CNN partisan hack Chris Cillizza’s blatant Democratic stooging reared its ugly head again on Tuesday when he penned a “facts last,” hyper partisan, and purely subjective article that claimed Congressional Republicans opened House Intelligence Committee and House Oversight Committee investigations into Democratic malfeasance as an insipid distraction from the follies and controversies surrounding President Trump.
“What Congressional Republicans are trying to do” says Cillizza, “is two-fold: 1) Change the subject from Trump and Russia, Trump and his fights with his own party, his constant tweeting etc. and b) do some service for their base.”
He insists that the investigations have been timed with specific intent: “it is not a coincidence that these two probes were announced on the same day — and amid Trump’s ongoing circular firing squad routine. There are NO coincidences in politics.”
Before I break down his “banana facts,” let’s start with a little background on the two Congressional investigations Cillizza references in his article. The first, which was announced by House Intelligence Committee Chairman Devin Nunes (R-CA) on Tuesday, is a probe into the 2010 Uranium One deal. The controversy, which originally alleged wrongdoing by then-Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, and tied the Clinton Foundation to the Russian Uranium firm behind the deal, was reignited on October 17 when The Hill released an article that’s potentially very damaging to Clinton and the Obama administration.
The Hill reported that back in 2009, before the Uranium One deal was approved, the Obama-era FBI “had gathered substantial evidence that Russian nuclear industry officials were engaged in bribery, kickbacks, extortion and money laundering designed to grow Vladimir Putin’s atomic energy business inside the United States.” For greater detail, Andrew C. McCarthy provided a lengthy, and outstanding breakdown of the scandal at National Review on Saturday that is well worth the read.
The second Congressional investigation centers on former FBI Director James Comey and former Attorney General Loretta Lynch and their handling of the Hillary Clinton email server scandal. Documents released by the FBI on October 16, which Cillizza dismiss as “fodder,” seem to suggest that Comey drafted and circulated an investigation conclusion statement on May 2, months before Clinton and many other witnesses were interviewed by the FBI.
Before even evaluating the merit of the investigations, Cillizza’s assertion faced an obvious flaw. Trump has entangled himself in controversy after controversy since he began his run for the nation’s highest office. Why would Congressional Republicans, many of whom despise Trump, wait to employ this tactic of “distraction” until now? The logical answer is obvious. The reason these committees are seeking answers is not because Trump’s latest “Twitter storm” had Senator Bob Corker (R-TN) in its sights; it’s because new information has been made available that strongly suggests misconduct and corruption.
Cillizza’s argument crumbles entirely if the substance of these investigations is honestly discussed. And I find it disturbing that a prominent representative of a news network — especially CNN, which has been so completely consumed by Russia-involved conspiracy theories — could so casually brush aside such serious allegations.
Now that we’ve peeled the banana, let’s take a look at the underlying apple. Chris Cillizza isn’t stupid. Is he intellectually dishonest? Judging from this article, I’d say that’s a definite possibility. Cillizza and his colleagues at CNN understand that these investigations are serious. They understand that the information that led to these investigations is serious. They also understand that, as Cillizza says in laying out his case against the GOP, “[a] change in the conversation is very necessary.”
CNN’s political coverage narrative for the past week has been that Trump lacks empathy. And no matter how you feel about the Gold Star controversy, the fact is there is equally important, long-lasting, impactful news happening that’s being ignored by CNN and the mainstream media because it’s inconvenient to their narratives.
The truth is that CNN and the leftist media are doing exactly what Cillizza accuses Congressional Republicans of doing, only in reverse. They continue to focus all of their coverage on President Trump because his day-to-day shenanigans are just newsworthy enough to keep undesirable, narrative-damaging information out of the mainstream press. Don’t fall for it; it’s a ploy. This is just CNN’s latest attempt at telling the world that apples are really bananas.