White House encourages viewing of anti-CNN James O’Keefe video

White House spokeswoman Sarah Huckabee Sanders on Tuesday urged reporters to watch an undercover video released by conservative provocateur James O’Keefe claiming to show a CNN producer complaining about his network’s Russia coverage. 

“There’s a video circulating now, whether it’s accurate or not, I don’t know, but I would encourage everyone in this room and frankly everybody across the country to take a look at it,” she told reporters during the White House daily briefing. 

Sanders said the footage might prove that networks are driving coverage of the Russia investigation “for the purpose of spiking ratings.”

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“If it is accurate, I think it’s a disgrace to all of media, to all of journalism, I think that we have gone to a place where if the media can’t be trusted to report the news, then that’s a dangerous place for America,” she added. 

The video shows John Bonifield, a producer with CNN’s medical unit, saying the coverage of the investigation into whether Trump associates colluded with Russia’s election-meddling effort is “mostly bullshit.” 

“I haven’t seen any good enough evidence to show that the president committed a crime,” Bonifield says. 

The producer is speaking to an off-camera questioner in a series of edited clips. 

O’Keefe has long faced accusations that he released selectively edited videos that twist the words of their subjects to portray them in a negative light. 

He was sentenced to three years of probation, 100 hours of community service and a $1,500 fine after pleading guilty to misdemeanor charges for entering the office of then-Sen. Mary Landrieu (D-La.) on false pretenses.