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Politico Acknowledges ‘Mistake’ After Reporter’s Revealing Email to DNC Is Leaked
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Politico Acknowledges ‘Mistake’ After Reporter’s Revealing Email to DNC Is Leaked

"per agreement … any thoughts appreciated.”

Politico admitted that one of its reporters made a "mistake" in sending an article to a Democratic National Committee staffer before it was published, according to a statement the outlet issued to the Huffington Post Sunday.

The May 2 article by Ken Vogel and Isaac Arnsdorf — “Clinton fundraising leaves little for state parties” — was among more than 19,000 DNC emails released Friday by the internet watchdog site, WikiLeaks. Vogel emailed the pre-published story to DNC national press secretary Mark Paustenbach on April 29 with the subject line, “per agreement … any thoughts appreciated.”

The revelation sparked widespread critique from conservatives.

"If you believe there’s collusion between the media and Democrats, and systemically so, you’re absolutely right," the American Spectator's Melissa Clouthier wrote.

In an April 30 email, Paustenbach told DNC Communications Director Luis Miranda, "Vogel gave me his story ahead of time/before it goes to his editors as long as I didn’t share it."

“Let me know if you see anything that’s missing and I’ll push back,” he added.

In his statement to the Huffington Post, Politico spokesman Brad Dayspring admitted that Vogel violated company policy, but added that it was "responsible and consistent" to verify facts with key sources:

Politico’s policy is to not share editorial content pre-publication except as approved by editors. In this case the reporter was attempting to check some very technical language and figures involving the DNC’s joint fundraising agreement with the Clinton campaign. Checking the relevant passages for accuracy was responsible and consistent with our standards; Sharing the full piece was a mistake and not consistent with our policies. There were no substantive changes to the piece and in fact the final story was blasted out by the both RNC and the Sanders campaign, and prompted Politifact to revise its rating on the issue in question.

Vogel’s published story did not portray Clinton in a very positive light, revealing that the majority of “joint fundraising” Clinton did on behalf of other Democratic candidates was being allocated to her own campaign. However, as the Huffington Post noted, many other leaked emails have "reinforced long-running perceptions among Sanders supporters" that the DNC was working to aid Clinton in the Democratic primary season.

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