CNN scraps Hillary Clinton documentary, and director blames Clintons
The Republican National Committee voted unanimously in August to ban CNN and NBC from hosting or sponsoring Republican primary debates if either network proceeded with plans to air programs about Hillary Rodham Clinton, the early favorite among potential Democratic candidates for president in 2016.
CNN was planning a documentary about Mrs. Clinton, and NBC had a fictional miniseries about the Clintons in the works.
On Monday CNN Films canceled its plans after the documentary film's Academy-Award-winning director, Charles Ferguson, said he would no longer continue with the project, CNN Worldwide spokeswoman Allison Gollust told .听
In a tweet from the , Republicans claimed CNN鈥檚 cancellation a victory of 鈥済rassroots efforts.鈥�
But, writes Mr. Ferguson in a blog entry for the Huffington Post,聽it was the virtual omerta around the Clinton family rather than threats of an RNC boycott that ultimately led to the film鈥檚 cancellation.
鈥淲hen I approached people for interviews, I discovered that nobody, and I mean nobody, was interested in helping me make this film,鈥� Ferguson explains with a palpable tone of frustration. 鈥淣ot Democrats, not Republicans 鈥撀燼nd certainly nobody who works with the Clintons, wants access to the Clintons, or dreams of a position in a Hillary Clinton administration.鈥澛�
According to Ferguson鈥檚 article, he signed a contract with CNN to make the documentary late last year and was then contacted by Nick Merrill, Hillary Clinton鈥檚 press secretary a day later. The Clinton camp continued to dig for information about Ferguson鈥檚 documentary, the director writes, pushing Ferguson to 鈥渃lear the air鈥� about rumors of the film.
In late July 2013, CNN 聽it was producing the documentary, several days after the network was planning a four-hour miniseries based on the life of Hillary Clinton. (The miniseries will feature Diane Lane as Hillary Clinton. Neither Bill nor Chelsea has been cast yet,聽according to reports.)
Both networks drew immediate ire from the RNC. The chairman, Reince Priebus, called both projects thinly veiled attempts to put a 鈥�thumb on the scale鈥� for the 2016 election, and issued his ultimatum to CNN and NBC: drop the Clinton-shows, or the RNC would not allow the two networks to host, or sponsor Republican primary debates. Mr. Priebus鈥檚 statements, and the RNC鈥檚 subsequent endorsement of his threat, did not deter either network.
From across the aisle, David Brock, a Clinton-supporter and chief of the left-leaning Media Matters for America, also voiced opposition to Ferguson鈥檚 planned documentary in an open letter.
鈥淢y concern was that there would be potentially an anti-Clinton animus to this film and what [Ferguson] wrote in The Huffington Post today shows that I was right,鈥� Mr. Brock told the on Monday.
Mr. Ferguson contributed more than $30,000 to the Obama Victory Fund in 2008, which helped finance Barack Obama鈥檚 presidential campaign, according to the Times.
The film鈥檚 cancelation is 鈥渁 victory for the Clintons, and for the money machines that both political parties have become,鈥� wrote Ferguson, who said in his Huffington Post blog that he had planned in the documentary to explore how the Clintons had built up the personal wealth and attracted powerful donors to the Clinton Foundation.
This is not the first time a documentary about Hillary Clinton has come under scrutiny. In 2008, the conservative advocacy group, Citizens United, made 鈥淗illary: The Movie,鈥� featuring a cast of right-wing commentators that wade through a myriad of alleged Clinton scandals.
The Federal Election Commission placed restrictions on the film鈥檚 advertisements during the 2008 election season on the grounds that it violated the McCain-Feingold campaign finance reform act. The FEC said the film was effectively a 90-minute campaign advertisement against Clinton.
Citizens United then went on to sue the FEC in . The Supreme Court鈥檚 subsequent landmark decision allows unrestricted federal political campaign funding.听
NBC, meanwhile, has not yet announced the date that its series would air; the project has not yet been ordered into production.听
