Subject: MUST READ: Media Matters For America: “Clinton Camp Flatly Denies Anonymously-Sourced Report That They Circulated Attack On Jim Webb”
From: Burns Strider <[email-masked]>
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Date: Tue, 6 Jan 2015 14:43:29 -0500
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*Media Matters For America: “Clinton Camp Flatly Denies Anonymously-Sourced
Report That They Circulated Attack On Jim Webb”
<http://mediamatters.org/blog/2015/01/06/clinton-camp-flatly-denies-anonymously-sourced/202024>*

By Oliver Willis

January 6, 2015

Conservative media outlets promoted an anonymously sourced claim published
by U.S. News & World Report that an aide to Hillary Clinton circulated an
attack on former Senator Jim Webb. Clinton spokesperson Nick Merrill flatly
denied the report, telling Media Matters it was "pure fabrication."

In a story discussing Webb's possible run for the presidency, U.S. News &
World Report's David Catanese claimed that "Clinton loyalists are keeping
an eye" on Webb as a potential rival for the Democratic nomination. As
evidence, Catanese wrote that "the week before Thanksgiving, staffers of
Philippe Reines, Clinton's longtime communications guru, pitched talk radio
producers on the racy, sexually charged writings in Webb's novels,
according to a source."

In a comment to Media Matters, Clinton spokesperson Nick Merrill flatly
denied the claim: "There is nothing true about this, it's pure fabrication,
and if the reporter who wrote the story would have bothered to ask before
printing it, we would have told him that."

Catanese doubled down on his claim in a follow-up report, writing that "of
course, the Clinton team is denying Reines' underlings floated the material
in the first place" and publishing Merrill's statement that the claim was
"an unmitigated lie," before adding, "Our source, granted anonymity, stands
by the account."

Several conservative media outlets ran with the anonymous U.S. News report,
using it to attack Clinton's character.

The Drudge Report's headline linking to the report said "Team Clinton
Already Dishing Oppo on Jim Webb."

New York Post columnist Michael Goodwin called the report evidence that
Hillary Clinton was "trying to dirty up Jim Webb," and added, "Mud first,
that's Hillary."

National Review's Jim Geraghty asked, "Why on earth would the Hillary team
go after Jim Webb this early?" adding, "What is this, some form of
mudslinging pregame stretching?"

At HotAir, conservative blogger Ed Morrisey said the story was evidence of
"Clintonistas using a kitchen-sink strategy" which "sends a message to
other Democrats who might dare to intrude on Coronation II: Hillary's
Boogaloo."

American Conservative's James Carden said that "Clinton's team is seemingly
alive to the danger a Webb candidacy poses" because of the report that
"longtime Clinton henchman Philippe Reines had been pitching talk radio
producers unflattering stories about Webb." Carden wrote that the incident
"should raise additional questions about the former Secretary's powers of
discernment, particularly when it comes to the character of some of her
closest advisers."