The recent court documents filed by Special Counsel John Durham have sparked nothing less than a meltdown among the powerful, left-leaning anti-Trump media. Its collective animosity and loathing of the former president have led the establishment Fourth Estate to crawl into a deep credibility hole requiring a good deal of scrambling and spin – employing every tactic they can think of to discredit Durham’s ongoing investigation.
Crickets and Protestations
The advocacy media’s first line of defense commenced with a campaign of silence. When alternative media outlets called them out on this widespread error of omission, the “venerable” Fourth Estate decided to tack in the direction of destroying confidence in Durham and his investigation. In less than a week, they swiftly moved from smirk to smear, feverishly poking holes in the special counsel’s findings and anyone who took them at face value. As Liberty Nation’s Managing Editor Mark Angelides recently noted:
“Snide remarks, ad hominem attacks, and derisive snorts at any who suggest the investigation may have merit is the order of the day. The Fourth Estate has become an attack dog on this issue in much the same way as it was against the Trump presidency.”
As a longtime leader for the advocacy media, most leftist news organizations turn to The New York Times for cover regarding stories that require Democratic talking points — likely operating under the assumption that the Times has direct access to the Dems. So when ignoring the story and then trying to destroy its legitimacy turned out to be thin gruel, the anti-Trump media chose the age-old scheme of shooting the messenger.
Without a beat, the so-called newspaper of record delivered.
In an article published on Feb. 14, Charlie Savage floated a storyline for those who refuse to believe the Clinton campaign unlawfully spied on Mr. Trump’s campaign and presidency. After claiming the latest move by the special counsel is essentially a nothing burger, the Times turned on alternative news outlets with the fallacious accusation that they provided “a misleading presentation of the facts or outright misinformation.” Employing the strategy that offense is the best defense, the Times fired away at two conservative media outlets:
“Citing this filing, Fox News inaccurately declared that Mr. Durham had said he had evidence that Hillary Clinton’s campaign had paid a technology company to ‘infiltrate’ a White House server. The Washington Examiner claimed that this all meant there had been spying on Mr. Trump’s White House office. And when mainstream publications held back, Mr. Trump and his allies began shaming the news media.”
But the Times doth protest too much. The fact is Durham’s court filing stated that those they were investigating managed to electronically monitor “(ii) Trump Tower, (iii) Donald Trump’s Central Park West apartment building, and (iv) the Executive Office of the President of the United States (‘EOP’).” Further, the court document provided the motivation for such clandestine activities, i.e., “for the purpose of gathering derogatory information about Donald Trump.”
Despite the clarity of Durham’s court documents, the Times couldn’t resist another serving of disdain for news outlets on the right. “The conservative media also skewed what the filing said,” the paper opined. Other Trump-bashing news outlets picked up The Gray Lady’s talking points and ran with them, guns ablaze.
“Fox News Goes Hog-Wild With Exaggerations About the Durham Probe” was the large point, bold, and italicized headline in The Daily Beast only a day after the Times report. Media Reporter Justin Baragona proved a worthy Times acolyte when he wrote:
“Since Fox News published a widely misleading article about the Durham filing, which suggests the special counsel’s filing says that Hillary Clinton’s 2016 presidential campaign ‘infiltrated’ Trump’s White House servers, the network has run wall-to-wall coverage declaring the ‘bombshell’ story ‘bigger than Watergate’ while chastising other media outlets for ignoring it.
Needless to say, Fox News’ own coverage of what it describes as a ‘massive scandal’ has not only been largely exaggerated but has run the gamut from disingenuous to entirely false.”
An article in Mediaite sensationalizing Rep. Jim Jordon’s (R-OH) appearance on Fox moved even further afield from the real story. The website focused on Mr. Trump’s reaction to the Durham court document with this salacious headline, “Jim Jordan Says Trump’ Right On Target’ With Statement Suggesting Clinton Campaign Operatives Should be Executed.” Mediaite couldn’t stop themselves from playing “follow the leader” by parroting the Times and The Daily Beast, lending credibility to the assertion that those on the left need to change the subject when they can’t handle the truth.
When all else fails and truth does not appear to be on its side, the left can’t stop itself from trying to distract, deflect, and demonize those they oppose. As Plato once astutely remarked, “No one is more hated than he who speaks the truth.” Thus, those conservative outlets willing to stand up and report the facts should regard such disdain and hostility from the left as a badge of honor.
~ Read more from Leesa K. Donner.
