Throughout his closing argument, Monday, CNN host Chris Cuomo made a series of ridiculous statements as he pushed for impeachment. Not surprisingly, the TV personality trashed congressional Republicans who have not voted to impeach the President for “ignoring their oath.” Cuomo also attempted to accuse the GOP of acting like the “Deep State,” a concept that he would otherwise have contempt for.
Cuomo spent the first part of the monologue declaring victory over the Inspector General report on FISA abuse leading up to the Trump-Russia probe, proclaiming: “No more hoax. No more witch hunt.” Cuomo also accused President Trump and Attorney General Bill Barr of “trashing our government without cause.”
After arguing that “the ‘Deep State, they spied on us’ riff from Trump & Co., the toxic hoax hype...should be dead,” Cuomo declared that “Trump & Co. are actually now acting like the deep state that they defined wrongly.” He went on to trash Barr by claiming that “his goal is to put stink on his agency, undermine the institution openly in an obvious political fashion just to advance a political preference.”
The CNN host concluded that “This POTUS is better represented in these proceedings than any other President ever in an impeachment” before reminiscing about the good old days back when President Clinton’s Attorney General Janet Reno appointed a Special Counsel to investigate her boss and “initiated the Independent Counsel statute.” Cuomo favorably contrasted Reno with Barr, whom he described as “more like his personal attorney.”
In addition to holding up Reno as a model Attorney General, Cuomo whined that “Clinton had Democrats go bad on him” by voting to impeach him. Cuomo quickly corrected himself in an effort to conceal his liberal bias: “That’s not fair. They did their duty, and they voted against him, twice, to initiate the proceeding, and on articles of impeachment. He had 31 say, ‘Yeah, let’s do this,’ and five say, ‘Yeah, he should be impeached.’”
At this point, a disheartened Cuomo wondered why congressional Republicans could not be more like Democrats in the Clinton era; complaining that “this President has his whole party in Congress ignoring their oath and arguing his side; not once but twice.” Going back to painting Clinton as a victim, Cuomo contended that while “Clinton had them go bad on him twice,” Trump has “had them go bad on their oath twice.”
A transcript of the relevant portion of Monday’s edition of Cuomo Prime Time is below. Click “expand” to read more.
Cuomo Prime Time
12/09/19
09:49 PM
CUOMO: The Inspector General report today was good for us American citizens, and it was validating for the FBI on one level, but it exposed some issues that they need to fix as well. Here are the big takeaways. One, the FBI properly opened its investigation into Russian elections interference. No more hoax. No more witch hunt. It’s not what it was. Two, the origins of the investigation were not politically motivated. Three, this President and his Attorney General have been trashing our government without cause. And, yes, as I said at the top, there were problems, including, on several of the FISA applications made on Carter Page. But here’s the key point. They’re not perfect. They’ve never been perfect. Journalists go after them all the time. The IG says it didn’t affect the legitimacy of the surveillance on Page, nor the probe itself. So, the “Deep State, they spied on us” riff from Trump & Co., the toxic hoax hype, it should be dead, but it isn’t. And here’s the irony. Trump & Co. are actually now acting like the Deep State that they defined wrongly. How so? I’ll tell you. Attorney General Barr put out a statement about his own agency’s IG report, sounding more Trump attorney than Attorney General. “The Inspector General’s report now makes clear that the FBI launched an intrusive investigation,” I don’t know what other kind of investigation there is, “of a U.S. presidential campaign on the thinnest of suspicions that, in my view, were insufficient to justify the steps taken.” Sound familiar? Should. Same dig at his own that he ran with after Mueller.
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CUOMO: The statement, “We advised the Inspector General that we do not agree with some of the report’s conclusions as to predication and how the FBI case was opened.” You know what that means. More stink is coming. That’s very Deep State. And as for Barr’s “thinnest of suspicions” crack about the basis to start the probe, he’s once again going bad on his own agency because the report found that investigators were just following FBI guidelines. Yeah, but who made them? Oh, I’m glad you asked. This guy, former Bush Attorney General, and friend of this show, Mike Mukasey. Now, Barr could change the standards, right? He’s the A.G. now. They were put in place after 9/11. The question is why would you take tools from your own people, who are trying to keep the rest of us safe? But he didn’t mention that, and he’s not going to change them, because his goal is to put stink on his agency, undermine the institution openly, and in obvious political fashion, just to advance a political preference, very Deep State. So, one thing is now hun do ping, 100 percent clear. This POTUS is better represented in these proceedings than any other President ever in an impeachment. It’s a big statement, and it’s 100 percent true. Clinton’s A.G., Janet Reno, picked Ken Starr to do the investigating. She initiated that Independent Counsel statute. Trump’s A.G. has acted more like his personal attorney. Clinton had Democrats go bad on him…well, that’s not fair. They did their duty, and they voted against him, twice, to initiate the proceeding, and on articles of impeachment. He had 31 say, “Yeah, let’s do this,” and five say, “Yeah, he should be impeached on these.” This President has his whole party in Congress ignoring their oath, and arguing his side, not once, but twice. Clinton had them go bad on him twice. He’s had them go bad on their oath twice. Deep State! People put in place to affect their own political agenda, how do they not meet the definition? Our Attorney General, Bill Barr, and this cabal of former conservatives in Congress, boy, do they seem to qualify.
