U.S. President Donald Trump used the resignations of three CNN journalists involved in a retracted Russia-related story to resume his attack on the network’s credibility on Tuesday.
The story was about a supposed investigation into a pre-inaugural meeting between a Trump associate and the head of a Russian investment fund. CNN accepted the journalists’ resignations on Monday.
Mr. Trump wrote in a Tuesday morning tweet: “Wow, CNN had to retract big story on ‘Russia,’ with 3 employees forced to resign. What about all the other phony stories they do? FAKE NEWS!”
A message seeking comment was left at CNN.
The story was posted on the network’s website on Thursday and was removed, with all links disabled, on Friday night. CNN immediately apologised to Anthony Scaramucci, the Trump transition team member who was reported to be involved in the meeting.
Not up to standards
The story’s author, Thomas Frank, was among those who resigned, according to a network executive who requested anonymity. Also losing their jobs were Eric Lichtblau, an assistant managing editor in CNN’s Washington bureau, and Lex Haris, head of the investigations unit.
CNN, in initially taking down the story, said it didn’t meet its editorial standards. The episode is a damaging blow for a network that Mr. Trump has frequently derided as “fake news,” and for a story that never even made it onto any of CNN’s television networks. The story had been quickly questioned both internally and externally, including by the conservative site Breitbart News.
