White House balks at new CBS staffer over Liz Cheney ties
The White House is peeved that CBS News has reportedly hired a former aide to ex-GOP congresswoman and longtime Trump nemesis Liz Cheney.
Cheney, who served as the third-highest ranking Republican in the House but was ousted from her role as GOP conference chair by her colleagues in 2021, has been a staunch critic of President Donald Trump.
She served as Vice Chair of the January 6 Select Committee, and her spokesperson throughout the probe was communications executive Jeremy Adler.
Adler will soon join CBS News’ press shop, according to Axios, and the White House is not pleased.
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"CBS just destroyed whatever ounce of credibility they had left by hiring [an aide to] a prosecutor who built her career trying to put President Trump in jail," a White House source told Fox News Digital.
Last year, CBS agreed to pay $16 million to Trump’s future presidential library or charitable causes to settle the president’s election interference lawsuit against the network over its handling of a "60 Minutes" interview with Vice President Kamala Harris, accusing the network of election interference leading up to the 2024 contest.
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Many on the left feel CBS News has since catered to Trump because Paramount CEO David Ellison, who is known to be in good standing with the president and took control of the network shortly after the settlement, handpicked Bari Weiss to serve as CBS News’ top editor. But the reported hiring of Adler has rocked the boat.
"It’s really mind-boggling that Weiss and David Ellison would allow CBS to elevate such an unserious and dishonest person," the White House insider added, suggesting it was a "revenge hire."
CBS News did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Cheney, who for years had good standing within the Republican Party, became increasingly isolated from her GOP colleagues with her vocal criticism of Trump's conduct after the Capitol riot on Jan. 6.
She and fellow Trump critic Adam Kinzinger were tapped as the only two Republicans who sat on the Democrat-dominated Jan. 6 Committee. Their appointments made them darlings of the liberal media, and they were prominently featured in primetime hearings.
Cheney's criticism of Trump forced her out of GOP House Conference leadership and ultimately led to her primary defeat in the 2022 midterms against Harriet Hageman, a staunch supporter of Trump, losing by a whopping 66%-29% margin.
During the 2024 election, Cheney and her father, former Vice President Dick Cheney, endorsed Harris. The ex-lawmaker appeared alongside the Democratic nominee on the campaign trail.