It was another bad day on Wednesday for The Resistance in their attempts to remove President Trump from office in handcuffs as, thanks to a court order, it was revealed that the Southern District of New York had ended their probe concerning the Trump Organization and alleged hush money payments to porn star Stormy Daniels and Playboy model Karen McDougal.
And on cue, the CBS Evening News and NBC Nightly News saw no reason to acknowledge this with this being the second Trump legal victory ignored in a week as, when Maryland and Washington D.C. had their lawsuit alleging the President violated the Constitution’s emoluments clause thrown out, CBS similarly was silent.
So for all the commotion about how this or that lawsuit or probe will lead to the President’s ouster or more of his allies being imprisoned, the liberal media sure don’t seem as keen on highlighting when things don’t go their way.
To his credit, ABC’s World News Tonight anchor David Muir offered a measly, 16-second news brief on the investigation coming to an end:
One more headline tonight involving president [sic]. Federal prosecutors in New York today ending their investigation into the hush money payments to Stormy Daniels and Karen McDougall. Both women claiming they were paid to stay silent about their affairs with the President more than a decade ago. He says the affairs never happened and no new charges are expected.
Meanwhile, the Fox News Channel’s flagship evening newscast Special Report had a longer, more comprehensive brief to the tune of 47 seconds from host Bret Baier (click “expand”):
President Trump's legal team is declaring victory tonight as a federal judge said today in a court order the investigation of hush money payments arranged by Michael Cohen, which Cohen claims where at the President’s direction, has come to an end. The investigation involves payments the President's former lawyer helped orchestrate to two women, porn actress Stormy Daniels and playboy centerfold Karen McDougal after they claimed they had affairs with then-businessman Donald Trump. The President has denied any sexual relationship with the women. The end of that investigation likely means no additional charges will be filed against anyone, including the President. Cohen is currently serving a three year prison term in upstate New York for campaign finance violations as well as other offenses, including bank and tax fraud.
Here’s a little more from Politico (click “expand”):
The judge, an appointee of President Bill Clinton, made the disclosure in a ruling on a related matter dealing with the release of sealed information contained in already-public search warrants tied to the Cohen case. Pauley rejected the government’s request to keep some of the search warrant materials in the Cohen case sealed and instead ordered it publicly released by 11 a.m. Thursday.
(....)
Last week, CNN reported that officials at the Trump Organization haven’t had any contact with SDNY officials for more than five months, and a source tied to the president’s namesake company isn’t disputing that story.
A spokesman for the SDNY U.S. attorney’s office declined comment about the status of its campaign finance probe. Alan Futerfas, an attorney for the Trump Organization, said he was reviewing the judge’s order and declined further comment.
Jay Sekulow, a personal attorney for the president, welcomed the news. “We are pleased that the investigation surrounding these ridiculous campaign finance allegations is now closed,” he said in a text message. “We have maintained from the outset that the President never engaged in any campaign finance violation…Another case is closed.”
With all this mind, it was also a bad day for CNN darling Michael Avenatti, but these days, most days are bad days for Avenatti considering the flurry of charges he’s facing and how his cable news hits have dried up.
Hours before the news broke and at the 6:26 a.m. Eastern mark, MSNBC’s Morning Joe co-host Mika Brzezinski hyped that this hush money case was “waiting for him when he leaves office” as an example of how “this ends badly, right” for the President. Well, Mika, it turns out that you can forget about that.
Sad trombone!
To see the relevant transcript from ABC’s World News Tonight With David Muir on July 17, click “expand.”
ABC’s World News Tonight With David Muir
July 17, 2019
6:40 p.m. Eastern[ON-SCREEN HEADLINE: Stormy Daniels Case; Hush Money Probe Ends]
DAVID MUIR: One more headline tonight involving president [sic]. Federal prosecutors in New York today ending their investigation into the hush money payments to Stormy Daniels and Karen McDougall. Both women claiming they were paid to stay silent about their affairs with the President more than a decade ago. He says the affairs never happened and no new charges are expected.
To see the relevant transcript from FNC’s Special Report with Bret Baier on July 17, click “expand.”
FNC’s Special Report with Bret Baier
July 17, 2019
6:36 p.m. Eastern[ON-SCREEN HEADLINE: Payment Probe; Cohen Investigation Complete; Documents May Be Released]
BRET BAIER: President Trump's legal team is declaring victory tonight as a federal judge said today in a court order the investigation of hush money payments arranged by Michael Cohen, which Cohen claims where at the President’s direction, has come to an end. The investigation involves payments the President's former lawyer helped orchestrate to two women, porn actress Stormy Daniels and playboy centerfold Karen McDougal after they claimed they had affairs with then-businessman Donald Trump. The President has denied any sexual relationship with the women. The end of that investigation likely means no additional charges will be filed against anyone, including the President. Cohen is currently serving a three year prison term in upstate New York for campaign finance violations as well as other offenses, including bank and tax fraud.
