The Republican National Committee accused NBC and CNN on Monday of promoting Hillary Clinton's potential presidential campaign by planning documentaries of the former Secretary of State and First Lady, and threatened to ban them from airing Republican primary debates in 2016 if they air the programs, according to the Associated Press.

 

Last month, NBC announced that they would air a four-hour miniseries about Clinton titled, "Hillary," and CNN announced plans to film a documentary about Clinton a few days later. In letters sent to NBC Chairman Robert Greenblatt and CNN President Jeff Zucker, RNC Chairman Reince Priebus called the programs a "political ad masquerading as an unbiased production." He also said that the program would be unfair to other potential Democratic candidates, such as Vice President Joe Biden.

 

“It’s appalling to know executives at major networks like NBC and CNN who have donated to Democrats and Hillary Clinton have taken it upon themselves to be Hillary Clinton’s campaign operatives,” said Priebus. “Their actions to promote Secretary Clinton are disturbing and disappointing.”

 

Priebus also pointed out in the letters that Democrats had voiced complaints when conservative group Citizens United attempted to air a pay-per-view documentary on Clinton prior to the 2008 election, "and yet they're conspicuously silent now that a major news network will launch a documentary of its own. They must trust that you're doing her a favor."

 

Priebus declared that if CNN and NBC do not pull the programming before the start of the RNC Summer Meeting on August 14, the RNC will pull their partnership with the networks for future primary debates and would not sanction any debates that the networks may sponsor. GOP leaders in the early primary voting states of Iowa, New Hampshire, and South Carolina say they will support Priebus. There has already been a push by Republicans to cut down on the number of primary debates following Mitt Romney's defeat to President Barack Obama, as many believe that the large number of debates and candidates hurt the party's unity against Obama.

 

NBC News told reporters that the "Hillary" miniseries was being produced by NBC Entertainment and that the news division had no involvement in the project. CNN said in a statement that the RNC was judging their documentary too quickly.

 

"Instead of making premature decisions about a project that is in the very early stages of development and months from completion, we would encourage the members of the Republican National Committee to reserve judgment until they know more," the statement read. "Should they decide not to participate in debates on CNN, we would find it curious, as limiting their debate participation seems to be the ultimate disservice to voters." 

 

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