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Former Clinton Campaign Manager Spreads Debunked Claim on Russian Election Meddling

July 7, 2017

Former Hillary Clinton campaign manager Robby Mook spread a recently debunked claim about the intelligence community's confidence that Russia interfered in the 2016 election.

CNN host Brooke Baldwin asked Mook on Thursday why President Donald Trump continued to insist that it is possible Russia was not the culprit behind the hacking of various Democratic organizations, including the Clinton campaign.

"All 17 intelligence agencies said this happened. It definitely happened," Mook said. "I don't know a single other Republican, frankly, who doesn't admit that it happened."

Mook was most likely relying on reporting from media outlets like the New York Times and the Associated Press, who originally claimed that all 17 intelligence agencies concluded that Russia was responsible for the hacking.

But both the Times and the AP issued corrections last week. They now admit that only the FBI, CIA, and NSA actually concluded that Russia was the culprit. The Director of National Intelligence—who represents all 17 intelligence agencies—then published the report.

Mook was not the only CNN personality to repeat the false claim on-air that day. Earlier, reporter Jim Acosta also made the claim when criticizing the president.