BuzzFeed Accuses Trump of Felonies, Treats Claim As Fact Without Seeing Evidence
Peter D'Abrosca
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Thursday night, former click-bait site BuzzFeed released an explosive report claiming that President Donald J. Trump directed his former personal attorney Michael Cohen to lie to Congress about negotiations to build a Trump Tower in Moscow.
Citing two anonymous federal law enforcement officials “involved in an investigation of the matter,” the alleged news organization ran with the story, which, to be sure, accuses the President of at least one felony.
“The suborning of perjury described in the report, if true, is a federal felony and the clearest evidence of obstruction of justice to date,” said Mediaite.
This morning, one of the investigative reporters (using that term loosely) made a CNN appearance to discuss the “bombshell” revelations, only to admit he had not seen any evidence of the story that he broke.
CNN host Alisyn Camerota asked BuzzFeed’s Anthony Cormier whether he had seen the evidenced in his report.
“Not personally,” Cormier said. “The folks we have talked to — two officials we have spoken to are fully, 100 percent read into that aspect of the Special Counsel’s investigation.”
In other words, this is simply another anonymously sourced bombshell, of the variety that passes for “journalism” in 2019, but is really anti-Trump propaganda promulgated by the mainstream press, which is in charge of public relations for the Democratic Party.
The co-author of the story, Jason Leopold, was scrutinized for incorrect reporting which led to retractions in 2002 while he was employed at Salon, and in 2006 he incorrectly reported that Karl Rove had been indicted.
“He was in trouble for perhaps claiming to have sources he really didn’t have. His stories didn’t wash. Executive directors and editors have had to apologize after some of his big blockbuster stories,” Camerota said in the interview with Cormier.
Despite the reputation of the story’s author, and the flimsiness of the source, BuzzFeed hit the publish button.
“Trump also supported a plan, set up by Cohen, to visit Russia during the presidential campaign, in order to personally meet President Vladimir Putin and jump-start the tower negotiations. ‘Make it happen,”’the sources said Trump told Cohen,” the report said.
“Bombshell” news stories, including CNN’s false report that Donald Trump Jr. colluded with Wikileaks to obtain information that had not yet been made public, and NPR’s false story that Trump Jr. lied to the Senate abut Trump Tower Moscow, have a way of quietly being corrected after left wing news consumers get their dose of anti-Trump propaganda.
This is a calculated tactic, described at great length in my upcoming book, “Enemies: The Press vs. The American People,” which will be on sale on July 16, and you should all order when it becomes available for pre-sale.
Follow Peter D’Abrosca on Twitter: @pdabrosca
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