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True stories about the fake news: @CNN editionEvery few days, a guy named @BrianToddCNN reaches out to us, asking for the department’s response to whatever fake controversy VA’s critics are pushing. I’m not sure what his actual beat is, but his specialty seems to be regurgitating pre-packaged opposition research VA critics prepare for him. Late last week, Brian struck again, claiming to have a scoop about a proposal to “automate VA call centers.” In reality, no such plans exist. Brian’s scoop was based on false, deliberately leaked “information” from people who aren’t involved in our planning process. In other words, Brian was the target of a disinformation operation designed to generate fake news. We warned Brian that his allegations were not credible, but he ignored us & ran his false story anyway, while other outlets smartly steered clear of it. After his piece published, we contacted Brian to point out his error, & he refused to put us in touch with his editor. We only got through to an editor after calling everyone we know at CNN to complain about Brian’s story. That editor and another CNN senior executive refused to retract the fake story. Instead, they insisted everything would be OK if we just gave them a statement responding to the story’s fake allegations. What happened to the journalistic principle of verifying something is true before publication? With standards like these, it’s easy to see why a jury recently found CNN liable for defamation and ordered the network to pay $5 million in damages. Info on that case is here: mediaite.com/news/breaking-…. @wolfblitzer – Please hold your employee, @BrianToddCNN, to a higher standard. Thank you (7/7)