If you ever feel like being lectured by someone who thinks you have the mental capacity of a toddler, look no further than CNN’s John Avlon. On Wednesday’s New Day, Avlon decided to use his five-minute monologue Reality Check to gloat over the acquittal of Clinton campaign lawyer Michael Sussmann and ironically tout CNN as “reality-based media” as opposed to “partisan media.”
Avlon could barely contain his glee as he recounted, “Yesterday, the hammer was supposed to finally come down. . .But instead, it was time to cue the sad trombone soundtrack, as the jury came back with an acquittal for the Clinton campaign lawyer Michael Sussmann, who’d been charged with a single count of lying to the FBI.”
Avlon compared the Durham probe with the Mueller investigation, which “took less than two years, and it resulted in prison sentences for five members of the Trump circle, including Paul Manafort and longtime political advisor Roger Stone — both of whom Trump later pardoned — as well as former consigliere Michael Cohen.”
He then decided to take a swipe at CNN’s rival (and much more popular) network, “The folks over at Fox News obligingly hyped up the Durham investigation big time. Get this, according to LexisNexis transcripts, they mentioned it at least 625 times on their air since 2019. The repetition reflects the alternate reality that gets created by partisan echo chambers.”
While we’re on the subject of hyping up investigations, what of the liberal media’s incessant cheerleading of the Mueller investigation? And, on the subject of Avlon, what about his cartoonish record of being above the fray?
Avlon continued, “As it became evident that the trial was going sideways, right-wing media was already primed to explain away an acquittal, blaming the jury as biased and saying it contained Hillary Clinton donors. But this wasn't a close call. It was a fast six-hour deliberation followed by a unanimous verdict.”
Does Avlon think that pointing out the speed of the deliberation and clear conflicts of interest will make people trust D.C. more?
Because no coverage of this story would be complete without an attack on those who didn’t buy the media’s 2016 Russia collusion hysteria, Avlon urged his audience to educate these unenlightened rubes by, “refer[ring] them to the five-volume report authored by the GOP-led Senate Intelligence Committee, which independently established Russia's attempts to influence the election on Donald Trump's behalf.” Spoiler: Avlon’s tacitly suggesting Trump was an illegitimate president.
Combine this snide remark with the media’s equivocation of Russian election interference with the Trump campaign’s collusion with said interference, and one is left with the impression that the Intelligence Committee confirmed that the Trump campaign had been colluding with the Russians, while the actual report makes no such claim.
Avlon concluded by lamenting that his words will not be heeded with the trust they so obviously deserve, “Because the alternate facts crowd has their own echo chamber and amplification system. That's why these partisan accusations without evidence should be treated with extreme skepticism, and why actual verdicts must be recorded.”
Maybe we’ll listen to Avlon once CNN breaks out of its own echo chamber and stops amplifying “partisan accusations.” But until then, we’ll let Avlon condemn his own network with his own words.
This shining example of network hypocrisy was made possible by Consumer Cellular and Allstate. Their contact information is linked.
Click “Expand” to see the relevant transcript.
CNN’s New Day
06/01/22
7:53:46 AM ETBRIANNA KEILAR: A new blow into the investigation into the investigation into Trumpworld and Russia. John Avlon with our Reality Check.
JOHN AVLON: Yesterday, the hammer was supposed to finally come down. I'm talking, of course, about the much-hyped, long awaited verdict in the Durham investigation. But instead, it was time to cue the sad trombone soundtrack, as the jury came back with an acquittal for the Clinton campaign lawyer Michael Sussmann, who’d been charged with a single count of lying to the FBI. Now, this is after more than three years of investigation, by a special counsel whose major accomplishment to date in the probe is getting a former FBI lawyer to admit to doctoring an email. His punishment was probation and community service.
Now, by comparison, the Mueller investigation took less than two years, and it resulted in prison sentences for five members of the Trump circle, including Paul Manafort and longtime political advisor Roger Stone — both of whom Trump later pardoned — as well as former consigliere Michael Cohen.
Now, just to refresh your memory here, the Durham investigation was created by former Attorney General Bill Barr, and pumped up relentlessly by ex-President Trump as the crime of the century. Now the goal was to investigate the investigators, a classic deflect and project strategy, weaponized by the power of the Presidency.
The folks over at Fox News obligingly hyped up the Durham investigation big time. Get this, according to LexisNexis transcripts, they mentioned it at least 625 times on their air since 2019. The repetition reflects the alternate reality that gets created by partisan echo chambers. And as it became evident that the trial was going sideways, right-wing media was already primed to explain away an acquittal, blaming the jury is biased and saying it contained Hillary Clinton donors.
But this wasn't a close call. It was a fast six-hour deliberation followed by a unanimous verdict. This fizzle should be a big blow to Trumpland's alternate reality. As New York Magazine's Jonathan Chate wrote, “John Durham tried to prove Trump's Russiagate theory. Instead he debunked it.” And, as The Daily Beast’s Will Sommer point out, “The verdict undercuts the whole ‘lock her up’ chant we’ve been hearing for years.”
And it wasn't even the only smackdown delivered yesterday. Last night BuzzFeed News got the results of a Freedom of Information Act inquiry showing that a Trump-era DOJ investigation found no evidence of improper interference by Obama officials in unmasking general Michael Flynn, who briefly served as National Security Adviser. So, another baseless accusation, breathlessly described as being worse than Watergate, bites the dust.
Or it should. But the reality-based media and partisan media play by different rules, and there are still a lot of partisan dupes who are committed to the belief that Russia's interference in the 2016 election was a hoax. If you meet one of those folks — and I'm sure you have — remind them this isn't a matter of opinion, it’s an established fact. And if they don't believe you, please refer them to the five-volume report authored by the GOP-led Senate Intelligence Committee, which independently established Russia's attempts to influence the election on Donald Trump's behalf. Because, lest we forget, Russian interference is the big offense here, not reporting, however unsavory the details might be. After all, politics ain’t beanbag, or as Michael Zeldin a former Federal Prosecutor, told CNN’s Marshall Cohen, “Criminalizing political opposition research-related activity of this type serves no criminal justice purpose.”
Now, one key question is where the Durham probe goes next. Remembering that it’s continued its efforts under the Biden administration-led Justice Department, presumably because of a desire to de-politicize the DOJ, and the belief this investigation would run out of steam on its own. It is an honorable approach, but I’d be surprised if it succeeds in stopping the conspiracies. Because the alternate facts crowd has their own echo chamber and amplification system. That's why these partisan accusations without evidence should be treated with extreme skepticism, and why actual verdicts must be recorded. Because otherwise, the misinformation dominates the debate, and we have got to find a way to operate from a common sense of facts again. So we can reason together, as a self-governing nation. And that’s your Reality Check.
