CNN reporters resign over retracted Russia story as Trump goads network

Three journalists have resigned from US media network CNN after the organisation retracted a news story related to potential links between Donald Trump’s campaign team and Russia.

The story was taken off the broadcaster’s website on Friday after an internal investigation from the news agency, while it also issued an apology to the Trump aide in question, Anthony Scaramucci.

It claimed that Scaramucci met with the head of a Russian investment fund in the weeks leading up to Trump’s inauguration as US President.

CNN said in a statement that the article did not meet the network’s editorial standards.

"In the aftermath of the retraction of a story published on CNN.com, CNN has accepted the resignations of the employees involved in the story's publication."

The story was taken off CNN’s website on Friday after an internal investigation

Journalist Thomas Frank, who was the author of the story in question, was joined by investigative reporters Eric Lictblau and Lex Harris in handing in their resignations.

Trump has had a fiery relationship with the news outlet, repeatedly citing it as an example of the ‘fake news’ that has targeted him throughout his campaign and presidency. He taunted CNN in a series of tweets on Tuesday.

“Wow, CNN had to retract big story on ‘Russia,’ with 3 employees forced to resign. What about all the other phony stories they do? FAKE NEWS!,” Trump tweeted.

He later added: “Fake News CNN is looking at big management changes now that they got caught falsely pushing their phony Russian stories. Ratings way down!”