Thursday’s Hardball came out guns blazing with not only a crazy panel that included collusion delusion sufferers David Corn of Mother Jones, host Chris Matthews, and fanatical MSNBC contributor Malcolm Nance.
Oh, no, but it also included kooky lines insisting on Trump-Russian collusion, decrying Trump supporters pushing back on a Senate subpoena for Donald Trump Jr. as “gangster talk” by “thugs,” and suggesting Americans must still be spoon fed about “the Russian attack.”
Having all but bet his career on proving Trump-Russia collusion, Corn insisted that no one lose “sight of what the big picture is here,” which was that the Trump Tower meeting “was a signal, intentional or not, from the Trump campaign to the Russians, if you intervene in this election, we don't mind.”
And, since Corn’s inclined to think candidate Trump knew, he opined that “it implicates him in basically giving a green light to the Russians to do what you’re going to do” since “[t]his meeting happened a week before the Russians started leaking information they had stolen from the Democrats.”
He would lament later in the A-Block that there’s still “a story that has to be told” because only “three percent of Americans say they read the Mueller report” which, as he and Matthews agreed, was dubious.
Corn then laid out why (click “expand”):
Yeah, maybe one percent read the whole report. If that’s the — what was so compelling about Watergate — some of us are old enough to remember, it was developed through congressional hearings. Now, Don, Jr. probably won't testify and we’ll see how far — how much Burr will fight that, but there are other people up there to talk about what happened with the campaign and how the Trump campaign aided and a betted the Russian attack by denying it and there are people who they can fight to bring up on the obstruction issues. Taxes, emoluments, you’ve got to tell the public the story and maybe that will lead to impeachment, but oversight, truth first and they, you know, need to fight to do that.
As for Matthews, he decried those speaking out against the Senate Intelligence Committee subpoena against the President’s eldest son as an example of why the Trump’s are “the Romanoffs” with supporters spouting off “gangster talk.”
Matthews also wondered aloud to Congressman Raja Krishanmoorthi (D-IL)(click “expand”):
These guys sound like thugs, like characters out of a mobster movie. Several Republican lawmakers have also filed suit in questioning [Senator Richard] Burr’s subpoena, including House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy. Congressman, this gets to the thing I’ve wondered about — well, I’m skeptical. Republican Senators, Republican members of your House are, in fact, elected officials of the first branch of government, the Congress. Why don't they stand up for the prerogatives and responsibilities of congress to get to the truth with their oversight role? Why don't they have the integrity? Forget who’s side they’re on politically. They are on the side of the Congress when it comes to the Constitution and they don’t stand up — and finally, Burr does this and they treat him like he’s — he’s to be shunned in some religious community. He should be shunned because he did this.
And going lastly to patient number three in Nance, he wasn’t as kooky as he was on Saturday’s AM Joy, but he wasn’t asleep at the wheel either, claiming that, despite the Mueller report, “[w]e still don't know whether [the Trump camapign] really bit” on the supposed dirt offered in the infamous Trump Tower meeting.
“[B]ut you know what? Maybe Senator Burr is finally standing up for the Constitution. Maybe it’s just one step too much to allow Donald Trump, Jr. to get away with what he said before and he wants to put him on the record and ensure that his committee is not being used as a tool by extension of Moscow,” Nance added.
All that was missing was a tin-foil hat.
To see the relevant transcript from MSNBC’s Hardball on May 9, click “expand.”
MSNBC’s Hardball
May 9, 2019
7:04 p.m. EasternDAVID CORN: And we’ve got to keep sight of what the big picture is here because the Trump people keep saying over and over again “we’ve got nothing out of this meeting.” That’s not the issue. The issue is they were told that the Russians wanted to help the Trump campaign. And what did they say? Donald Trump, Jr. famously “I love it.” This meeting was a signal, intentional or not, from the Trump campaign to the Russians, if you intervene in this election, we don't mind. So if Donald Trump, Sr. knows about this, it implicates him in basically giving a green light to the Russians to do what you’re going to do. This meeting happened a week before the Russians started leaking information they had stolen from the Democrats. A week before. They must have felt pretty good that they could get away with it.
(....)
7:06 p.m. Eastern
CHRIS MATTHEWS: Well, by standing firmly behind his subpoena of the President’s son, Senator Burr of North Carolina is defending Congress's right to fulfill oversight responsibilities. The Washington Post reports that “as negotiations over Trump Jr.’s testimony dragged on, committee Chairman Richard Burr (R-N.C.) became increasingly frustrated and believed that Trump Jr. was defying the committee’s authority.” Trump allies are now directing their attacks at Burr, of course, saying that a Republican shouldn't cross the President's family. What is this? The Romanoffs again? A President — a person close to Trump Jr. tells NBC News — catch this talk for — well for gangster talk: “No lawyer would ever agree to allow their client to participate in what is an obvious PR stunt from a so-called ‘Republican’ Senator too cowardly to stand up to his boss Mark Warner and the rest” — his bosses Mark Warner “and the rest of the resistance Democrats on the” — these guys sound like thugs, like characters out of a mobster movie. Several Republican lawmakers have also filed suit in questioning Burr’s subpoena, including House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy. [TO CONGRESSMAN RAJA KRISHANMOORTHI] Congressman, this gets to the thing I’ve wondered about — well, I’m skeptical. Republican Senators, Republican members of your House are, in fact, elected officials of the first branch of government, the Congress. Why don't they stand up for the prerogatives and responsibilities of Congress to get to the truth with their oversight role? Why don't they have the integrity? Forget who’s side they’re on politically. They are on the side of the Congress when it comes to the Constitution and they don’t stand up — and finally, Burr does this and they treat him like he’s — he’s to be shunned in some religious community. He should be shunned because he did this
(....)
7:09 p.m. Eastern
MALCOLM NANCE: Well, the Russians know all about that meeting, right? Natalia Veselnitskaya — she was an agent of the grant — essentially the attorney general of Russia and was sent there on a mission to see if the Trump team would bite at what they gave them. We still don't know whether they really bit in this, took it, and used it, but you know what? Maybe Senator Burr is finally standing up for the Constitution. Maybe it’s just one step too much to allow Donald Trump, Jr. to get away with what he said before and he wants to put him on the record and ensure that his committee is not being used as a tool by extension of Moscow.
(....)
7:12 p.m. Eastern
CORN: I believe there is a story that has to be told. You know, three percent of Americans say they read the Mueller report. That's probably an overestimation, alright?
MATTHEWS: What's the cardinal number there? How many people?
CORN: I don’t know. Maybe one.
MATTHEWS: I think you’re way over.
CORN: Yeah, maybe one percent read the whole report. If that’s the —
MATTHEWS: It’s easy to deal in one percent. Some of these candidates have one percent.
CORN: What was so compelling about Watergate — some of us are old enough to remember, it was developed through congressional hearings. Now, Don, Jr. probably won't testify and we’ll see how far — how much Burr will fight that, but there are other people up there to talk about what happened with the campaign and how the Trump campaign aided and a betted the Russian attack by denying it and there are people who they can fight to bring up on the obstruction issues. Taxes, emoluments, you’ve got to tell the public the story and maybe that will lead to impeachment, but oversight, truth first and they, you know, need to fight to do that.
