Last Friday evening, at 7:25 p.m., POLITICO reporter Sophia Cai reached out to Fox News' public relations department with an urgent inquiry. Cai, I'm told, said in an email that the outlet had sources indicating White House chief of staff Susie Wiles had helped set up press secretary Katie Zacharia's Thursday appearance on Sean Hannity's Fox News program—an interview that proved disastrous for Zacharia and appeared to play a role in her ultimate ouster the following day. Cai gave Fox News an 8 p.m. deadline to respond, leaving the network just 35 minutes to address the reporting.
Despite the inquiry arriving well outside normal business hours, I'm told a Fox News representative looked into the matter under the constrained timeframe and phoned Cai to respond to her questions about the fateful interview. The network representative provided an on-the-record statement that said Hannity decides whom he interviews, not anyone else. Soon after, POLITICO went ahead with the story. At 9:12 p.m., the report was published to its website, with reporters Will Steakin and Connor Stringer as co-bylines. The story included Fox News’ statement.
But the pushback grew more intense. Behind the scenes, Status has learned…
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