A CNN reporter worked with a top aide to then-Secretary of State Hillary Clinton to cover for Clinton during her Benghazi testimony on January 23, 2013 and to discredit one of her chief interrogators, Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul, according to emails between the reporter and aide.
CNN global affairs correspondent Elise Labott coordinated with Clinton senior aide Philippe Reines over tweets and stories,
The Blaze reports.
The email exchanges
were part of a Freedom of Information Act request filed by Gawker for Reines' emails.
In one email, Labott asks Reines, "Are you sure rand paul wasn’t at any hearings."
Within a minute, she tweeted this, and emailed Reines back to let him know:
Later that day, Reines emailed Labott that he had suggested "a good tweet" for her. When she replied she had not seen it, Reines indicated he had sent it over BlackBerry’s PIN-to-PIN messaging.
"Ok I just put my berry near the window – will get back to you," Labott responded.
After sending the following tweet, Labott replied "Done" to Reines.
"She was great. well done. I hope you are going to have a big drink tonite," Labott emailed to Reines.
The two exchanged more emails in which Reines appears to be offering her a heads up on when Clinton would be leaving office.
On January 2, 2013, she appears to offer cover for Clinton's health concerns at the time, though she admitted everything she told other members of the media was not entirely true. She suggested an on-camera briefing to help with public relations.
Labott
was suspended by CNN for two weeks last week after editorializing in a tweet over the House-passed bill to limit Syrian refugees.
© 2025 Newsmax. All rights reserved.