Subject: FOR REVIEW: Statement for NYT story on Clinton Cash
From: Brian Fallon <[email-masked]>
To: [email-masked], [email-masked], [email-masked], [email-masked], [email-masked]
Cc: Jennifer Palmieri <[email-masked]>, Robby Mook <[email-masked]>, Kristina Schake <[email-masked]>
Date: Sun, 19 Apr 2015 20:09:27 -0400

All,

As you are all aware, Jo Becker from the NYT's investigative unit is one of
several reporters at work on stories based on material provided by the
publisher of the upcoming Clinton Cash book. Jo's story is scheduled to run
in as soon as one week.

Separately, this afternoon, Amy Chozick from the NYT called us to indicate
she had obtained a copy of the book on her own and intends to file a
separate story tomorrow. Her story will not unpack all of the book's claims
-- she will leave that to Jo. Instead, she will do a more process-y story
about the book's existence, the fact that the publisher has approached
multiple media outlets in advance of the book's publication to spoon-feed
them some of the book's research, and also remark on the fact that Rand
Paul continues to drop hints about the book's contents such that it appears
they may be some coordination with individual Republican campaigns.

We think this story, though it was not originated by us, could end up being
somewhat helpful in casting the book's author as having a conservative
agenda. Moreover, we think Amy is suspicious of the arrangements that the
book's publisher has reached with the various media outlets (including her
own paper). In fact, Jo Becker is apparently trying to get this story
killed because she thinks it will undermine her investigative piece later
this month. But so far it is running in tomorrow's paper.

Amy is seeking a response from us on what our approach is to the looming
publication of the book and the apparently well coordinated rollout. We
have drafted the below response, and wanted you all to see it and provide
feedback before we sent it off. Please note, however, that in order to get
the statement into the story, we probably need to provide it by about 8:30
tonight. So apologies for the tight turnaround, but here it is:

"We always expected that while Hillary Clinton was focused on how to help
> everyday Americans get ahead, the Republicans would focus their efforts on
> attacks rather than ideas. It appears that this book is being used to aid
> this coordinated attack strategy, twisting previously known facts into
> absurd conspiracy theories. It will not be the first work of
> partisan-fueled fiction about the Clintons' record, and we know it will not
> be the last."
>
>

Thank you,
Brian