Controversial journalist to produce Trump debate

Eason Jordan, the former CNN chief news executive who resigned after saying the U.S. military was killing journalists in Iraq, will be the executive producer for the upcoming Republican presidential debate that will be moderated by Donald Trump.

Newsmax, the conservative media outlet sponsoring the debate, announced on Sunday that “a prestigious team of some of the top producers in network and cable television news — including the former head of CNN's news division — has been assembled to produce The Newsmax ION Television 2012 Presidential Debate to be moderated by businessman Donald J. Trump.”

In 2003, Jordan wrote an op-ed for The New York Times in which he admitted to sitting on a number of stories about the Saddam Hussein regime. Jordan said he did so to protect sources and journalists in Iraq, although many accused him of protecting the regime in exchange for access.

In January of 2005 Jordan said the U.S. military was deliberately targeting journalists in Iraq, and the resulting blowback caused him to resign that February.

The Trump debate has caused a media firestorm within the GOP presidential primary.

Trump is a controversial figure who continues to question where President Obama was born, despite the administration’s release of his long-form birth certificate, and who claimed over Twitter that “in order to get elected, @BarackObama will start a war with Iran.”

Jon Huntsman and Ron Paul both said they are boycotting the debate, arguing that the former candidate and reality television star was making a spectacle out of the nomination process.

Trump shot back calling the two “joke candidates.”

GOP front-runner Newt Gingrich, who met with Trump on Monday, said he will participate in the debate. Michele Bachmann and Rick Santorum also said they will participate in the Dec. 27 debate in Des Moines, Iowa.