What a breathless media got wrong about Trump, Comey and Russia this week
Quote:Aggressive news reporting can be a public service, like when courageous journalists exposed Richard Nixon’s Watergate, the Catholic church’s cover up of the sexual abuse and the U.S. intelligence failures that preceded 9-11.
But breathless, half-baked reporting in times of tumult can also misserve the public, like when The Wall Street Journal retracted a false story that Bill Clinton had been seen in a compromising position with an intern in the White House or when NBC wrongly identified Richard Jewell as the Olympic Park bombing suspect.
This past week, professional journalism offered us several new examples of breathless reporting during the brouhaha over Donald Trump, James Comey and Russia intelligence. At their least, some stories misled the public, and at their worst they outright misinformed.
Here are some examples this week that should cause the media to search whether its current standards are doing enough to ensure the public gets the whole truth. You can review the facts and decide for yourself whether the media shamed itself.
The Rosenstein “Quitting Episode”
The Washington Post reported Wednesday night that Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein had “threatened to resign after the narrative emerging from the White House on Tuesday evening cast him as a prime mover of the decision to fire Comey.”
The story cited an unnamed source close to the White House. But it did not have any comment or confirmation from the man who was alleged to have made the threat.
When Sinclair Broadcast Group’s Michelle Macaluso finally caught up to Rosenstein, a funny thing happened. He debunked the story.
“No, I’m not quitting,” he said.
The reporter pressed on: “Did you threaten to quit?”
“No,” Rosenstein said.
The Post did not return a call for comment Friday on whether it stood by its story.
The Comey resources request
The New York Times and several other outlets reported Wednesday that Comey, just before he was fired, had asked the Justice Department’s Rosenstein for more funding and personnel for the Russia intelligence probe. But when Comey’s deputy got to Capitol Hill the next day, he denied there was any need for more resources.
“I believe we have the adequate resources to do it and I know that we have resourced that investigation adequately,” FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe told lawmakers.
McCabe said the FBI, if it needed more resources, wouldn’t even go to the Justice Department but instead to Congress. ““We don’t typically request resources for an individual case,” he explained.
He even went further to assure Congress that nothing - from resources to political pressure - was interfering in the Russia probe.
“There has been no effort to impede our investigation to date,” McCabe said.
Justice and congressional officials told Circa that that Comey never asked for more money for the probe but may have observed the FBI had to wait a long time for a deputy attorney general to be confirmed and appointed to help oversee the probe from the Justice Department’s side.
But that’s a big factual difference from the original reports.
The New York Times didn't return a call Friday seeking comment on whether it stood by the story.
CNN's claim that Trump “is under investigation”
During the breaking story on Comey Tuesday night, respected CNN legal analyst Jeffrey Toobin declared the FBI director’s firing was a “grotesque abuse of power” and that it was a "political act when the President is under investigation.”
Toobin is entitled to his opinion but he should have the right facts. Numerous sources confirm to Circa that Comey told Congress just last week that Trump is NOT a target of the Russia probe.
In fact there are just a half dozen or less targets right now and none are senior administration officials.
This was affirmed by Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Charles Grassley, who cited Trump’s claim that he was not a target of the probe and added during a hearing Thursday that “I heard nothing (from Comey) that contradicted the president’s statement."
CNN’s connection of grand jury subpoenas to Comey’s firing
CNN went live with an exclusive the night Comey was fired, reporting that grand jury subpoenas were issued to associates of former Trump National Security Adviser Michael Flynn seeking business records in the Russia case.
But with one slight turn of hand, CNN’s legitimate scoop was crafted to suggest there had been some correlation to Comey’s firing.
“CNN learned of the subpoenas hours before President Donald Trump fired FBI director James Comey,” the network reported.
I was at a lunch counter at a Baltimore restaurant 48 hours later when some of the customers got into a conversation about Comey’s firing. To a number, each had seen or heard the CNN report and each was left with the impression that Comey was probably fired because he had asked for the grand jury subpoenas and was “getting closer to Trump.”
Yep, two red herrings. Nice try. Now if you two can try to stick with the op. Trump secretly recorded the lead investigator. Threatened him with said recordings and also asked him to pledge personal loyalty over three times. That is an impeachable offense. Obstruction of justice. If he doesn't turn over the recordings. That is also a violation. What is best? All of his own doing.
(05-14-2017 02:46 PM)Machiavelli Wrote: Yep, two red herrings. Nice try. Now if you two can try to stick with the op. Trump secretly recorded the lead investigator. Threatened him with said recordings and also asked him to pledge personal loyalty over three times. That is an impeachable offense. Obstruction of justice. If he doesn't turn over the recordings. That is also a violation. What is best? All of his own doing.
You clowns think this is watergate. Nowhere near it. Hillary and Obama covered up nasty crap that wojld have had them in prison for decades. Just stop !
(05-14-2017 02:46 PM)Machiavelli Wrote: Yep, two red herrings. Nice try. Now if you two can try to stick with the op. Trump secretly recorded the lead investigator. Threatened him with said recordings and also asked him to pledge personal loyalty over three times. That is an impeachable offense. Obstruction of justice. If he doesn't turn over the recordings. That is also a violation. What is best? All of his own doing.
I hope your wife took any guns you might own and put them under lock and key...then hid the key. Or if you are like me and don't own a gun...she took all sharp objects and locked them away. Using plastic, knives over the next 3.7 years will be safer for you.
You are one sick puppy when it comes to President Trump. I only started reading this forum maybe 5 months ago and I can see you going down the rabbit hole....
FAST
Can you point me to the link where President Trump taped Comey or threaten him?
(This post was last modified: 05-14-2017 04:02 PM by WKUYG.)
Rand Paul Says He And Another Senator Were Surveilled By The Obama Admin
Where is the attention to this?
Quote:On “America’s News HQ” this afternoon, Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) revealed that another senator confided in him that he was surveilled by the Obama administration.
Earlier this week, Paul said reporters have told him they have evidence he was a target of Obama administration spying.
This is the first time that Paul mentioned another senator is also concerned about the Obama administration’s surveillance.
He said if this proves to be true, it’s a much bigger story than any allegations about collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia during the presidential election.
“It’s about your own government spying on the opposition party,” Paul said. “That would be enormous if it’s true.”
Show me the link of Trump saying he taped Comey and threaten him? I want to see or hear the man's words. Not some talking head on what they though was said.
You made the thread...show the proof of the actual words said. Link, that way we can see if what you think was said was actually said?
(This post was last modified: 05-14-2017 05:32 PM by WKUYG.)
05-14-2017 05:31 PM
Machiavelli
Back to Reality. Oh there goes Gravity
Posts: 25,357
Joined: Apr 2006
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Yeah..... he's playing 5th dimension chess. You guys have lost the ability to reason. He's a disaster of the highest order but it doesn't matter to his cronies. No slight can't be masked no transgression can't be covered. Life is simple when you are a sheeple. All hail our dear leader.
05-14-2017 07:15 PM
Machiavelli
Back to Reality. Oh there goes Gravity
Posts: 25,357
Joined: Apr 2006
I Root For: BGSU
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/
Secretly recording the lead investigator....
