Melissa Joskow / Media Matters
On Friday morning, the FBI raided the Florida home of Roger Stone, a longtime associate and informal adviser of President Donald Trump. Stone was arrested on seven counts of obstructing justice, witness tampering, and making false statements to Congress. The raid comes one day after a rare Thursday meeting between the special counsel’s office and the grand jury. In fact, Washington Post legal reporter Spencer Hsu noted that the January 24 convening of the grand jury was the first non-Friday meeting since July 12, 2018, the day before Robert Mueller’s office announced the indictment of 12 Russian agents. When Stone was arrested, CNN cameras were recording outside his home.
“FBI. Open the door.”
Watch exclusive CNN footage of the FBI arresting longtime Trump associate Roger Stone. Stone has been indicted by a grand jury on charges brought by special counsel Robert Mueller. https://t.co/5QHKDB2mfA pic.twitter.com/UeKo7CmXWo— CNN (@CNN) January 25, 2019
On Twitter, former Fox News and MSNBC host Greta Van Susteren tweeted that the “FBI obviously tipped off CNN,” adding that “even if you don’t like Stone, it is curious why Mueller’s office tipped off CNN.”
CNN cameras were at the raid of Roger Stone...so FBI obviously tipped off CNN...even if you don’t like Stone, it is curious why Mueller’s office tipped off CNN instead of trying to quietly arrest Stone;quiet arrests are more likely to be safe to the FBI and the person arrested
— Greta Van Susteren (@greta) January 25, 2019
There’s one major problem with Van Susteren’s assessment: She’s wrong. It’s not obvious that anybody “tipped off CNN.” In fact, based on the above information -- how rare it is for the grand jury to be called to meet on a Thursday, what happened the day after the last Thursday meeting, and the fact that Stone has spent months publicly worrying about the possibility of getting indicted -- it makes complete sense that a news organization like CNN would send someone to stake out Stone’s home to see if there were any arrests today.
Nevertheless, Van Susteren repeatedly insisted that CNN had been tipped off.
In an extraordinary display of Van Susteren’s lack of self-awareness, she added, “Before you get more information, facts, I would suggest you don’t jump to conclusions or take sides. Facts make a difference.” This, just seven minutes after she falsely asserted that CNN had been given a heads-up on the raid.
RE: Stone arrest. Before you get more information, facts, I would suggest you don’t jump to conclusions or take sides. Facts make a difference.
— Greta Van Susteren (@greta) January 25, 2019
Nearly three hours later, Van Susteren conceded that she might be wrong about CNN acting on a tip. Even so, the original tweet, which had accumulated thousands of retweets, remained up and continued to be shared. The new tweet, correcting her mistake, had just 95 retweets at the time of this writing.
I am told - by a good source - that I am wrong to think CNN acted on a tip and hence was at Roger Stone’s today...I assume thus that what is right is that it was fortuitous...that CNN acted on a hunch after putting some clues together (including activity at the grand jury)...
— Greta Van Susteren (@greta) January 25, 2019
Posting a separate tweet “correcting” misinformation does not stop the continued spread of misinformation. As a journalist and someone who apparently considers herself knowledgeable enough about social media to write a book on the topic, Van Susteren should know better. This is a widely recognized problem that newsrooms have tried to address in various ways. She misled the public and, so long as her original tweet remains up, is continuing to mislead the public.
Naturally, right-wing media picked up on the conspiracy theory almost instantly.
“Coincidence? Comey's Former Assistant Went to Work for CNN -- And CNN is Only News Org to Get Tip on Roger Stone Raid,” tweeted Gateway Pundit’s Jim Hoft, linking to a piece on the site.
“How did CNN get this video exclusively of Stone’s arrest? Did somone (sic) at the FBI or Team Mueller tip them off? Just curious,” wrote right-wing pundit Harlan Hill.
CNN’s Oliver Darcy noted that articles had already popped up on far-right sites Infowars, Newsmax, and Drudge Report.
And this baseless theory that Mueller tipped off CNN is now being hyped in the banner of Drudge and is spreading through the right-wing media universe. pic.twitter.com/72OxhKCwmQ
— Oliver Darcy (@oliverdarcy) January 25, 2019
Darcy also linked to a video from the January 24 edition of CNN Tonight, in which CNN crime and justice reporter Shimon Prokupecz explained that there was reason to believe indictments could be coming on Friday morning and that they could be related to Roger Stone.
That evidence aside, conservative media used the situation as their latest attempt to discredit the Mueller investigation by suggesting there was some sort of untoward relationship between his team and CNN. The story, in their world, was no longer about Roger Stone being indicted; the story was about a likely nonexistent leak within the Mueller team.
Of course, this all got capped off with a tweet from Trump, demanding to know “Who alerted CNN to be there?”
Greatest Witch Hunt in the History of our Country! NO COLLUSION! Border Coyotes, Drug Dealers and Human Traffickers are treated better. Who alerted CNN to be there?
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 25, 2019