New York Times Gave Hillary Veto Power

[MikeWB]

WikiLeaks emails show reporter agreed to let Clinton campaign cut quotes before story ran

by Brendan Kirby | Updated 11 Oct 2016 at 12:46 PM   

Hillary Clinton spent time in summer 2015 with The New York Times reporter Mark Leibovich and made a crack about 2008 Republican presidential candidate Sarah Palin.

But the remark didn't make it into the long profile. Leibovich agreed to give the Clinton campaign veto power over the statements she made.

    "These exchanges were pretty interesting ... would love the option to use."

The revelation comes in Part III of a massive email release from WikiLeaks.

Leibovich evidently gave the campaign the ability to ax quotes as part of a deal for access. Representatives from The Times did not immediately respond to an inquiry from LifeZette.

Leibovich emailed campaign Communications Director Jennifer Palmieri on July 7, 2015, to try to lobby for a batch of quotes.

"These exchanges were pretty interesting ... would love the option to use," he wrote.

The Palin shot came during a discussion between Clinton and Leibovich in which the Democratic candidate for president discussed having eaten moose stew in Alaska. "So that's why I always got a big kick out of Sarah Palin with all of her, 'We're cooking up some moose stew here,'" she said.

But Palmieri told Lebovich that Clinton did not want the Palin quote to appear, and it did not. Instead, the passage in a story titled "Re-Re-Re-Reintroducing Hillary Clinton," read: "She had seen a few in her day, she told me. 'I've eaten moose, too,' she said. 'I've had moose stew.'"

The Clinton camp also objected to using a quote in which the candidate said that "gay rights has moved much faster than women's rights or civil rights, which is an interesting phenomenon somebody in the future will unpack."

The email exchange also indicates that Palmieri misunderstood the terms of the agreement. She wrote that she thought the campaign would be able to pick the quotes that would be used. Leibovich responded, "I wanted the option to use all — and you could veto what you didn't want. That's why I selected the 5 or 6 I sent to you...The moose is good, but I'd really love to use the other things I sent, too. They were all on point. Sorry for mis-communique here, but do you think you can check?"

Palmieri seemed satisfied.

"Pleasure doing business!" she wrote.