—her lobbying firm, Dewey Square Group, has multiple financial ties to the Hillary Clinton campaign. They’re retained by both of the big pro-Hillary super PACs. Maria is a campaign contributor to the Hillary campaign. She’s also a superdelegate that’s pledged her support to the Hillary campaign. But in virtually all of these CNN segments, Maria has been asked to come on to the air, and she’s praised the Hillary campaign, but she’s been presented as an objective pundit who’s just there to discuss the state of the race.
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Lee Fang
is an investigative journalist at The Intercept covering the intersection of money and politics.
— source democracynow.org