Liberal commentators who claimed Donald Trump was colluding with Russia were dealt an embarrassing blow Monday when John Durham’s long-awaited report said there was no “factual evidence” to justify a lengthy FBI investigation into the allegations.
News pundits and comedians spent countless hours repeating the theory that Trump and his campaign officials conspired with Russia to influence Hillary Clinton’s 2016 election victory.
Their reporting was often based on different investigations into the case.
But the Durham report, the most recent to center on the allegations, found that the Justice Department and FBI “failed to live up to their mission of strict adherence to the law” in launching the Trump-Russia investigation.
Several investigations, including the Mueller Inquiry, have now turned up no evidence that Trump and his aides colluded with Russia.
Joe Scarborough, the former Republican representative who now co-hosts Morning Joe on MSNBC (right), said in August 2018 that Trump’s behavior amounted to a “conspiracy” that may have been criminal.
Rachel Maddow made baseless claims in the controversial Steele dossier alleging Russia’s meddling in the election and “the Trump campaign.” [was] help, go along with it, conspire, belong’
Rachel Maddow, the MSNBC anchor and host of The Rachel Maddow Show, is one of the most outspoken proponents of the claim that Trump colluded with Russia.
Her broadcasts embraced the controversial Steele dossier, which contained a series of lurid, unproven allegations about Trump’s ties to Russia.
Indeed, the Durham Report “determined that the [FBI] investigators could not and could not confirm any of the substantive allegations in the Steele report.”
But Maddow suggested on several occasions that the Steele dossier gave weight to the allegations of collusion.
In March 2017, she said, “The crux of the claim of this unproven dossier is that not only did Russia attack our elections, but they did so with the Trump campaign’s knowledge and support that the Trump people were involved that they knew what Russia was doing as they were doing it and they kept meeting Russians.’
Maddow says later on the show, “What [Steele] says he felt there was not only evidence that Russia attacked the US presidential election, but that one party in that election – the Trump campaign – aided, colluded, colluded, was a part of it, which is a far worse accusation than only the Russians attack our election.’
She added: “We have to continue to describe them as unconfirmed, but towards the basic thesis of this dossier that the Trump campaign was in, little bits of those little verifiable bits that are now in place almost every day.” traps.’
Joe Scarborough, the former Republican representative who now co-hosts Morning Joe on MSNBC, said in August 2018 that there was “no conspiracy” but that Trump’s behavior amounted to a “conspiracy” that may have been criminal.
CNN host Anderson Cooper devoted many segments to the investigations. Cooper avoided outright saying Trump colluded with Russia, but broadcasts included insinuations that Trump was in cahoots with Moscow
Stephen Colbert, host of The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, joked in July 2018 that Trump’s repetition of the phrase “no collusion” was synonymous with his guilt. He said, ‘He uses it for every occasion. It’s like his Aloha – it means both hello and I’m guilty’
He said, “They conspired with Russians. Don’t collude. Let’s not use the word conspiracy, they conspired with the Russians, this is a conspiracy. So okay, no conspiracy. A conspiracy.
“Perhaps a criminal conspiracy. But he distracts the people in the crowd, calling it fake news, hoping he gets away with the crimes.”
The claims also provided ammunition to nighttime TV presenters.
Stephen Colbert, host of The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, joked in July 2018 that Trump’s repetition of the phrase “no collusion” was synonymous with his guilt.
He said, ‘He uses it for every occasion. It’s like his Aloha – it means both hello and I’m guilty.”
Colbert hinted that the then president had indeed committed a crime, adding, “But Trump is right about one thing: there is no law against collusion. Technically it’s called “conspiracy to commit a crime against the United States.”
He was also joined by fellow comedian and commentator John Oliver in August 2017 when the pair made a series of jokes suggesting the president had colluded with Russia.
Colbert asks Oliver, “Have we arrived in a country where colluding with a hostile foreign power to rig our elections is a left-right thing?”
Oliver replies, “I don’t know – but the mere fact that you just said that sentence out loud shows we’re turbof***ed.”
Special Counsel Durham handed Congress Monday the report on his four-year investigation that cost more than $6 million in taxpayers’ money
Special counsel John Durham was appointed in 2019 by then-Attorney General Bill Barr to investigate misconduct related to the Crossfire Hurricane probe
CNN host Anderson Cooper devoted many segments to the investigations.
In February 2018, he led a ten-minute segment titled “Keeping Them Honest: About That ‘Russia Hoax’ Thing,” which was pinned to allegations brought by the Justice Department against 13 Russian nationals for electoral interference.
Cooper avoided outright saying that Trump was colluding with Russia, but the broadcast included insinuations that the then president was in cahoots with Moscow.
He said the announcement of the charges against the Russians suggested that “indictments from other people” could also follow and later added: “This investigation is not over, it certainly does not release anyone, certainly not the president, and it’s definitely not cheating. ‘
Another segment in January 2019 showed a series of clips of Trump repeating the words “no collusion.” It appeared with the banner ‘Keeping Them Honest: Suspicion’. After suspicion. After suspicion.’
Cooper later said, “Whatever’s going on, it’s something. Maybe benign, maybe ill-judged, maybe all within the president’s constitutional and legal authority – or maybe not. We don’t know what kind of thing it is. Two presidents do: President Trump and Vladimir Putin.”