White House slams CNN reporter Natasha Bertrand for being 'used' by enemies of President Trump

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt took aim at CNN reporter Natasha Bertrand from the briefing room on Thursday, saying that she was "used" by those who are enemies of President Trump. Bertrand reported on a preliminary defense intelligence agency report on Monday, per three unnamed sources that indicated the Saturday US strike on Iran's nuclear facilities was not as destructive as intended.

"This is a reporter who has been, unfortunately, used by people who dislike Donald Trump in this government to push fake and false narratives," Leavitt said.

"She should be ashamed of herself, and that's not what reporting is. Journalism is trying to find the facts and the truth, and this week, we saw this same reporter being used to push a fake narrative to try to undermine the president of the United States, and, more importantly, the brave fighter pilots who conducted one of the most successful operations in United States history. And I think the American people fully know that this operation was a complete and total success."
 

On Monday, CNN's Bertrand dropped a report from three anon sources within the White House, a leak that press secretary Leavitt said came from "low-level losers" who are now being investigated by the FBI. Those sources told CNN that a preliminary report after the strike said that the nuclear programs in Iran were not actually destroyed and that their nuclear weapons plans would be back on track in just a matter of months. 

Leavitt said, "this was a low-confidence preliminary intelligence assessment, and the entirety of that assessment was not leaked to the media. Only tidbits of that assessment were leaked to CNN. And we have seen this playbook run before, where you have people in the intelligence community or perhaps on Capitol Hill—we don't know, but I believe the FBI is investigating to find out who that leaker was, because it's illegal and they should be held accountable for that—leaked bits and pieces of an Intel assessment to push a false narrative. And it's to the same reporter I will add, Natasha Bertrand of CNN, who has done this in the past. In 2020 it was Natasha Bertrand who had 51 intelligence analysts falsely lie to her, but she still put it on paper for some reason that the Hunter Biden laptop story was Russian disinformation. We all know that's not true, right? We can all agree on that. Now that was a lie from the intelligence community."

"Also in 2020," Leavitt continued, "this same reporter, Natasha Bertrand, wrote that a top intel agency ruled out the man-made lab leak theory of the coronavirus origins. Again, the President was right about that. This reporter wrote a lie from the intelligence community to seek a narrative she wanted to prove. And guess what? We now know that's the truth.

"Also, in 2024," Leavitt went on, "Bertrand pushed the suckers and losers hoax. She also pushed the fine people hoax, which was taking the President's words purposely out of context. And then last October, and I believe this is notable, Natasha Bertrand published an article in Politico from the intelligence agency. She said that John Ratcliffe was speaking without any evidence when he said Iran was attempting to undermine President Trump's presidential campaign. And then we, of course, found out that was absolutely true."

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth held a press conference on Thursday morning after having read the full report himself and debunked CNN's report, saying "It was preliminary, a day and a half after the actual strike, when it admits itself, in writing, that it requires weeks to accumulate the necessary data to make such an assessment. It's preliminary. It points out that it's not been coordinated with the intelligence community at all. There's low confidence in this particular report. It says in the report there are gaps in the information. It says in the report, multiple linchpin assumptions are what this assessment—You know what that is?" 

"That means your entire premise is predicated on a linchpin. If you're wrong, everything else is wrong, and yet, and still, this report acknowledges it's likely severe damage," Hegseth said. "Again, this is preliminary, but leaked because someone had an agenda to try to muddy the waters and make it look like this historic strike wasn't successful." He went on to say that the defense intelligence agency that put out the report said that it was preliminary and would "continue to be refined as additional intelligence becomes available." 

CNN issued a statement on Tuesday following backlash against Bertrand's reporting, saying, "CNN stands by our thorough reporting on an early intelligence assessment of the recent strikes on Iran’s nuclear facilities, which has since been confirmed by other news organizations. The White House has acknowledged the existence of the assessment, and their statement is included in our story."