CNN Political Commentator Paul Begala writes on Huffington Post today about yesterday’s whirlwind day of denying the story he was jumping ship from CNN to join the Sen. Hillary Clinton campaign. Yesterday Fox News’ Major Garrett reported a story that was picked up elsewhere, claiming that Begala and CNN’s James Carville were joining the Clinton campaign as advisers.
Begala and Carville denied these reports in interviews yesterday. But today, Begala posted an email exchange he had with Garrett during the course of the day, fully denying any truth to the story.
Begala describes Garrett as, “a good guy whom I’ve known for years,” and their emails reflect a mutual respect. Still, after Begala’s initial denial, we see Garrett wrote, “I will take it under advisement.”
Begala took exception with that wording. “Fox now knew their story was flatly, factually wrong, and they took it ‘under advisement,'” he wrote.
The complete email exchange (three from Begala and two from Garrett) is attached to the blog post. With steadfast denials from Begala, it brings up the question of who Garrett’s “very strong” sources are.
As Begala puts it in his final email, “If my wife hears one more report that I’m joining Hillary’s campaign I’m going to have to go in the Pundit Protection Program.”
Update: On Tuesday, Garrett posted the initial Begala email on his blog, The Bourbon Room, with a response from the FNC reporter.