A one-digit mistake by CNN has armed President Trump with new ammunition for another fusillade against the media.

CNN reported Friday morning that Donald Trump Jr. received an email on Sept. 4, 2016, that granted special access to WikiLeaks documents. The network said in an online article that the email had been “described to CNN by multiple sources.”

But The Washington Post obtained the email itself and reported Friday afternoon that the message was actually dated Sept. 14, 2016 — a difference that sets Trump Jr.’s receipt 10 days later.

The date matters. CNN's report indicated that the Trump campaign had been fed hacked email files belonging to the Democratic National Committee and former secretary of state Colin Powell more than a week before the files were released publicly.

CNN presented the timing of Trump Jr.’s tweet as a possible reason to doubt his claim that he never even saw the email.

The later email date reported by The Post means that Trump Jr.’s first tweet about WikiLeaks could not possibly have been prompted by the email, since the president’s eldest son did not receive the message until 10 days after tweeting.

CNN presented the timing of Trump Jr.’s tweet as a possible reason to doubt his claim that he never even saw the email.

The later email date reported by The Post means that Trump Jr.’s first tweet about WikiLeaks could not possibly have been prompted by the email, since the president’s eldest son did not receive the message until 10 days after tweeting.

 

CNN issued a correction and a statement on Friday afternoon.