Are you into desperate attempts to make something out of nothing, by writing it in a way that seems to suggest something happened when it didn’t?
Here is part of an article by Pamela Brown, Gloria Borger and Eric Lichtblau of CNN, which seems to suggest Donald Trump did something wrong in his interaction with former FBI Director James Comey. Please read it carefully, then tell me what he did wrong:
First on CNN: Comey now believes Trump was trying to influence him, source says
Former FBI Director James Comey now believes that President Donald Trump was trying to influence his judgment about the Russia probe, a person familiar with his thinking says, but whether that influence amounts to obstruction of justice remains an open question.
There you have it.
But what do you have?
Well, you have a headline that seems to say Trump was obstructing justice.
And you have a visual of “the many paths from Trump to Russia” – which communicates he is neck deep in collusion.
And then you read that:
-Comey now thinks Trump was trying to influence his judgment. Based on what? They have neither spoke nor met since the firing.
-The source of this breathless revelation? “a person familiar with his thinking”. Who would that be? What basis do we have to accept that this person is familiar with Comey’s thinking? The answer, my friend, is blowin’ in the wind.
-“… but whether that influence amounts to obstruction of justice remains an open question”? WHAT influence? WHAT obstruction of justice?
How can Comey testify Trump was trying to interfere with his investigation if he didn’t until now and, only after Trump fired him, he suddenly “saw the light”. Did Comey say anything about interfering with his investigation when this supposedly happened? Nope.
Does the term “disgruntled ex-employee” come to mind?
And, on a separate note, how come we no longer are hearing from Democrats – faithfully reported by CNN and their media pals – about Donald Trump being in cahoots with James Comey to steal the election from Hillary Clinton?
Is it because, since the accusation of his mistreatment of Comey regarding Russia is currently a more promising line of attack than the accusation of his collusion with Comey regarding the election, the election accusation is conveniently forgotten?
Is it because to simultaneously accuse them of being in bed together (the election) and in battle against each other (the Russia investigation) might look ridiculous? Might cause people to actually think about what is being reported here, beyond CNN’s headlines and insinuations?
CNN still touts itself as “the must trusted name in news”.
Uh….trusted to do what?
