Three CNN reporters resign over retracted Russia story

Three CNN journalists resigned Monday over fallout from a Russia-related story the network later retracted. Thomas Frank, the story’s writer, Lex Haris, executive editor of CNN’s investigations unit, and Eric Lichtblau, an editor and reporter within the unit, all decided to leave CNN after an internal inquiry found the story failed to meet editorial standards. The story—published on Thursday and retracted on Friday—linked Anthony Scaramucci, a hedge-fund manager connected to President Donald Trump, to a Russian investment fund allegedly under review by a Senate panel. The article cited one anonymous source, and after Scaramucci pushed back, CNN decided it couldn’t stand by its reporting and apologized. Scaramucci thanked CNN for the apology on Twitter and called it a classy move. Trump had a different reaction: “Fake News CNN is looking at big management changes now that they got caught falsely pushing their phony Russian stories,” the president tweeted on Tuesday. Lichtblau joined CNN just three months ago after leaving The New York Times, where he won a Pulitzer Prize for national reporting in 2006. Haris has been with CNN since 2001, and Frank worked for USA Today for 12 years before joining the network.

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