Appearing on Fox News Channel’s Special Report With Bret Baier Monday evening, Florida Republican Senator Marco Rubio hammered the leftist media over it’s “shocking” refusal to cover the latest John Durham investigation bombshell that the 2016 Hillary Clinton presidential campaign spied on both Donald Trump’s campaign and presidency. The lawmaker noted that the development had the potential to become “one of the biggest political scandals in American history.”
“You just heard the report on the Durham investigation and what you’ve heard about that so far. Your thoughts?,” anchor Bret Baier asked. Rubio slammed journalists ignoring the story: “This is a big deal. I mean, it’s shocking to me that this is not receiving more coverage in the press. I don’t think any of the Sunday shows mentioned it.” In fact, NewsBusters analyst Kevin Tober did indeed report that the Sunday shows censored the news.
The Senator warned: “...if this is all proven true, it would be one of the biggest political scandals in American history. It would be a crime, no doubt about it.” He then blamed the media for creating a culture of corruption: “And it would tell you why these people think they can get away with it. They think they can get away with it because the media will not report on it.”
“If this was the other way, if this was a story about how the Trump campaign had hired some data experts and others to go out there and do this to a President Clinton, this would be – like we wouldn’t be able to talk about anything else around here,” Rubio concluded.
Moments later, while reacting to anonymous press claims about former President Trump allegedly destroying White House documents before leaving office, Rubio again called out reporters for undermining their own credibility:
I don’t know what’s true and what’s not. Because they’ve made up so many stories about Donald Trump over the years. Things that I just knew were flat-out untrue. Nowadays in mainstream media, you just need one source to smear Donald Trump – maybe you don’t even need that....I mean, at this point I’ve seen at least a dozen things said about Trump that turned out to be complete lies. Somebody just makes it up and some in the media just run with it. I’ve seen books with things in there that I know were not true and they’re widely reported as established facts. So that’s why it’s so difficult to take anything they say seriously.
He then pointed out: “But what I’m talking about with what happened with Clinton. That’s not some reporter, that’s not some story in The New York Times. That’s a federal pleading in federal court.”
Later on the 6:00 p.m. ET hour show, Baier reiterated that point to Fox News media analyst and host of MediaBuzz Howard Kurtz: “Let’s talk about coverage. The John Durham case, obviously the filing is a court document, it’s not an allegation. It’s a court document and what’s the coverage of this?”
Kurtz detailed the deafening press silence:
Well, to a remarkable degree, there hasn’t been much coverage at all. Times, Politico, CNN, MSNBC, ABC, CBS, NBC, and many others, have not carried a word about these accusations. Now, as you say, this is not some anonymously-sourced story, there are actual declarations by a federal prosecutor, detailed in court papers. But with a few exceptions on the right, most of the media has deemed this non-news. The Washington Post just now dismissed the whole thing as “one relatively vague allegation.”
He then noted: “Donald Trump, who said today the non-coverage is itself a scandal, has repeatedly claimed to be the target of Democratic spying. Which has long been mocked by the media.”
During the panel discussion at the end of the show, senior political analyst Brit Hume proclaimed that “so far the media’s reaction to it is shades of the Hunter Biden laptop story, which was a solid story they refused to cover in the middle of a campaign.” After pointing out how reporters “ended up with egg all over their faces for failing to do so,” Hume saw a similar situation coming with the non-coverage of the Durham investigation:
Now comes this story. Now, look, in the near term, you know, we might not hear anything more, the mainstream media might not pick up on it, but if further charges and indictments and information follow, as seems at least distinctly possible. The national media is going to have egg all over it’s collective face again.
Baier offered viewers a 2020 flashback of how CBS’s 60 Minutes not only falsely claimed there was no evidence of a Biden scandal but also falsely denied Trump’s claim of being spied on:
LESLEY STAHL: We can’t put on things we can’t verify.
DONALD TRUMP: No, you won’t put it on because it’s bad for Biden.
STAHL: We can’t put on things we can’t verify.
TRUMP: Lesley, they spied on my campaign.
STAHL: Well, we can’t verify that.
TRUMP: It’s been totally verified. It’s been – just go down and get the papers.
The left-wing media determination to ignore bad news for Democrats won’t overcome the reality of a major unfolding scandal.
Here is a transcript of the February 14 coverage on Fox:
6:12 PM ET
(...)
BRET BAIER: You just heard the report on the Durham investigation and what you’ve heard about that so far. Your thoughts?
SEN. MARCO RUBIO [R-FL]: This is a big deal. I mean, it’s shocking to me that this is not receiving more coverage in the press. I don’t think any of the Sunday shows mentioned it. What we are talking about here is not simply, you know, the probe using data scientists to make up a story or links between Trump and Russia, but the White House. Apparently there was a private company that had a contract to manage servers for the President of the United States and the White House and they were sharing information to help build a narrative for a political operation.
And do you know why – if this is all proven true, it would be one of the biggest political scandals in American history. It would be a crime, no doubt about it. And it would tell you why these people think they can get away with it. They think they can get away with it because the media will not report on it. If this was the other way, if this was a story about how the Trump campaign had hired some data experts and others to go out there and do this to a President Clinton, this would be – like we wouldn’t be able to talk about anything else around here.
BAIER: Yeah, Senator, we’re covering it extensively. We’re going to ask a Democrat about it just after the break. Here’s what they say, “Why are Republicans seemingly not as alarmed about President Trump’s handling of documents compared to worries about Hillary Clinton’s emails? Both former National Security Advisor Sandy Berger, former CIA Director John Deutsch slapped with criminal penalties for mishandling national security documents.” We know there are 15 boxes down in Mar-a-Lago. There’s allegations of flushing documents down the toilet in the Oval Office that the former President has denied. How do you answer that?
RUBIO: Well, first of all, I don’t know what’s true and what’s not. Because they’ve made up so many stories about Donald Trump over the years. Things that I just knew were flat-out untrue. Nowadays in mainstream media, you just need one source to smear Donald Trump – maybe you don’t even need that. So it’s hard to tell anymore what really happened and what didn’t. The documents that were at Mar-a-Lago, by all accounts, were turned over.
Look, if the process wasn’t followed there, then there needs to be something that happens about that. It’s not a crime, I don’t believe. But the stuff about flushing paper down the toilet, who knows if that’s even true? These people – I mean, at this point I’ve seen at least a dozen things said about Trump that turned out to be complete lies. Somebody just makes it up and some in the media just run with it. I’ve seen books with things in there that I know were not true and they’re widely reported as established facts. So that’s why it’s so difficult to take anything they say seriously.
But what I’m talking about with what happened with Clinton. That’s not some reporter, that’s not some story in The New York Times. That’s a federal pleading in federal court.
BAIER: Senator Rubio, thank you very much for your time.
(...)
6:43 PM ET
BAIER: Let’s talk about coverage. The John Durham case, obviously the filing is a court document, it’s not an allegation. It’s a court document and what’s the coverage of this?
HOWARD KURTZ: Well, to a remarkable degree, there hasn’t been much coverage at all. Times, Politico, CNN, MSNBC, ABC, CBS, NBC, and many others, have not carried a word about these accusations. Now, as you say, this is not some anonymously-sourced story, there are actual declarations by a federal prosecutor, detailed in court papers. But with a few exceptions on the right, most of the media has deemed this non-news. The Washington Post just now dismissed the whole thing as “one relatively vague allegation.”
Now, Special Counsel John Durham is a respected figure who hasn’t exactly brought any wild charges during his probe. Donald Trump, who said today the non-coverage is itself a scandal, has repeatedly claimed to be the target of Democratic spying. Which has long been mocked by the media.
Now, there’s plenty we don’t know here. The extent of the alleged internet surveillance or whether others in the Clinton campaign knew about it. The new evidence could change the media narrative, that is, if the media acknowledged it.
BAIER: Yeah, good point.
(...)
6:56 PM ET
BAIER: Brit, is it wrong to say, looking at this, that this is a big deal?
BRIT HUME: I think it’s a big deal, Bret. And so far the media’s reaction to it is shades of the Hunter Biden laptop story, which was a solid story they refused to cover in the middle of a campaign. And they ended up with egg all over their faces for failing to do so. Now comes this story. Now, look, in the near term, you know, we might not hear anything more, the mainstream media might not pick up on it, but if further charges and indictments and information follow, as seems at least distinctly possible. The national media is going to have egg all over it’s collective face again. But I think, in the end, what’s gonna really matter the most is whether there are indeed further revelations and charges, criminal charges.
BAIER: Juan, I guess the other thing is to look back through the prism of how things were covered back then. Here is Donald Trump on 60 Minutes:
LESLEY STAHL: We can’t put on things we can’t verify.
DONALD TRUMP: No, you won’t put it on because it’s bad for Biden.
STAHL: We can’t put on things we can’t verify.
TRUMP: Lesley, they spied on my campaign.
STAHL: Well, we can’t verify that.
TRUMP: It’s been totally verified. It’s been – just go down and get the papers.
(...)
