CBS and NBC on Wednesday promoted the paranoid theory that the Trump administration will do something sinister to accused NSA leaker Reality Winner. The morning shows uncritically included the claim, touted by her mom, that “they would maker her disappear.”
In other words, the Trump government would have her killed? CBS This Morning repeated this baseless claim over and over. Co-host Gayle King opened the show by touting an interview with Billie-Jean Davis. King breathlessly relayed, “She said her daughter, that would be Reality Leigh Winner, is scared that they would make her disappear.”
The show included a clip of Mrs. Davis asserting, “She was afraid they were going to make her disappear.” Then, a third time, reporter David Begnaud included her statement: “Her words to me were that she was really scared that they would make her disappear.”
At no time did any of the CBS journalists offer skepticism that the government might make a high-profile defendant “disappear.”
Over on NBC’s Today, reporter Gabe Gutierrez also talked to Mrs. Davis. Yet again, she related the incendiary quote: “Her words to me was she was scared she was going to be — they were going to make her disappear.”
Instead of probing what that meant or who would make Winner “disappear,” the journalist simply wondered, “Are you scared where this goes?” Gutierrez uncritically swallowed the idea that the alleged leaker isn’t partisan: “Her mother and stepfather say she is not highly political, though she once called Donald Trump an orange fascist on Twitter.”
Of course. Why would that make someone political? Winner also complained about Trump’s “fucking wall” and tweeted, “TrumpIsACunt.” (For more on Tuesday's coverage of Winner, see NewsBusters.) But NBC and CBS didn’t include those attacks.
When someone claims that the U.S. government will make them disappear, it seems worthy of a follow-up question. If the assertion had been made about Barack Obama's administration, one can assume it would have been met with skepticism.
A transcript of the June 7 CBS segment is below:
CBS This Morning
6/7/17
7am teaseGAYLE KING: CBS News talks with the mother of a 25-year-old government contractor accused of leaking NSA secrets. She said her daughter, that would be Reality Leigh Winner, is scared that they would make her disappear.
7:02
BILLIE-JEAN DAVIS: What she told me was that she was terrified. She was afraid they were going to make her disappear.
7:33:18 to 7:36:31
NORAH O’DONNELL: A mother and step-father of an NSA contractor accused of leaking government secrets are speak out about their daughter, 25-year-old Reality Leigh Winner has been in federal custody since Saturday The Air Force veteran faces up to ten years in prison for allegedly passing classified document to a news outlet. Winner's family said she's not a traitor. David Begnaud is in Augusta, Georgia, outside the federal courthouse where she will appear. David, good morning.
DAVID BEGNAUD: Norah, good morning. Reality winner, and that is her full name, will appear here in federal court for the second time in a little more than 24 hours from now. Right now she's being held in the county jail on espionage charges. Her parents, who she actually called as the FBI was in the process of arresting her, got in their car and drove from Texas to Georgia to feed her cat and then they decided, we want to speak out on her behalf.
BILLY-JEAN DAVIS: I know that she's scared. She's scared that they won't let her out.
BEGNAUD: Her daughter, Reality Leigh Winner, is now the defendant in the Trump administration's first leaked case. The 25-year-old was frightened by her arrest last Saturday.
BILLY-JEAN DAVIS: Her words to me were that she was really scared that they would make her disappear.
BEGNAUD: The Department of Justice says she admitted to taking a top secret intelligence document may 5th which detailed hacking by the Russian military intelligence. The government claims that when Winner “retained and transmitted classified national defense information she could have compromised the security of the United States.”
BILLY-JEAN DAVIS: I'm terrified, terrified that she's not going to be treated fairly and that they're going to try to make an example of her and that's not fair. Sorry.
BEGNAUD: Winner was active on social media up until the day of her arrest tweeting under the pseudonym Sarah Winners. She expressed disappointment from the election results and her disdain for President Trump. She used the hashtag #notmypresident several times. Winner’s court-appointed attorney Titus Nichols says his client plans to enter a not guilty plea tomorrow.
TITUS NICHOLS (Defense Attorney): We have the burden of showing that my client is not a risk of committing new offenses. That she is not a risk of fleeing.
BEGNAUD: As a contractor at an NSA facility in Augusta, Georgia, Winner is among the 1.3 million people who has top security clearances. She served six years with the U.S. Air Force and received a accommodation medal.
GARY DAVIS: She’s a patriot.
BEGNAUD: Her stepfather says the charges she's facing are an insult to her and her nation.
GARY DAVIS: She served her nation with distinguished honor and that’s who Reality Winner is. It’s not the person that’s being portrayed. She is a winner. She’s our winner.
BILLY-JEAN DAVIS: She's my winner.
BEGNAUD: So the FBI says the crease in the piece of paper that Reality Winner actually mailed to the Intercept media outlet revealed where the printout came from. Computer experts say these days color printers can reveal a lot about the printing you are making. And Gayle, it’s done through micro dots on the piece of paper. They're actually invisible to the naked eye. But they can reveal the computer’s server number and the date and time you pressed print.
