In a rare direct rebuke, the Central Intelligence Agency on Monday evening issued a statement calling CNN coverage of a spy story “simply false.” The CNN reported that the CIA pulled out a major Russian spy from Moscow because President Trump had “repeatedly mishandled classified intelligence and could contribute to exposing the covert source as a spy.” However, the CIA is not the only one effectively calling CNN out on the story. A New York Times piece on the story directly contradicts CNN. The Times says that the decision was made before Trump was even in office. If true, that would be a glaring contradiction for CNN and would reinforce criticism of the network as relentlessly anti-Trump.

Two years ago, I wrote a column in the Hill concerning a “fact checker” column by the Washington Post.  At the time, I was surprised by the column by Glenn Kessler in criticizing White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders over her references to James Comey and his actions following his termination.  I had written a column about the lack of objectivity in the media just before the article. As if on cue, the Washington Post assigned Sanders two “Pinocchios” for saying that Comey’s actions “were improper and likely could have been illegal.” I used the article as an example of the bias in reporting on these controversies. Those comments have now been reaffirmed by the Inspector General in its recent report. Will the Post now issue its own correction with the removal of two noses? More is at issue than political cosmetics in correcting the record on Comey’s conduct.