Before White House communications director Jennifer Palmieri left her job for the Clinton campaign, she emailed State Department spokeswoman Jennifer Psaki to discuss how Secretary of State John Kerry could avoid the “swirl of crap” questions from the media about Hillary Clinton’s private email server.
The Wall Street Journal was shown the emails by the Republican National Committee, which obtained them via a FOIA request.
Palmieri emailed Psaki, asking if it was possible “between us on the shows … think we can get this done so he is not asked about email.”
Psaki agreed adding that she was “working to crush” the story from her position at the State Department.
“Good to go on killing CBS idea.” Psaki wrote a day later, “And we are going to hold on any other TV options just given the swirl of crap out there.”
According to the Journal’s report, the pair was apparently discussing an upcoming appearance by Kerry on CBS’s Face The Nation.
When the interview did take place, Kerry was not asked about Clinton’s email server.
CBS denied that any topics were off limits during the interview.
“No subject was off-limits when this interview was arranged, as is the CBS News standard,” CBS Communications Director Caitlin Conant said in a statement to the Journal.
After the incident, Palmieri joined the Clinton campaign and Psaki replaced her at the White House.
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