Fox News Today:
A CNN producer abruptly resigned, according to a Thursday report, just weeks after he was implicated by another network staffer of sexual misconduct, in leaked videos from the controversial conservative watchdog group Project Veritas.
In October, Steve Brusk, CNN Politics’ supervising producer, was accused of “making advances” at female employees at social gatherings. He allegedly would “put his arms around them” and “try and touch their leg” as well as being “flirty and inappropriate” in email exchanges, according to Rick Saleeby, whom Project Veritas identified as a senior producer for “The Lead with Jake Tapper.”
“I’ll tell you this. In this climate that’s going on right now, he definitely would have been fired,” Saleeby told an undercover journalist for Project Veritas, who was secretly recording the conversation.
Saleeby recalled an incident in which he saw Brusk approach an intern who was intoxicated at a party. The producer said he could “see the hand,” suggesting that it was about to go up her skirt, and said he “grabbed her” to keep the intern away. He also claimed that Brusk “had already been accused of things prior.”
Steve Brusk, CNN Politics’ supervising producer, reportedly stepped down.
When asked why he thought Brusk was not fired, Saleeby suspected it was because of his tenure, saying he had been with the network “for, like, 20 years.”
Saleeby later told the Project Veritas journalist that Brusk was “good” at his job, but also that he was “creepy.”
The journalist asked, “Is that why he doesn’t get fired, because he’s good at his job?”
“Partly, and he’s protected by certain people there,” Saleeby responded. “Value him or like him… like the other higher-ups there.”
However, The Wrap reported Thursday that Brusk had parted ways with the network two weeks earlier, citing “stress of the last several weeks” as part of his decision.
“As I mark my 20-year anniversary at CNN this week, I have made the hard decision that this is the right time to step down.” Brusk wrote in an email. “Truth be told, I have barely had any time off or gotten much sleep the last five years — as we covered the campaign, the transition and the historic White House story. The stress of the last several weeks and being able to be home with my family for the holidays has confirmed for me this is the right decision.”
CNN did not immediately respond to Fox News’ request for comment.
Project Veritas was founded by James O’Keefe, who has described himself as a “guerrilla journalist.” It built up the release on social media with an “#ExposeCNN” hashtag, as part of a series in which previous installments exposed the network’s “bias.” The installments included taped conversations with other CNN staffers as well as audio of CNN President Jeff Zucker.
Fox News’ Brian Flood contributed to this report.