Clinton. CNN president Jeff Zucker defended CNN against the criticism, commenting that Trump was the most willing Republican candidate to give on-air interviews. Trump's response to the allegations during his speech at the 2017 Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC), jokingly referring to CNN as the "Clinton News Network." On June 26, 2017, CNN investigative journalists Thomas Frank, Eric Lichtblau, and Lex Haris resigned after the network retracted an online article that incorrectly connected Trump aide Anthony Scaramucci to a $10 billion Russian investment fund. The network apologized to Scaramucci and admitted that the online story did not meet its editorial standards. Zucker responded by stressing that the network needs to "play error-free ball" regarding future stories about Trump. In July 2017, Trump posted a video on Twitter of himself tackling Vince McMahon on the ground during WrestleMania 23, edited to replace McMahon's face with the CNN logo. Trump's criticism of mainstream media outlets could have encouraged right-wing supporters to commit violence against journalists. CNN also faced criticism over an investigation that identified the Reddit user (r/The_Donald) who had allegedly created the video, facing accusations that they had blackmailed the user. New ownerships and expansion (2018–present) 2018–2022: AT&T (WarnerMedia) Later that month, a group of Democratic senators, led by Amy Klobuchar, issued a request for information over allegations that the Trump administration was planning to use CNN as "leverage for political gain" in the process of clearing the proposed acquisition of its parent company Time Warner by AT&T—a purchase which was first announced in October 2016. The Daily Caller reported that, in particular, the administration was seeking the removal of Jeff Zucker as CNN president. Although Trump had promised to block the acquisition entirely during his presidential campaign, Trump's transition team later stated that the government planned to evaluate the deal without prejudice. Following the announcement of the acquisition, AT&T CEO Randall L. Stephenson stated that the company was "committed to continuing the editorial independence of CNN". In August 2017, Deadline Hollywood reported that AT&T had considered spinning off CNN and its stake in TMZ post-acquisition. In October 2017, Stephenson downplayed the possibility that the ongoing tensions between Trump and CNN could affect the deal, stating that he "[didn't] know what the relevance of CNN is in terms of an antitrust review", and that AT&T did not plan to make managerial changes to Time Warner properties that were operating well, such