CNN’s chief media strategist Brian Stelter defended his outlet for reporting that the recent strikes against Iran only set back the country’s nuclear program by six months, according to inside sources.
The Defense Intelligence Agency’s preliminary assessment of the strike’s damage was leaked this week, including its conclusion that less damage was inflicted than President Donald Trump and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth claimed. Over the weekend, these strikes targeted the Fordow fuel enrichment plant and the Natanz and Isfahan nuclear facilities. Trump said the three sites were “totally obliterated” by over a dozen 30,000-pound bunker-buster bombs and 30 Tomahawk cruise missiles.
“The public still has a lot that wants to know about the impact of the strikes, but the administration is picking a fight with the press and casting legitimate journalism as unpatriotic,” Stelter said Thursday on CNN’s The Situation Room with Wolf Blitzer.
“CNN did not report that this mission was a failure. Far from it. It may have turned out to be a tremendous success. We just don‘t know all the facts yet. And neither does the U.S. Government,” Stelter said. “So this performance from Hegseth today is part of a pattern of attacking the press, trying to claim it‘s unpatriotic to ask these questions. But I think the history going back to Vietnam and, more recently, the Iraq War shows that it is quite patriotic to ask these questions and hold the government to account.”
Stelter responded to Hegseth’s rant in the Pentagon’s briefing room Thursday morning. There, Hegseth reminded members of the media that the report was “preliminary” and that “there’s low confidence in this particular report.”
“I mean specifically you, the press corps, because you cheer against Trump so hard, it’s like in your DNA and in your blood to cheer against Trump,” Hegseth said.
At the time, Hegseth only blasted Fox News chief national security correspondent Jennifer Griffin because she “misrepresents most intentionally.” Stelter opted to issue a response as his outlet initially broke the story Wednesday.
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CNN defended the reporter behind the article despite Trump suggesting that the “Fake News” outlets “should fire everyone involved in this Witch Hunt.” The outlet said criticisms of its reporting were “not reasonable.”
Hegseth confirmed that his department and the FBI will investigate the leak. The secretary denied any disparity between the assessment and his public analysis of the strike and continued to call the mission an “overwhelming success.”