Washington Post's Weigel dismisses FISA scandal as 'fast-acting sleep aid' for everyone not following
Reporter says GOP 'obsessed' with scandal only because Trump still controls party
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Washington Post politics reporter Dave Weigel appeared to dismiss the ongoing controversy surrounding the FISA abuse scandal as a matter that is only "obsessed" over by the GOP.
During the Senate confirmation hearing for Attorney General nominee Merrick Garland, Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C. grilled him about the 2019 report issued by DOJ Inspector General Michael Horowitz.
Garland told Graham that one of his takeaways from the report was that there were "very serious problems" with the FISA application process when it came to surveilling former Trump campaign adviser Carter Page.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}"I intend, if I am confirmed, to speak more deeply and directly with Mr. Horowitz, the inspector general, about this and with [FBI] Director Wray and make sure that these [reform recommendations] and any other that are necessary to be done," Garland said. "I am always concerned and I've always been concerned that we be very careful about FISA."
Weigel, one of the Post's most prominent reporters, appeared less concerned about the matter.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}"Underrated way Trump still controls the GOP is that the investigations faction of the party remains obsessed with a scandal that's a fast-acting sleep aid for everyone not following," Weigel tweeted during the hearing.
The message, which has since been deleted, was criticized by Daily Caller reporter Chuck Ross.
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{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}"I guess it's true that it's a 'fast-acting sleep aid' for people not following, but it shouldn't be," Ross reacted. "Weigel yawns."
"Strange how Carter Page was like meth for CNN and MSNBC in 2017 and 2018, but a 'fast-acting sleep aid' for the media now," Ross added.
When asked why he deleted the tweet, Weigel told Fox News it was a "silly way" of making a point he more clearly made in another tweet, which noted that Biden "barely even cameos in Spygate," insisting only that the ongoing Durham probe looking into how the Russia investigation was conducted has "never affected him at all."
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}It was revealed last year, however, that Biden was among several prominent Obama officials who requested the unmasking of former National Security Adviser Gen. Michael Flynn in surveillance documents during the final weeks of the Obama administration.
The mainstream media has been under fire in recent weeks for taking seriously stories that it downplayed during the 2020 election cycle now that Donald Trump is no longer president. Much of the press dismissed or flat-out ignored the bombshell reporting from the New York Post about Hunter Biden's shady finances, which the president's son himself later confirmed were being investigated.
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{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}The media has also been slammed for previously glorifying anti-Trump group The Lincoln Project as well as Democratic New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo's response to the coronavirus pandemic, now that both are facing growing legal troubles.
The Lincoln Project has been plagued with scandals after its co-founder John Weaver was accused of over 20 young men of sexual harassment and its other co-founders are being accused of using donations to fund their own firms.
Meanwhile, Cuomo is being accused of covering up data about state nursing home deaths following his controversial policy that ordered assisted living facilities to accept COVID-positive patients. He is now reportedly facing investigations by the FBI and Brooklyn U.S. Attorney's office.