CNN has hired former Donald Trump campaign manager Corey Lewandowski. (Joe Raedle/Getty Images)
It's natural for top political aides to jump to the media after being fired. They need new jobs, after all, and news outlets want analysts with first-hand insights. When Ted Cruz dumped communications director Rick Tyler in February, for instance, MSNBC picked him up almost immediately.
But Corey Lewandowski's hiring by CNN, which was first reported by Politico and confirmed by a spokeswoman for the cable channel, seems a bit less natural than most. We would even venture to say that it could be problematic on a couple of levels.
First, Donald Trump's former campaign manager, who was relieved of his duties on Monday, obviously brings knowledge of the presumptive Republican presidential nominee that few can match. But he also brings unparalleled baggage, including an incident in which he reportedly pushed a reporter from the channel that now employs him — CNN's Noah Gray — away from Trump as the reporter tried to ask a question.
Lewandowski had previously threatened to "blacklist" Gray, saying he would revoke the reporter's access to campaign events. Gray captured part of that episode on video.




More broadly, Lewandowski ran the campaign of a candidate who has repeatedly disrespected CNN's reporting. Trump has taken to calling the cable channel the Clinton News Network lately, reviving a disparaging nickname that dates to the 1990s.
In fact, he even did it again right after news of Lewandowski's hiring broke.
Lewandowski has a bad reputation in the media generally, owing in large part to a March incident in which he grabbed a female reporter from Breitbart News by the arm and then denied ever touching her — only to have security footage prove later that he did, in fact, put his hand on her. He was charged with simple battery, but the charge was later dropped.
In other words, Lewandowski is not your run-of-the-mill former operative joining the news desk. A CNN spokeswoman did not immediately respond to a Fix inquiry about how the network decided to hire Lewandowski and whether the potential benefits of his insight outweigh the drawbacks of his recent history with journalists — up to and including CNN journalists. The cable channel's media reporter, Brian Stelter, tweeted that the logic of the hiring is "obvious."




Outside CNN, other journalists blasted the move or offered their own incredulous commentary.
But Politico's Hadas Gold, who broke the story on Thursday afternoon, tweeted that her colleagues in the media shouldn't be so surprised.
Secondly, Lewandowski's bad rap with the press and battles with CNN are only half of what immediately caused concern in journalism circles. As the Associated Press reported after Lewandowski's firing, Trump often requires employees to sign strict nondisclosure agreements that prohibit them from disparaging him, even after they no longer work for him.
In his businesses and presidential campaign, Trump requires nearly everyone to sign legally binding nondisclosure agreements prohibiting them from releasing any confidential or disparaging information about the real estate mogul, his family or his companies. Those subject to confidentiality agreements include senior advisers like Lewandowski, campaign volunteers and even a maker of his famous "Make America Great Again" hats.
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According to a Trump nondisclosure agreement obtained by The Associated Press, the celebrity billionaire has broad discretion over what could constitute a breach of confidentiality.
If Lewandowski is indeed bound by such a broad "NDA," it certainly raises legitimate questions about whether he can provide authentic analysis to CNN viewers.