White House Correspondents Insider

In a surprise move, President Donald Trump has withdrawn his request to declassify information related to the ongoing Russia probe. A statement released by the White House suggested that Trump was planning to order the Department of Justice to declassify parts of the secret court order and to publish the unredacted texts of FBI and Justice Department officials, including Andrew McCabe and James B. Comey.

The Washington Post’s national security reporter Devlin Barrett writes that the order by Trump to keep the information classified illustrates “ongoing tensions between the White House and the Justice Department over the probe.” For months, conservative officials have been requesting the release of the documents on the Russia probe investigation, as it seems as though they have been hiding information that, according to Barrett, “might discredit the Mueller investigation.”

Multiple tweets by Trump Friday morning attempted to explain how, even though he has been told by key allies not to release the documents as they claim it will not reflect positively on the Russia probe, Trump can still “always declassify if it proves necessary.”

Senator Mark Warner responded to the President’s tweets saying, “This underscores why the President should be relying on the expertise and advice of intelligence and law enforcement professionals, not cable news hosts.”

You can read Barrett’s full report here.

Eleanor McManus, a former senior producer for CNN and the co-founder of Press Forward, a movement seeking to change newsroom culture by speaking up for women, in a show of solidarity with Christine Blasey Ford, the woman accusing Supreme Court Nominee Brett Kavanaugh of sexual assault while the two were in their late teens, has penned an op-ed on CNN.com urging readers to “recognize the cost women pay when they come forward”.

McManus relates the pain caused to many women who come forward to expose powerful men- the risk of retribution, backlash, and shame saying, “Reliving a traumatic event is hard and painful. Being disbelieved, disregarded, or retaliated against is hard and painful — especially if the women have partners and young children.”

You can read McManus’ full op-ed here.

Urban Radio Network’s April Ryan, a veteran White House correspondent, has released a new book, Under Fire: Reporting from the Front Lines of the Trump White House, giving readers an inside look at the trials and tribulations of reporting on the Trump White House. Ryan has been in the news recently with stories about her accusing the White House of attacking her due to her race, and since her profile has risen as the thorniest White House correspondent in the Trump White House briefing room, she has added a security team and travels with bodyguards.

In a new interview with NPR’s All Things Considered, Ryan discusses why this administration is different from any she has previously covered. She has been a White House Correspondent since the Clinton Administration. According to Ryan, there’s one question that she felt compelled to ask. “I have asked each administration the same questions except for one: ‘Mr. President, are you a racist?’” President Trump did not respond, he instead continued to shake hands with the guests.

Ryan details her contentious public relationship with Trump Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders. “She doesn’t even want to give me eye contact, but she can’t. I am in her line of sight, third row, smack dab in the middle. I don’t communicate with them anymore beyond the briefing room. I don’t go upstairs to see them — I haven’t for a long time.”

You can read April Ryan’s full interview here.

In the wake of Les Moonves departure, CBS has installed six new directors it hopes will help run a tighter ship at the network in the years to come.

The six board members entering CBS are Candace Beinecke, a partner at the law firm of Hughes Hubbard & Reed, Barbara Byrne, former vice chairman of Barclays and Council on Foreign Relations member, Brian Goldner, CEO of Hasbro, Richard D. Parsons, former Citigroup chairman & former Time Warner CEO, Susan Schuman, CEO of SYPartners, and Strauss Zelnick, the founder of the video game publisher Take-Two Interactive Software.

The board members leaving CBS to make room for the departures are Arnold Kopelson, Leonard Goldberg, Charles Gifford, David Andelman, and Doug Morris.

Women’s advocacy group UltraViolet, which previously called for the board to fire Les Moonves, said in a statement, “This is proof that the era where powerful men abused and harassed women without consequence is starting to come to an end, and a testament to the enduring strength and power of the #MeToo movement.”

You can read more on the CBS Board of Directors shakeup here.

American University has named Emmy Award-winning former “Meet the Press” executive producer Betsy Fischer Martin to the School of Public Affairs’ Women & Politics as their new executive director.

Vicky Wilkins, the dean of AU’s School of Public Affairs, said in a statement, “We were looking for an entrepreneurial leader who is passionate about the empowerment and representation of women, and Betsy combines all of those attributes. We are thrilled to have her back in the SPA community in this important leadership role.

Fischer Martin said of the appointment, “I can’t think of a more exciting time to be at the epicenter of a university that recognizes the importance of women’s political leadership and is dedicated to furthering academic research and empowering students and young women to engage in the political system. The fact that American University played such a significant role in shaping my career in political journalism makes returning to lead WPI all the more meaningful to me.”

American University’s Women & Politics Institute offers graduate and undergraduate certificates and provides training programs for female students who want to get involved in politics.

Martin is one of the longest serving Executive Producer of Meet The Press. She began at NBC as an intern while attending American University and was there for 11 years, working with Tim Russert during his legendary run as host. Martin also co-hosted the Bloomberg Politics podcast, “Masters in Politics” during the 2016 election.

NBC Chairman Andy Lack has pushed back on claims that NBC executives tried to torpedo Ronan Farrow’s reporting on the Harvey Weinstein abuse allegations in a letter to employees on Monday, September 3rd.

In the letter, which addresses claims made by Farrow’s former producer Rich McHugh, Lack states that, “We spent eight months pursuing the story but at the end of that time, NBC News — like many others before us — still did not have a single victim or witness willing to go on the record. (Rose McGowan — the only woman Farrow interviewed who was willing to be identified — had refused to name Weinstein and then her lawyer sent a cease-and-desist letter.) So we had nothing yet fit to broadcast. But Farrow did not agree with that standard. That’s where we parted ways — agreeing to his request to take his reporting to a print outlet that he said was ready to move forward immediately.”

Lack continues, “We regret the deterioration of NBC’s relationship with Ronan, and genuinely wish we had found a path to move forward together. That is why, in August of 2017, when Farrow objected to his editors’ conclusion we convened an independent group of the most experienced investigative journalists in our organization to review his material with fresh eyes. We asked them — tell us what, if anything, we can broadcast. But their conclusion was unequivocal — this story is not ready for air. (Further, they found several elements in Farrow’s draft script which did not hold up to scrutiny — described in the accompanying document.) It was Farrow’s decision, in the midst of this process, to pursue the story elsewhere.”

McHugh responded to Lack’s statement in a tweet suggesting that Lack’s statement “only raises more questions than answers”.

NBC recently published a memo and “fact sheet” from Andy Lack regarding their handling of the Harvey Weinstein sexual assault story that was never aired.  Here is my response: pic.twitter.com/H9RbsW78jB

— Rich McHugh (@RichMcHughNBC) September 4, 2018

Ronan Farrow, who has been reluctant to weigh in on the drama, has put out a statement refuting certain claims in Lack’s memo while teasing that “They’ll be more to say at the right time.”

pic.twitter.com/8vBcYvsl52

— Ronan Farrow (@RonanFarrow) September 4, 2018

In a bombshell story published by The Daily Beast, Rich McHugh, a former producer for Ronan Farrow, the star reporter who wrote the landmark report detailing Harvey Weinstein’s years of sexual abuse against employees and actresses, has alleged that while Farrow was working on the story, NBC tried to prevent the story from going to print. Farrow’s series of articles on Weinstein’s abuse went on to win him a Pulitzer Prize in public service for the New Yorker, who shared the prize with The New York Times.

McHugh says the orders came from “the very highest levels of NBC.” The former producer claims that, in the days before planned to interview an alleged abuse victim, he was ordered not to follow through with the meeting and to “stand down on the story altogether.”

NBC denied that officials within the network did not try to quash the story, but rather that further reporting needed to be done before it went to print.

You can read more here.

The United States International Trade Commission has announced that it will block the Trump administration from implementing tariffs on newsprint from Canada, in a major win for the news industry and print publications.

The ITC voted 5-0 to reserve the tariffs due to a lobbying push from the News Media Alliance, an advocacy group fighting for the business interests of the news industry. NMA CEO David Chavern, in a letter to his staff, “We were able to develop a broad coalition of members of Congress — from both sides of the aisle — to not only support our view, but also testify before the ITC, advocate the Department of Commerce and introduce corrective legislation.” Chavern adds that the move is, “a great day for news publishing and journalism.”

NMA gathered 19 members of Congress from both parties to testify before the Commerce Department to urge them not to adopt these tariffs, which viewed as crippling to the news industry, especially print publications.

Chavern visited BNN Bloomberg to discuss what the latest development means for the news industry. You can watch his interview here.

The largest gathering of descendants of presidents gathered on the Kennedy Center stage for The Presidential Sites Summit. The once-every-two-years event hosts the operators and administrators of presidential libraries, historical sites, and the descendants of America’s presidents.

As part of the festivities, participants gathered at the Kennedy Center on Tuesday, August 28th. Kennedy Center president Deborah Rutter brought out Washington Post publisher Fred Ryan to welcome participants and kick off the night.

David Rubenstein, Chairman of the Board of Trustees at the Kennedy Center, then moderated a series of discussions including stories from the White House told by presidential descendants with Susan Ford Bales, Daughter of President Gerald R. Ford, Clifton Truman Daniel, Grandson of President Harry S. Truman, Massee McKinley, Descendant of Presidents William McKinley and Grover Cleveland, Lynda Johnson Robb, Daughter of President Lyndon B. Johnson, and Tweed Roosevelt, Great-grandson of President Theodore Roosevelt.

Rubenstein also hosted a discussion on “The White House Behind the Camera” featuring an introduction from Anita McBride, chair of the Presidential Sites Summit and the Chief of Staff to First Lady Laura Bush.

Panelists included Adan Canto, star of Designated Survivor, Tammy Haddad, President & CEO of Haddad Media and HBO, Mack McLarty, chairman of McLarty Associates, Chief of Staff to Bill Clinton, and consultant on Designated Survivor & White Down, Capricia Marshall, House of Cards consultant and Social Secretary to Bill Clinton, documentarian Kirk Saduski, and Jamie Vanderbilt, the writer and director of White House Down.

David Rubenstein asked Kirk Saduski, who produced the HBO miniseries’ John Adams and Band of Brothers, how hard it is to maintain accuracy when creating these films. Saduski agreed with Haddad that filmmakers demand precision in the way events in the White House are portrayed, from official White House protocols and hierarchies to the norms and social mores of living and working in the White House.

The segment ended with David Rubenstein telling his most embarrassing moments from working in the Carter White House.

You can watch more Presidential Sites Summit events live on CSPAN here.