CNN is cracking down on its Russia coverage — imposing strict new rules for online articles — after they were forced to scrub a story from the web and issue a retraction, a report says.
An internal email obtained by BuzzFeed News outlines the publishing restrictions that the network has laid out in the wake of the controversy.
It was sent out Saturday morning by CNNMoney executive editor Rich Barbieri.
“No one should publish any content involving Russia without coming to me and Jason,” he wrote, in reference to a CNN vice president.
“This applies to social, video, editorial, and MoneyStream. No exceptions,” Barbieri added. “I will lay out a workflow Monday. Thanks.”
The new rules reportedly apply to other areas of CNN, and not just CNNMoney.
The story that was pulled from the Internet was published Thursday and then removed Friday night. An editor’s note was posted in its place at 10:44 p.m., explaining why it was taken down.
“On June 22, 2017, CNN.com published a story connecting Anthony Scaramucci with investigations into the Russian Direct Investment Fund,” it read. “That story did not meet CNN’s editorial standards and has been retracted. Links to the story have been disabled. CNN apologizes to Mr. Scaramucci.”
The article cited a single, unnamed source — claiming the Senate Intelligence committee was interested in a “$10-billion Russian investment fund whose chief executive met with a member of President Donald Trump’s transition team four days before Trump’s inauguration.”
According to BuzzFeed, the report claimed the committee had been looking into the Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF) as part of its probe of President Trump’s son-in-law and senior adviser, Jared Kushner.
It said that the RDIF had been overseen by Vnesheconombank, a Russian bank, which was the target of US sanctions — along with the fund.
The report cited a meeting in January between RDIF head Kirill Dmitriev and Scaramucci, founder of SkyBridge Capital and a noted Trump supporter.
Countless people on social media declared the article “fake news” and called out CNN — saying there were factual inaccuracies. The RDIF and Scaramucci, himself, blasted the network for running the piece.
“I did nothing wrong,” he tweeted Thursday. “They like hitting friends of @potus who are loyal advocates on his behalf.”
A source at CNN told BuzzFeed that the story about the RDIF and Scaramucci was ultimately a “massive, massive f-k up and people will be disciplined.”
Scaramucci thanked the network on Saturday for deleting it and apologizing.
“@CNN did the right thing,” he tweeted. “Classy move. Apology accepted. Everyone makes mistakes. Moving on.”