Politics
Taylor Jewell/Invision/AP
CNN's Van Jones.
CNN had a very terse response Wednesday to a conservative provocateur's release of a clip showing CNN contributor Van Jones calling the investigation into potential collusion between President Donald Trump's 2016 campaign and Russia a "nothing-burger.""Lol," a spokesman said in response to an emailed question asking about the video.
The dismissive reply came after observers pointed to Jones' frequent public comments saying he believes the Russia investigation will likely not yield any evidence of collusion.
"I am glad there is a Russia investigation and I hope they get to the bottom of it," Jones said in a Twitter chat earlier this month.
He added: "I think Democrats are fooling ourselves if we think that something is going to come out of this investigation that is somehow going to end the Trump Presidency and make everything better. Unless there is a real smoking gun which there is probably not, its just going to be a big old mess. Meanwhile we are not talking about jobs, not talking about poverty, not talking about solutions, not talking about the addiction crisis. Lets talk about our stuff."
But some on the right viewed the video as definitive proof that CNN was needlessly fixated on covering the ongoing investigations into potential ties between Russia and the Trump campaign.
The video was promoted by Trump's son, Donald Trump Jr.
Wednesday's video came just a day after the group received national attention over another undercover video it released attempting to demonstrate the network's alleged bias.
During a press conference on Tuesday, deputy White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders asked Americans to watch a video showing John Bonifield, a CNN health editor who is not involved in Russia-related coverage, questioning the network's decision to focus on the investigations of the Trump administration's Russia connections.
"There's a video out there circulating right now, whether it's accurate or not, I don't know, but I would encourage everybody in this room, and frankly, everybody across the country to take a look at it," she said, after referring to CNN as "that outlet."
She continued: "If it is accurate, I think it's a disgrace to all of media, to all of journalism. I think we have gone to a place where if the media can't be trusted to report the news, then that's a dangerous place for America, and if that's the place where certain outlets are going, particularly for the purpose of spiking ratings, and if that's coming from the top, that's even more scary, and that's even more disgraceful."
CNN has faced increasing scrutiny this week after firing three editors over a since-retracted story about the Trump transition team's potential ties to Russia.
I'm with Van on this one... there's always a first time for everything. https://t.co/jsBMBo4kmF
- Donald Trump Jr. (@DonaldJTrumpJr) June 28, 2017