During the early part of the Trump Administration it was not uncommon for Intel Committee Chairman Adam Schiff to tell every TV camera and sympathetic journalist he could find that it was beyond doubt that Trump had colluded with Russia during the 2016 campaign. But recently released transcripts showed former Obama officials, despite their public proclamations to the contrary, had no such evidence, proving Schiff was lying. So, it was unfortunate that when The Beat host Ari Melber declined to confront Schiff with this evidence on his Friday evening show.
Instead, Melber joined Schiff in lamenting the alleged awfulness of Trump and Attorney General Barr in the aftermath of the decision to drop the case against Michael Flynn. After Schiff accused the administration of gaslighting and agreed with Melber that the they could be using the pandemic to distract from their misdeeds, Melber got to the Mueller investigation, "Well, I think it's very important what you say there. That brings us to something else I want to ask you about. We were covering this last night as you mentioned, I've always pointed out in legal reporting that Bob Mueller was very careful. He didn't find or indict on a criminal conspiracy in the election. He didn't. He really followed every case as it went by the facts."
Instead of confronting Schiff about his repeated claims that there was indisputable proof of collusion, Melber condemned the DOJ decision and then warned viewers about an upcoming audio clip of Trump: "I want to warn viewers what you're about to hear is a sitting president of the United States basically say that he views the Justice Department the same way Nixon did in the manner that got him forced out of office. It's really something."
After the clip, which involved Trump telling Fox's Brian Kilmeade that the Mueller investigation would not have happened under Barr, Melber asked Schiff, "is that an incriminating admission?"
Being allowed to avoid responsibility for his own misdeeds, Schiff readily agreed, "Well absolutely. What he is basically saying is Bill Barr is doing all the dirty work that the president could want. Any investigation would never go forward of President Trump under Bill Barr. There is all too much truth of that."
Melber's softball interview probably won't get the same media condemnation as David Muir got for his recent interview with Trump.
Here is a transcript of the May 8 show:
MSNBC
The Beat with Ari Melber
6:24 PM ET
ARI MELBER: Well, I think it's very important what you say there. That brings us to something else I want to ask you about. We were covering this last night as you mentioned, I've always pointed out in legal reporting that Bob Mueller was very careful. He didn't find or indict on a criminal conspiracy in the election. He didn't. He really followed every case as it went by the facts. But this isn't about redoing what he found lawfully. It is about taking convictions that were already won and trying to reverse them, and I think that's very important. The president made an admission that I want to play for you that is really quite stunning. I want to warn viewers what you're about to hear is a sitting president of the United States basically say that he views the Justice Department the same way Nixon did in the manner that got him forced out of office. It's really something. Again, the pandemic, you may be focused on other things, understandably. But I want to play this for the congressman's response, the president here on Fox.
BEGIN CLIP
BRIAN KILMEADE: If Bill Barr was your first attorney general, would there have been a Mueller probe and a Russia hoax?
DONALD TRUMP: No, there wouldn't be. He would have stopped it immediately.END CLIP
MELBER: Chairman Schiff, is that an incriminating admission? And what if anything does congress do about it?
ADAM SCHIFF: Well absolutely. What he is basically saying is Bill Barr is doing all the dirty work that the president could want. Any investigation would never go forward of President Trump under Bill Barr. There is all too much truth of that.
