A top Biden communications aide attacked CBS’ Catherine Herridge over a Wednesday report showing the names of the officials who unmasked former National Security Adviser Michael Flynn.
Herridge went public with documents, declassified by acting Director of National Intelligence Richard Grenell, that revealed former Vice President Joe Biden was among those who had called for Flynn to be unmasked. (RELATED: Fox News’s Catherine Herridge Heads To CBS)
SCOOP @CBSNews obtains @RichardGrenell notification to congress declassified “unmasking list” Flynn between late 2016 and January 2017 – Read 3 pages provided by NSA here pic.twitter.com/NozVpQlRn2
— Catherine Herridge (@CBS_Herridge) May 13, 2020
Andrew Bates, rapid response director for Biden’s presidential campaign, referred to Herridge in a now-deleted tweet as a “partisan, rightwing hack” and a “regular conduit for conservative media manipulation ploys,” appearing to take issue with her for not reaching out to Biden for comment prior to publishing the documents.
Andrew Bates tweet (Twitter/Screenshot/AndrewBates)
Some quickly rallied to Herridge’s defense, saying that she was simply reporting on what happened. (RELATED: Biden, Comey, Brennan Submitted Flynn ‘Unmasking’ Requests)
And @CBS_Herridge deserves a lot of credit. There is probably immense pressure for her not to be writing about this stuff. Even when she’s just reporting on a list of names she is being attacked.
— David Harsanyi (@davidharsanyi) May 13, 2020
Biden’s top comms aide is now attacking Catherine Herridge for simply reporting that Obama officials sought to unmask Flynn in late 2016 and early 2017.
Biden’s team is freaking out about the revelations because they suggest Biden lied about Flynn. https://t.co/HuIJeVD0Ht
— Sean Davis (@seanmdav) May 13, 2020
Team Biden is attacking investigative journalist @CBS_Herridge for..
*Checks Notes*
Reporting News. https://t.co/lsjsDp4lpV
— Benny (@bennyjohnson) May 13, 2020
Delete this.@CBS_Herridge is one of the best, and most credible journalists in Washington.@JoeBiden has had *many* opportunities to comment on his involvement — like yesterday when he caught and contradicted himself mid-lie after 64 seconds. https://t.co/1bWkonqreS
— Rep. Jody Hice (@CongressmanHice) May 13, 2020
Presumptive Democratic nominee Joe Biden’s rapid response director Andrew Bates attacks CBS senior investigative correspondent Catherine Herridge, who is viewed by many as a respected, professional, accurate, non-partisan reporter. https://t.co/8S00JTj5fL
— Joe Concha (@JoeConchaTV) May 13, 2020
Hey you know Weija Jiang works for CBS as well. Where’s her solidarity tweet in support of Catherine Herridge?
— Stephen L. Miller (@redsteeze) May 13, 2020
This is a nasty BS smear. Catherine Herridge is a fantastic reporter and everyone knows it. https://t.co/a62I2wItNA
— Eddie Zipperer (@EddieZipperer) May 13, 2020
wow – top @JoeBiden campaign aide attacks @CBSNews reporter @CBS_Herridge for reporting a scoop in which Biden’s name is simply listed https://t.co/H3Y0iUfaNJ
— Sean Spicer (@seanspicer) May 13, 2020
There were a few who appeared to agree with Bates’ assessment of the story, but they stopped short of attacking Herridge directly.
Can I recommend a way reporters should be covering the “unmasking” news?
“Republicans, Trump Manipulate Routine US Intelligence Activity to Attack Political Opponents”
— Adam Blickstein (@AdamBlickstein) May 13, 2020
It’s really pretty simple. If you don’t cover it this way, you’ve failed at your job and are actively facilitating a partisan political scheme. https://t.co/zTr1Dayshf
— Jon Favreau (@jonfavs) May 13, 2020
Bates’ attack comes just ten days after World Press Freedom day, when his own boss released a statement promising “no bullying of the media by tweet.”
“Attacking the press and attempting to intimidate independent media is a standard part of the authoritarian playbook. Efforts to undermine public confidence in the integrity of fact-based reporting violate our core American values and threaten our very system of government,” Biden said. “Journalists hold those in positions of authority accountable, investigate and document abuses of power, and expose the truth for everyone to see. In a Biden White House, there will be no bullying of the media by tweet.”