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CBS News chief legal correspondent Jan Crawford will not face consequences following a controversial social media post about Democratic Michigan Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed — as internal calls for her firing swell.
On Sunday, the veteran journalist tweeted praise for a heckler who was asking El-Sayed, who is Muslim, to disavow the Muslim Brotherhood, repeating the smear campaign of El-Sayed’s opponent, Republican Mike Rogers.
Crawford later deleted the post, acknowledging that it violated CBS News standards, and apologized. However, she will not face any punishment over the post, CBS insiders told Zeteo media columnist Justin Baragona Wednesday.
In the since-deleted post, Crawford thanked the heckler who got into an intense exchange with El-Sayed, writing, “Tommy, thank you. I had to watch this twice to catch Dr. Abdul El-Sayed’s nanosecond, ‘yeah, absolutely,’ response. His subsequent uninterrupted diatribe proving your exact point is the kind of spectacular self-own is the kind ppl only dream about triggering. Congrats.”
Insiders say Crawford clearly violated CBS News standards by attacking a political candidate, taking a partisan stance and spreading false information, according to the report.

“There is zero question that she should be fired amongst those of us who are about our reputation,” one network staffer said. “It’s difficult enough to work here with all the public scrutiny over ideological slant. This is a litmus test for how serious management is about retaining any shred of credibility.”
Many staffers, according to the report, seem to think that the network failed that test.
“So Islamophobia and anti-Muslim hate is, you know, acceptable,” another staffer said.
Some staffers seem to think Crawford’s close relationship with CBS News Editor-in-Chief Bari Weiss may have provided her some protection. Weiss, who came into her role with no prior broadcast experience, has final “veto” say on any punishment or repercussions given to staffers.
“They know that if Bari’s not on board, it’s not gonna happen,” an insider said. “Bari doesn’t think she did anything wrong.”
According to the report, Weiss has also tasked the newsroom with pursuing stories that portray El-Sayed as being sympathetic to the Muslim Brotherhood, an Islamist political movement founded in Egypt in 1928.
Semafor also reported that Weiss has encouraged journalists to try and find potential links between El-Sayed and the Muslim Brotherhood.
The Independent has contacted CBS News for comment.
