What if CNN reported [as breaking news] Cruz sought the opinion of legal experts who are of the opinion he does meet eligibility requirements. Yet, there are other legal scholars who have looked at this issue and have 'determined' he is not a Natural Born Citizen, followed by speculation to the meaning of this "breaking" story.
Dirty Politics would be a member of another candidate's campaign organization tweeted
Cruz has been determined to be ineligible because he is not a Natural Born Citizen. He will be making an announcement soon. Looks like he is out. Encouage voters to vote for Candidate X "
immediately before and during the caucus vote followed by the dessimination of the false information as fact in memos on official letterheads & voicemails to all precinct captains.
When it is time for the voters to address their caucus, they can discuss any concern. I do not take issue with someone encouraging others not to vote for Cruz because his status as a NBC has not been settled. I would not have an issue with someone saying do not vote for Carson because the numbers are just not there. He will have to drop out at some point.
A campaign organization attempting to manipulate voters a false conclusion (i.e. lie) while voting is in progress goes beyond Dirty Politics. It is not only politics at its worse, it is unacceptable.
If CNN reported that, they would be incorrect. But it would not be unfair to pass the report along.
In fact, Rubio, Trump, and Carson operatives were saying pretty much that exact thing, trying to depress the Cruz vote. They’re just angry because people didn’t buy it.