For much of Friday evening, CNN viewers could witness various on-air personalities of the news network put in the awkward position of trying to repeatedly argue that the Hillary Clinton campaign of 2008 had nothing to do with promoting anti-Obama birther conspiracy theories, even while news was breaking that accused close Clinton confidant and advisor Sidney Blumenthal of personally trying to push birtherism into the media during Clinton's campaign against Barack Obama in 2008.

Even though CNN anchor Jake Tapper informed viewers of the development shortly after 4:00 p.m. ET, for the rest of the evening, several other CNN anchors tried to discuss the issue of whether the Clinton campaign was linked to birtherism without mentioning the very relevant breaking news unless forced to, usually by right-leaning CNN commentators. CNN Tonight host Don Lemon even tried to claim that the story was "not true," apparently simply because Blumenthal by that point had denied the charge.

At 4:06 p.m., while hosting The Lead, CNN anchor Jake Tapper informed viewers:

One new bit of information in this developing story, while there remains no evidence that Clinton or anyone on her campaign pushed the birther lie, this afternoon a former Washington bureau chief of McClatchy, Jim Asher, tweeted that longtime Clinton friend Sidney Blumenthal pushed the "Obama was born in Kenya" lie to him. A top 2008 Clinton campaign source tells me that Blumenthal was not officially on the campaign, but Blumenthal is certainly an ally of the Clintons. Neither Blumenthal nor the Clinton campaign responded to a request for comment about Asher's tweets.

In the next hour, as he hosted The Situation Room, Wolf Blitzer repeatedly challenged Republican Rep. Sean Duffy when the Wisconsin congressman tried to link birtherism to the 2008 Clinton campaign. Blitzer focused on a 2008 Clinton campaign volunteer in Iowa who was fired for pushing birtherism, as if it constituted the only relevant allegation on the subject.

Even though Blumenthal was not a paid part of the Clinton campaign, if he made efforts to boost Clinton by trying to tear down her opponent, such activities would still be part of the Clinton team effort. But Blitzer did not mention the story, at one point going back and forth with Rep. Duffy:

WOLF BLITZER: There's no evidence at all that Hillary Clinton ever raised the birth place of then-Senator Barack Obama. REP. SEAN DUFFY (R-WI): No, but her team did. And, frankly, if it's someone who has a position that could actually be fired- BLITZER: But the team didn't. There was one volunteer in Iowa who was fired for him doing that, but there was never any team effort, if you will, to smear the Democratic presidential candidate.

It was not until after 6:00 p.m. ET, during the second hour of The Situation Room, that the show finally acknowledged the Blumenthal story as correspondent Phil Mattingly appeared:

Another issue that has popped up today. The former McClatchy Washington bureau chief tweeted out, saying that Sidney Blumenthal -- obviously a close associate of the Clintons -- had pitched this theory to him during that campaign. Sidney Blumenthal just responded to my colleague who follows Hillary Clinton, saying that is completely untrue. But it's worth noting Sidney Blumenthal did not have an official role on Hillary Clinton's 2008 campaign. What we know, the reality of this issue is this: Hillary Clinton and her campaign -- at least those paid by her campaign -- never pushed this claim and is certainly not the people that originated this claim.

Earlier in the day, on his 1:00 p.m. ET Wolf show, Blitzer had notably interviewed 2008 Clinton campaign manager Patti Solis Doyle, who gave viewers her version of the story about the Iowa volunteer being fired. CNN's Tom Foreman also notably in the same hour ran a report in which he denied that there was evidence Clinton or her campaign had ever promoted birtherism.

Returning to the evening, on Erin Burnett OutFront, CNN political commentator John Avlon -- speaking as an authority who had looked into the issue -- also did not mention the Blumenthal factor as he recalled what he had discovered about Clinton supporters from 2008 not officially working on her campaign who pushed birtherism by filing a lawsuit in Texas. It was not until a bit later when conservative CNN political commentator Kayleigh McEnany brought up Blumenthal that host Burnett finally addressed the issue, as she noted that CNN was trying to confirm the story.

Substitute host John Berman similarly addressed the issue during Anderson Cooper 360 after conservative CNN political commentator and NewsBusters contributor Jeffrey Lord injected the Blumenthal story into the conversation.

But when Don Lemon came along on CNN Tonight, he actually pronounced the Blumenthal story to be "not true" after conservative CNN political commentator Corey Lewandowski brought it up at 9:22 p.m. ET. After claiming, "Corey, that is not true," he then changed his assessment to "no definitive proof" as he added:

Okay, so CNN reached out to Blumenthal, who told our person who reached out, "This is false. Period. Donald Trump cannot distract from the fact that he is the one who embraced and promoted the birther lie and bears the responsibility for it." There is no -- there is no definitive proof -- hold on, Corey -- there's no definitive proof of what you're saying about Blumenthal.

Below are transcripts of relevant portions of The Lead with Jake Tapper, The Situation Room, Erin Burnett OutFront, and CNN Tonight, from Friday, September 16: