The anti-Trump Resistance appeared to have been dealt a crippling blow Wednesday evening when news broke that Special Counsel Robert Mueller's team couldn’t indict President Trump. The revelation came from Trump attorney Rudy Giuliani, who said the special counsel admitted to him that investigators would be following decades-old DOJ guidelines that say a sitting president cannot be indicted. This Washington-shaking news went largely unreported by the network evening broadcasts. In contrast, they spent over nine minutes on pointless pop culture news.
Out of the big three network news outlets (ABC, CBS, and NBC), only the CBS Evening News had the insight to think it was worth reporting. Yet, they only gave Mueller’s alleged statement 29 seconds at the tail end of yet another Stormy Daniels related report. As for Spanish-language networks, only Univision mentioned it with a scant 16 seconds. Telemundo said nothing.
On CBS, they conceded it was “some good news for the President” as correspondent Paula Reid explained:
Well, that's significant because there is currently an opinion at the Justice Department that says you cannot criminally indict a sitting president. And Giuliani says that Mueller has told him that he will abide by that opinion, and Mueller's boss, the deputy attorney general, Rod Rosenstein, has publicly said he will also abide by that opinion.
Instead of dedicating serious amounts of time to a story that undoubtedly had the potential to turn the Russia investigation upside down, the big three networks spent a combined nine minutes and 12 seconds squawking about the Royal Wedding and the social media debate over the Yanny/Laurel soundbite (for the record, this author heard Laurel).
Combined, the three networks gushed over the wedding and related gossip for a total of five minutes and 15 seconds. Surprisingly, the sensational folks at ABC actually refrained from weighing in on the Yanny/Laurel debate, thus leaving CBS and NBC to bicker about it for three minutes and 57 seconds.
Meanwhile, Fox News Channel’s Special Report elevated their program by kicking off their broadcast with the “political blockbuster” news. “This obviously has implications for the Russia collusion probe and may come as a seismic disappointment to some of President Trump's critics,” anchor Bret Baier announced.
Adding key details CBS had omitted, Fox News chief White House correspondent John Roberts reported that “Giuliani says that Mueller doesn't really have any choice, he has to follow the findings of a 1999 Clinton era DOJ memo.” “Now, that's not to say that Mueller still couldn't find some evidence of wrongdoing that Congress can act on, but the President’s legal team doesn’t appear concerned,” he added.
In addition to the Stormy Daniels-related news, the networks were hyping clips of eyebrow-raising comments Giuliani had made earlier this month. This contrast shows they prefer his statements when they bring controversy but not when they bring good news for President Trump. And it’s embarrassing to think they would fawn for a Royal Wedding, as they have been, given the fact our country was founded by those who threw off the bridle of the British royals.
The transcripts are below, click "expand" to read:
CBS Evening News
May 16, 2018
6:35:19 PM Eastern(…)
JEFF GLOR: Paula, you did speak today with Rudy Giuliani. He says the Special Counsel's office told him it cannot indict a sitting president. Talk more about that.
PAULA REID: Well, that's significant because there is currently an opinion at the Justice Department that says you cannot criminally indict a sitting president. And Giuliani says that Mueller has told him that he will abide by that opinion, and Mueller's boss, the deputy attorney general, Rod Rosenstein, has publicly said he will also abide by that opinion. So some good news for the President.
(…)
FNC's Special Report
May 16, 2018
6:00:11 PM EasternBRET BAIER: We begin with a political blockbuster tonight. Presidential attorney Rudy Giuliani says Special Counsel Robert Mueller is promising to follow Justice Department guidance that a sitting president cannot be indicted. This obviously has implications for the Russia collusion probe and may come as a seismic disappointment to some of President Trump's critics. Chief White House correspondent John Roberts starts us off with the breaking details from the North Lawn. Good evening, John.
JOHN ROBERTS: Bret, good evening to you. I spoke with Rudy Giuliani on the telephone in the last hour and he confirmed to Fox News that about two weeks ago the special counsel, Robert Mueller assured the President's outside legal team that he would follow DOJ guidelines that a sitting president cannot be indicted. Giuliani says that Mueller doesn't really have any choice, he has to follow the findings of a 1999 Clinton era DOJ memo.
Now, that's not to say that Mueller still couldn't find some evidence of wrongdoing that Congress can act on, but the President’s legal team doesn’t appear concerned. Giuliani telling Fox News a short time ago, quote, “this case is essentially over. They’re just in denial."
(…)
