In one of the most outrageous examples of leftist media bias, ABC’s World News Tonight and CBS Evening News decided to finally report on the Durham/Sussmann Russia hoax trial, but only after Michael Sussmann was acquitted of lying to the FBI. Both networks had no interest in covering the trial while it was ongoing. It wasn’t until the Hillary Clinton campaign lawyer was found not guilty by a dubious Washington D.C. jury that they decided to take a victory lap. While NBC Nightly News made no mention of the jury verdict.
On World News Tonight, anchor David Muir gloated about the “major defeat” for special counsel John Durham before tossing it to the network’s chief justice correspondent Pierre Thomas.
For Thomas’s part, he joyfully reported the “Washington jury handing special counsel John Durham a stinging defeat, acquitting a lawyer with ties to Hillary Clinton's campaign of charging that he lied to the FBI.”
Providing background information on the case that ABC had kept their viewers in the dark on, Thomas reported how “federal prosecutors had claimed that just before the 2016 election, the lawyer, Michael Sussmann, misled the FBI when he passed along a tip that computers in Trump Tower were communicating with a Russian bank.” But noted, “Durham's team insisted Sussmann was secretly acting as an operative of the Clinton campaign.”
Ending his report, Thomas snarked that Trump supporters hoped that “Durham would uncover some explosive revelations to back that up. Three years later that still has not happened.” Adding “Durham has been investigating the origins of the Russia probe for more than three years. We are still awaiting the final report.”
Over on CBS, anchor Norah O’Donnell briefly mentioned the jury’s verdict to her confused viewers who probably had no clue the trial was going on since CBS had kept them in the dark:
Special counsel John Durham's investigation into the origins of the FBI's Trump Russia investigation suffered a major blow today. A federal jury found Michael Sussmann, a lawyer with ties to Hillary Clinton's 2016 presidential campaign not guilty of lying to the FBI. When he brought them evidence of a possible link between Donald Trump and Russia. It was the first case to go to trial in the three-year investigation.
You can bet that if the outcome had gone the other way, all three networks would have continued their complete blackout of John Durham’s investigation into the origins of the Trump/Russia hoax.
The network’s disgraceful lack of coverage of the Durham/Sussmann trial was made possible by Liberty Mutual on ABC, Nature’s Bounty on CBS, and Ensure on NBC. Their information is linked.
To read the relevant transcripts click “expand”:
ABC’s World News Tonight
5/31/2022
6:46:34 p.m. EasternDAVID MUIR: In Washington tonight, a major defeat for the special counsel named by the Trump administration to look into the origins of the Russia investigation. A jury today acquitting a lawyer who was connected to the Clinton campaign who had been accused of lying to the FBI. Here's our chief justice correspondent Pierre Thomas now.
PIERRE THOMAS: It was the first trial of a case brought by the man hand-picked by President Donald Trump’s Attorney General to examine the origins of the FBI's investigation into Trump's possible ties to Russia. But tonight, a Washington jury handing special counsel John Durham a stinging defeat, acquitting a lawyer with ties to Hillary Clinton's campaign of charging that he lied to the FBI.
MICHAEL SUSSMANN: I told the truth to the FBI and the jury clearly recognized that.
THOMAS: Federal prosecutors had claimed that just before the 2016 election, the lawyer, Michael Sussmann, misled the FBI when he passed along a tip that computers in Trump Tower were communicating with a Russian bank. Durham's team insisted Sussmann was secretly acting as an operative of the Clinton campaign. Sussmann whose tip to the FBI did not pan out, said he was just trying to be a good citizen.
SUSSMANN: Despite being falsely accused, I'm relieved that justice ultimately prevailed in my case.
(...)
THOMAS: Still, Trump and his supporters insist the Russia investigation was a hoax designed to hurt his campaign and his presidency. They've been hoping that Durham would uncover some explosive revelations to back that up. Three years later that still has not happened. Durham has been investigating the origins of the Russia probe for more than three years. We are still awaiting the final report. Today, he said he was disappointed by the jury's verdict, but that he respected their decision. David?
CBS Evening News
5/31/2022
6:49:52 p.m. EasternNORAH O’DONNELL: Special counsel John Durham's investigation into the origins of the FBI's Trump Russia investigation suffered a major blow today. A federal jury found Michael Sussmann, a lawyer with ties to Hillary Clinton's 2016 presidential campaign not guilty of lying to the FBI. When he brought them evidence of a possible link between Donald Trump and Russia. It was the first case to go to trial in the three-year investigation.
