Fox Anchor Hypes Report On Clinton Email Inquiry, Doesn't Mention Republican Donor As Source

Stewart Baker Was Appointed By The Bush Administration To DHS And Has Donated Thousands To Republican Candidates

Written by Media Matters Staff

Published

Fox News anchor Bret Baier cited a report from the Associated Press that claimed Hillary Clinton’s private email server may have compromised “the names of CIA personnel.” Baier said that “we’re getting more and more nuggets about this investigation every few days” and asked “how can Secretary Clinton definitively say that there won’t be an FBI referral and that there won’t be an indictment?” But, this claim in the AP report that Baier cited relied on Stewart Baker, identified only as “a Washington lawyer who spent more than three years as an assistant secretary of the Homeland Security Department and is former legal counsel for the National Security Agency.” Moreover, both Baier and the AP failed to disclose that Baker was appointed by Bush to the Department of Homeland Security and has donated thousands of dollars to Republican candidates over the past two decades. From the June 12 edition of Fox Broadcasting Co.’s Fox News Sunday:

BRET BAIER (HOST): You know, there were more emails that have markings, we’re told, that were classified from their origin. House lawmakers are looking for more answers on that. But, either way, they were on the server -- the home-brew server. This is from the Associated Press just this last week. “At least 47 of the emails contain the notation ‘B3 CIA Pers/Org,’ which indicates the material referred to CIA personnel or matters related to the agency.” It seems, Senator, that we’re getting more and more nuggets about this investigation every few days. So, how can Secretary Clinton definitively say that there won’t be an FBI referral and that there won’t be an indictment?