Despite the jest from late night comedians about Trump Derangement Syndrome – the mainstream media has allowed its obsession with “Russia-gate” to drive itself absolutely mad.
The obsession of the press to prove collusion between President Donald Trump and the Russian government has undermined its journalistic credibility. Sometimes, that has led to endless corrections and retractions. Other times, no retractions were made, and talking heads just flat out lied to everyone.
All too often, the media has been strangely quiet in hopes our attention span is too short to remember its gaffes. Lest we forget, here are 10 lies the media told about Russia-gate.
#1: CNN Accuses Don. Jr. of Colluding with WikiLeaks
CNN’s Many Raju reported last December that WikiLeaks provided Donald Trump Jr. with documents they stole 10 days before they were released to the public. In reality, its sources gave CNN the wrong date. Don Jr. received an email with links to WikiLeaks’ documents on Sept. 14, 2016, after their public release.
#2: ABC Claims Michael Flynn Was Told to Contact Russian Agents
Brian Ross of ABC was suspended after he falsely reported that Trump’s former national security adviser Michael Flynn was ready to testify that Trump gave him an order to my contact with Russians Agents. After the report, the stock market lost several hundred points. ??ABC was later forced to clarify that Flynn was actually prepared to testify that Trump ordered him to meet with the Russians during the transition phase – a standard operating procedure for any incoming administration.
#3: ?Washington Post Said Russians Hacked Our Power Grid
The Washington Post falsely claimed in January 2017 that Russians had hacked the U.S. power grid. The story first identified the supposed hack was carried out through a company in Vermont.
The story was changed later to one laptop being breached. As it turned out the laptop in question was never connected to the power grid.
#4: Media Claims Republicans Funded the Steele Dossier
The media perpetuated this false story so consistently that former FBI director James Comey repeated the lie to Bret Baier of Fox news.? Several news outlets repeated the claim that Republicans paid for Steele’s anti-Trump dossier. In fact, Republicans paid Fusion GPS for standard opposition research, but pulled their business from Fusion before the company ever contracted the source.
#5: CNN Hypes up James Comey’s Testimony
Before former FBI Director James Comey testified before Congress last June, CNN reported that Comey was ready to dispute one of President Trump’s key claims – that Comey told the President he was not under investigation.
In Comey’s Prepared statement to Congress, he wrote, “During our one-on-one meeting at Trump Tower … I offered that assurance [that he was not under investigation].”
#6: Media Claims 17 Intel Agencies Agree on Collusion
For several months, the mainstream media circulated the story that “all 17 intelligence agencies agree that Russia interfered in the 2016 election.” The New York Times fact-checked the story as true while running a story at the same time as something totally opposite.
As it turns out, only four agencies saw Russia being responsible for meddling. The other 13 were doing, according to the Times, “other work.”
#7: NBC’s Claims Paul Manafort was a Russian Agent
The claim the word “donations” appeared on Paul Manafort’s notes from a meeting with a Russian lawyer proved false. POLITICO had to correct the NBC report.
#8: NBC Made Patently False Claims About Michael Cohen
After initially reporting that federal investigators were listening in on Michael Cohen’s phone calls, NBC had to make a major correction. The warrants for “wiretaps” were, in fact, actually “pen register warrants” that allowed investigators to see who Cohen was speaking with on his phones — but not hear what was said.
#9: Buzzfeed Busted by Robert Mueller Himself
Robert Mueller’s office made an unprecedented rebuttal to a 2019 BuzzFeed report that claimed then-candidate Trump lied about a potential business deal in Moscow during the 2016 presidential campaign. The BuzzFeed story served to float obstruction of justice charges and impeachment hearings against the President. Special Counsel spokesman Peter Carr offered this curse response:
“BuzzFeed’s description of specific statements to the Special Counsel’s Office, and characterization of documents and testimony obtained by this office, regarding Michael Cohen’s Congressional testimony are not accurate.”
#10: Mic Writer Reports a Russian Spy Infiltrated the Oval Office
Mic writer Emily Singer claimed a Russian spy who attempted to infiltrate right-wing networks was present at an Oval Office meeting between President Trump and Sergey Lavrov. ?Singer based her claim on a photo of a “red haired woman” at the meeting. The woman in that photo was actually NSC staffer Cari Lutkins.
So…with things like this in mind, is it any wonder why no one trusts the mainstream media anymore?
