Sussmann defense calling Clinton aide Mook to testify was 'foolish': Jarrett
Fox News legal analyst Gregg Jarrett breaks down Robby Mook's testimony in the Trump-Russia trial on 'Hannity.'
MSNBC, ABC News, NBC News and CBS News have nearly completely ignored Friday’s bombshell testimony in which former Hillary Clinton campaign manager Robby Mook testified Clinton approved the dissemination of materials to the media alleging a secret communications channel between the Trump Organization and a Russian bank, despite campaign officials not being "totally confident" in the legitimacy of the data.
"Left-wing media outlets shout from the rooftops that disinformation matters and is a threat to democracy. Unless, of course, it makes Democrats or the press look bad," radio host Jason Rantz told Fox News Digital.
The mainstream media has largely avoided covering the trial of ex-Clinton campaign lawyer Michael Sussmann, who has been charged with making a false statement to the FBI. He told former FBI General Counsel James Baker in September 2016 that he was not doing work "for any client" when he requested and attended a meeting where he presented data and white papers allegedly demonstrating a backchannel between the Trump Organization and the Kremlin-tied Alfa Bank.
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MSNBC, ABC News, NBC News and CBS News have almost entirely ignored the trial since it began on May 15 and continued the blackout after Friday’s stunning revelation.
A transcript search for Monday and Tuesday morning also found no coverage on the four outlets' televised programs. CBSN, the CBS News streaming service, covered the trial in a news package on Monday night and delved into the revelations from Mook.
Former Clinton campaign manager Robby Mook testified Friday that Hillary Clinton approved the leak of materials to the media alleging a back channel between the Trump Organization and Russia’s Alfa Bank. (Reuters/Brian Snyder)
Baker previously testified that the bureau investigated the data alleging a Trump connection to the Kremlin-linked bank, and found "there was nothing there." Mook was called to the stand by Sussmann’s defense, and during cross-examination he was asked about the campaign’s understanding of the Alfa Bank allegations against Trump and whether they planned to release the data to the media.
Mook said the campaign was not totally confident in the legitimacy of the data but eventually admitted Clinton herself approved "the dissemination" of the information to the media.
"She agreed," Mook testified. "All I remember is that she agreed with the decision."
MSNBC, ABC News, NBC News and CBS News didn’t report the news on air through Sunday night, according to a search of transcripts. None of the networks have mentioned the names "Mook" or "Sussmann" since the testimony.
MSNBC, ABC News, CBS News and NBC News have ignored testimony that then-presidential candidate Hillary Clinton approved the distribution of materials alleging a secret communications channel between the Trump Organization and Russia’s Alfa Bank to the media. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster, File)
Rantz called it "pathetic" that mainstream news organizations are so hypocritical. He feels ignoring Mook’s testimony isn’t the first time the media botched the story, as it liberal news outlets shouldn’t have reported what Clinton’s team provided ahead of the 2016 election in the first place.
"They didn't even bother to dig deep into the claims by campaign officials; they just ran with them," Rantz continued. "It was one of many examples of press release journalism -- just taking what they're told by the campaigns they support. How utterly pathetic."
Many of the outlets that have ignored the Sussmann trial spent years pushing the Russian collusion narrative before it fell apart. Special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation concluded there was no evidence of conspiracy between the Trump campaign and Russian officials during the 2016 presidential election. Prior to Mueller declaring there was no proof of collusion, MSNBC and other outlets spent years hyping it up and painting Trump as being compromised by Russia.
DePauw University professor Jeffrey McCall said this is "a classic case of journalism of omission."
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"This is an intentional ignoring of a legitimate news matter in order to support the ideological drift of the editors and producers. The establishment media are generally unwilling to report on the Durham probe and current legal developments because to do so would necessarily acknowledge the journalistic malpractice committed for two years while pushing the misguided Russia collusion narrative," McCall told Fox News Digital.
Observers have noticed the latest developments go uncovered, too.
"The Clinton campaign fabricated a completely false story about Trump having a secret server with a Russian bank," journalist Glenn Greenwald tweeted. "When major news outlets spread outright lies – not just one day, but repeatedly affirming them – they just stay silent and pretend it never happened when the proof emerges they lied."
The mainstream media has largely avoided covering the trial of ex-Clinton campaign lawyer Michael Sussmann, who has been charged with making a false statement to the FBI. (Reuters/Julia Nikhinson)
Billionaire Elon Musk chimed in, writing "bet most people still don’t know that a Clinton campaign lawyer, using campaign funds, created an elaborate hoax about Trump and Russia."
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"The HIllary Clinton campaign and DNC, with her approval, conducted a disinformation operation to falsely taint another candidate as having illicit ties to Russia, in one of the dirtiest political tricks in modern history. Worse than that, the disinformation operation froze an incoming administration for several years and provided pretext for a 'Resistance' movement that refused to accept the outcome of the election," Cornell Law School professor William A. Jacobson told Fox News Digital.
"This should be the biggest media story of the century, but most of the mainstream liberal media is staying away because they were complicit," Jacobson continued. "Hillary Clinton's fraudulent Russia narrative was parroted endlessly on major networks and cable news, and throughout digital media."
Fox News’ Brooke Singman contributed to this report.
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