Morning Joe Quotes “Former Assistant Director Of The FBI” Without Disclosing His Right-Wing Ties

Written by Media Matters Staff

Published

MSNBC's Morning Joe failed to disclose the right-wing ties of Ron Hosko when pointing to his criticism of President Obama. In an October 16 report, The New York Times allowed retired F.B.I. senior official Ron Hosko to criticize President Obama over his recent comments concerning the F.B.I. investigation into Hillary Clinton's email server without explaining that Hosko is the president of a right-wing organization. On the October 19 edition of MSNBC's Morning Joe, host Mika Brzezinski quoted Hosko's criticism of Obama in The Times without disclosing that Hosko is the president of The Law Enforcement Legal Defense Fund (LELDF), a right-wing organization whose funding has primarily gone to leadership salaries and to “prop[ing] up” conservative groups. From the October 19 edition of MSNBC's Morning Joe:

MIKA BRZEZINSKI: So now some investigators and former officials are saying the president's conclusion is trying to influence the outcome of the investigation. I think I heard that before. The New York Times reports a comment sounded to agents as if the president has already decided the answers to their questions and cleared anyone of wrongdoing. A former assistant director of the FBI said, “injecting politics into what is supposed to be a fact-finding inquiry leaves a foul taste in the FBI's mouth and makes them fear that no matter what they find, the Justice Department will take the president's signal and not bring a case.”