After several outlets cast doubt on a CNN story claiming the Trump campaign received WikiLeaks intel in advance, the network issued an on-air correction.
The original CNN story claimed an email sent to then candidate Donald Trump and Donald Trump Jr. in September 2016 contained a link to WikiLeaks info not yet released to the public.
But after the story broke, outlets like the Washington Post, the Wall Street Journal, and the Daily Caller reported CNN got the date of the email wrong. It was actually sent on Sept.14 instead of the Sept. 4, meaning the information contained in the email was public knowledge.
Shortly before the 4 p.m. ET hour, one of the reporters of the story, Manu Raju, went on air to offer a correction.
Raju said they originally had two separate sources telling them the email was sent on the earlier date. But after seeing the email themselves, the reporters confirmed it was sent ten days later, and they were therefore correcting the story.
"This appears to change the understanding of this story, because initially it seemed perhaps they were being offered access to documents that were not yet publicly available," he explained.
The network also updated it's online story and tweeted a correction.
CNN's initial reporting of the date on an email sent to members of the Trump campaign about Wikileaks documents, which was confirmed by two sources to CNN, was incorrect. We have updated our story to include the correct date, and present the proper context for the timing of email
— CNN Communications (@CNNPR) December 8, 2017