CNN president Jeff Zucker said an internal probe into the leak of debate questions to the Hillary Clinton campaign had been completed, adding that the network will never again partner with TV One.
“We have done a complete investigation into both incidents,” Zucker said at an employee town hall on Wednesday, according to Politico. “We are very clear about what happened in both cases.”
The executive said that in one case, it was the network’s partner TV One who shared a forthcoming town hall question with then-CNN contributor Donna Brazile, who in turn passed the information on to the Clinton campaign. The town hall was moderated by TV One host Roland Martin.
Zucker promised that his network would “not partner ever again” with TV One, which did not respond to TheWrap’s request for comment.
Previously, Zucker called Brazile’s actions “disgusting” and “unethical.” He told staffers in a meeting on Tuesday that Brazile’s behavior “hurts all of us,” adding, “I have no tolerance for her behavior or that kind of behavior.” He stressed that CNN employees working on the events were not the ones who provided Brazile with the questions.
Emails recently released by Wikileaks indicate that Brazile sent town hall and debate questions during the Democratic primary race against Bernie Sanders to the Clinton campaign beforehand. CNN cut ties with Brazile earlier this month, but didn’t say so until Monday, after news of the leaks broke.
“On October 14th, CNN accepted Donna Brazile’s resignation as a CNN contributor. (Her deal had previously been suspended in July when she became the interim head of the DNC),” the network said in a statement. “CNN never gave Brazile access to any questions, prep material, attendee list, background information or meetings in advance of a town hall or debate. We are completely uncomfortable with what we have learned about her interactions with the Clinton campaign while she was a CNN contributor.”