Month: May 2018

Rudy Giuliani Gives Fox News a Flagrantly Incoherent ‘Clarification’ of His Previous Incoherence

Posted by on May 6, 2018 at 9:33 am. 1 Comments :

The past week in Trump Land has been a roller coaster of bizarre tales and absurd explanations. Most of which were provided by Donald Trump’s newly minted lawyer, Rudy Giuliani. In a whirlwind tour of Fox News programs, Giuliani tried to offer justifications for Trump’s web of lies related to his affair with Stormy Daniels and the subsequent hush money payoff to suppress news of the incident. But he only made things worse by blurting out admissions to potential criminal activity that hadn’t been raised before.

Fox News, Rudy Giuliani, Jeanine Pirro

On Saturday night Giuliani resumed stumping for Trump with a visit to “Judge” Jeanine Pirro of Fox News. And true to form, he only succeeded in stirring up more trouble for his client who is already in a fairly deep legal bog. Giuliani’s wild-eyed raving made little sense and his grasp of the law was laughably off kilter. And if he thought he was advancing the interests of Trump, he was insane as well.

One of the first things out of his mouth was speculation that a case before the Virginia grand jury involving Trump’s former campaign manager Paul Manafort, might just be an attempt to “flip” him into providing testimony against Trump. Of course there would nothing to worry about on that account unless there was something to flip. So Giuliani introduced that notion on his own. He followed that up with the false claim that the judge in that case called it a “witch hunt.” He didn’t.

Giuliani went on for awhile about how “Attorney General Jeff Sessions should step up and dismiss this entire investigation.” He asserted that “There is no evidence of collusion with the Russians. Gone. There is no evidence of obstruction of justice.” But there have already been dozens of indictments and five guilty pleas that suggest that the investigation has merit and should continue. And then he launched into a full blown manic episode (video below):

“The President of the United States did not in any way violate the campaign finance law. Every campaign finance expert, Republican and Democrat, will tell that if it was for another purpose, other than just for campaigns, even if it was for campaign purposes, if it was to save his family, to save embarrassment, it’s not a campaign donation.

“And second, even if it was a campaign donation, the President reimbursed it fully with a payment of $35,000 a month that paid for that and other expenses. No need to go beyond that. Case over. That case should be dismissed by the Southern district of New York. At least with regard to President Trump.”

First of all, it is preposterous to say that every campaign finance expert would say that there was no campaign finance violation. Lots of them are saying that there is. Just turn on the TV like your boss does all day long. More to the point, Giuliani asserts that there is no violation even if the funds were used for campaign purposes if it was to “save his family, to save embarrassment.” Is he listening to himself? If it was for campaign purposes it was unambiguously a violation. And Giuliani’s next point asserts that even a campaign donation would have been legal because Trump paid it back. But if it was paid back without disclosing it in his campaign finance reporting, that’s illegal. And as Giuliani says, “No need to go beyond that. Case over.”

It also isn’t especially good lawyering when your counsel says on national TV that “I’m not an expert on the facts.” And repeating a previous slander of the FBI as Nazi Storm Troopers hardly seems like positive messaging. Even if he falsely claims that “the judge basically said that.” He didn’t. And asking for the case in New York to be dismissed, “At least with regard to President Trump,” makes no sense at all. That case is against Michael Cohen, not Trump.

Giuliani appears intent on proving that he’s utterly incapable of handling a parking ticket, much less a case as complex and legally hazardous as this. But one of the most peculiar comments in this interview came when Giuliani attempted to belittle testimony given by Hillary Clinton (who was interviewed by both the FBI and Congress for eleven hours). He stroked his own hand and said:

“Nice nice nice. Poor little Hillary. We gotta be nice to her. No under oath. We’ll take that now.”

Setting aside Giuliani’s embarrassing playacting, if he’s willing to agree to an FBI interview without being under oath, no doubt Robert Mueller would be as well. After all, you don’t have to be under oath to be required to tell the truth. And lying to either the FBI or Congress is crime even without taking an oath. So shut up already and present your client (who says no one wants to talk more than he does) for the interview, and we can get this thing over with. What are you all afraid of?

How Fox News Deceives and Controls Their Flock:
Fox Nation vs. Reality: The Fox News Cult of Ignorance.
Available now at Amazon.

Fox and Friends Guest Blasts Adam Schiff in a Painfully Stupid Rant About Impeaching Trump

Posted by on May 5, 2018 at 12:58 pm. 1 Comments :

There is only way place to go these days if you’re looking for unrelenting, mind-numbing idiocy on television. The Fox News morning show, Fox and Friends, isn’t Donald Trump’s favorite for nothing. It features a cast of “Curvy Couch” potatoes who seem to enjoy presenting themselves as unabashed morons. And naturally, their guest line up is just as feeble-minded as they (and their audience) are.

Fox News, Dan Bongino

Fox contributor and NRA shill Dan Bongino visited Fox and Friends to whimper about an op-ed published by Rep. Adam Schiff in the New York Times. The headline reads “Democrats: Don’t Take the Bait on Impeachment.” Schiff’s position is that impeachment should not be a political goal in and of itself, independent of legal basis supported by facts. He’s concerned that Democrats might get too far in front of the issue and create a backlash:

“…if impeachment is seen by a substantial part of the country as merely an effort to nullify an election by other means, there will be no impeachment, no matter how high the crime or serious the misdemeanor.”

And he continues…

“Given the evidence that is already public, I can well understand why the president fears impeachment [but] Democrats should not take the bait.”

So Schiff unequivocally calls for a tempered approach that doesn’t politicize the very real legal matters that are being investigated by special counsel Robert Mueller. However, this reasonable attitude became a target of derision by Bongino. In a feverish tirade Bongino lashed out at Schiff for being fair-minded and rational – and for agreeing with him (video below):

“Adam Schiff is a fraud. I’m sorry, he’s a fraud. And I say it and I mean it. I know those are harsh words, but Adam Schiff is not a stupid man. This is a smart guy. Adam Schiff has access to information on his Intel Committee that you and I don’t. He has known for at least a year now, if not longer, that this collusion story with the Russians is a hoax.”

Apparently Bongino has the gift of clairvoyance since he is able to discern from Schiff’s thoughts that he has knowledge that he is withholding. However, another explanation might be that Schiff does indeed have access to information that supports his position regarding Trump and Russian collusion. As he pointed out in the op-ed, the evidence that is already public is pretty damn incriminating. But Bongino prefers to rely on what he picks up telepathically while watching Schiff on TV:

“He has gone on every media channel he can – puts his make up on, does his thing – and has said that Trump has colluded with the Russians. The only reason he’s writing this op-ed now, I believe, is because he’s starting to see that the American public, based on polling data, is catching on that this is a hoax and it’s getting frustrating. Schiff is a fraud. He’s not doing the right thing. He’s doing the easy thing.”

For the record, every poll on the subject shows that the American people believe that Trump worked with Russia to help him get elected. They also overwhelmingly support Mueller’s investigation and want it to continue. These survey results were even affirmed by a poll conducted by Fox News. Bongino doesn’t bother to disclose the polling data he allegedly has, but it’s ironic that he’s making these ridiculous claims on the network whose own poll contradicts him.

Finally, Bongino is obviously too dense to grasp that his bitching about Schiff is an assault on logic. He’s complaining that Schiff wrote an article that argues against focusing on impeaching Trump, which is an opinion that Bongino shares. So does Bongino think that Schiff should have written an article advocating impeachment instead? Perhaps then Bongino would not be calling Schiff a fraud, but he would certainly be condemning him for advocating impeachment.

Bongino really needs to make up his mind. But you would need to have one that’s functioning to do so. On the plus side, by lacking critical thinking skills and having a rabid animosity toward all things Democratic, Bongino has secured himself a safe spot on Fox News for many years to come. And he’ll fit right in with Fox’s hosts and guests who share similar mental defects and biases.

How Fox News Deceives and Controls Their Flock:
Fox Nation vs. Reality: The Fox News Cult of Ignorance.
Available now at Amazon.

Nobel Peace Prize Nominee Trump (?) to NRA: Weakness Gets You Nuclear War

Posted by on May 4, 2018 at 3:16 pm. 3 Comments :

On Friday Donald Trump made his second annual trip to kiss the trigger fingers of the National Rifle Association (NRA) honchos who funneled more than $30 million to his presidential campaign. Some of that we now know came directly from Russia. Trump’s address was a rehash of his now tedious tirades that he delivers at his Deplorable rallies. He covered all the hits: Border wall, Russia hoax, polling, terrorists, and of course, the Second Amendment.

Donald Trump

Among the subjects that Trump rambled through was his handling of the nuclear showdown with North Korea. His comments were typically narrowed to bragging about himself. He boasted to the glassy-eyed disciple in the audience that he was responsible for ending the nuclear threat that was looming over the world. You know, the one that he created. He said that his demonstration of strength won the day because “Weakness gets you nuclear war.”

What Trump and his dimwitted followers will never discern from that is that every president before Trump must have been pretty strong because none of them set off a nuclear war. In fact, none of them even drew the threat of one that Trump did. After all, Trump is the belligerent instigator who taunted Kim Jong Un as “little rocket man” and warned that the U.S. “will have no choice but to totally destroy North Korea.” He even dashed off a pseudo-phallic tweet about his “bigger button.” And from that sort of reckless heckling, Trump thinks he got Kim to come to the negotiating table.

To the contrary, it was Kim who got Trump to the table. This is a fact that Trump and his GOP supporters in Congress completely fail to understand. The Republican Freedom caucus recently sent a letter to the Nobel nominating committee seeking recognition of Trump for a Peace Prize based on on his achievements with regard to North Korea. Never mind that there haven’t been any achievements as of yet. Just a lot of talk.

The GOP letter was an embarrassing composition whose first paragraph contained an obvious typo (“…in recognition of his work to end to the Korean war…”). And among the reasons stated that Trump deserved the award were the sanctions that “have decimated the North Korean economy.” Well, isn’t that just the sort of peaceful triumph worthy of a Nobel?

More to the point, Trump should not get a Nobel Peace Prize for getting played by Kim. And that’s precisely what happened. For decades North Korean leaders have tried to get the United States, and other world powers, to recognize their nation and grant them the legitimacy of diplomatic parity. They have tried to coax prior presidents to the table with the same sort of chain rattling that they did for Trump. The difference is that every previous American leader was strong enough to say no. Trump folded.

As a result, North Korea is getting the only thing they wanted all along: recognition and legitimacy. As well as the elimination of sanctions and a reduction in foreign troop presence. These are all things that Trump is willing to negotiate, without any preconditions on the part of North Korea. So it wasn’t Trump’s threats that got the parties to the table. It was Kim’s testing of nuclear weapons and ICBMs, and Trump’s eventual weakness in bending in the face of that perceived peril.

How Fox News Deceives and Controls Their Flock:
Fox Nation vs. Reality: The Fox News Cult of Ignorance.
Available now at Amazon.

Having capitulated to Kim’s strategic weapons program ought not to be the basis for a Nobel Peace Prize. And Trump’s weakness in now referring to Kim as “very honorable” is hardly a proud moment in American diplomacy. But don’t try telling that to the suckers who cheered when Trump praised his own “strength” and deal making prowess at the NRA convention.

Staunchly Pro-Trump Fox News Host Calls Him Out on His Lies: Mr. President, That’s Your Stink

Posted by on May 3, 2018 at 8:05 pm. 2 Comments :

It seems like every week is one that can arguably be described as Donald Trump’s worst week ever. And that surely applies to this week wherein the President had his lawyer go on Fox News and tell Sean Hannity that he reimbursed his personal attorney for the hush money paid to Stormy Daniels. And his pals at the National Enquirer went after Michael Cohen. And reports reveal the Cohen’s phone calls have been monitored by the Feds.

Fox News, Neil Cavuto, Stormy Daniels

Add to these setbacks a surprisingly critical monologue from Fox News host Neil Cavuto (video below). Cavuto has been one of the most reliable Trump supporters on the network. However, something must have clicked because this segment is bitingly harsh as he firmly renounces a cornucopia of Trump’s lies. The lecture addressed directly to Trump begins with Cavuto saying that:

“President Trump is fond of calling out the media on “fake” news. But is he the one giving them very real ammunition? Maybe not intentionally. I’ll even give you the benefit of the doubt, Mr. President, and say maybe not deliberately. But consistently. Way too consistently. So let me be clear Mr. President, how can you claim to be draining the swamp if you’re the one that keeps muddying the waters?”

Then Cavuto rattled off a series of Trump’s most recent and flagrant lies. He cites the hush money payment to Stormy Daniels; his denial of knowledge about MIchael Cohen’s activities on his behalf; his specious claims that there were no campaign finance violations. In each instance Cavuto noted that Trump stuck to his false claims until they could no longer be denied or his own party comrades debunked them.

Cavuto went on to itemize Trump’s catalog of obvious untruths such as claiming that the Russians didn’t interfere with the 2016 elections, and his subsequent denial that he ever made that claim; that his tax plan was the biggest ever; that those tax cuts would cost him a fortune; that his job approval numbers were better than his predecessors; that media reports that senior staffers (Secretary of State, Chief-of-Staff, economic advisor, political strategist, etc) were about to be fired were fake. Cavuto even brought up Trump’s denials that his lawyers (Dowd, Cobb) would be leaving, and that he denied ever considering firing Robert Mueller.

And even after that barrage of friendly fire Cavuto wasn’t done. He called Trump out for falsely saying that he signed more bills than any other president. And that he raised the national debt by over a trillion dollars despite claiming that he reduced it. And that there was massive voter fraud in New Hampshire and Virginia, and millions of illegal voters nationwide. And that his alleged electoral college landslide eclipsed those before him.

It was a brutal damning of Trump’s notorious dishonesty and aversion to the truth. Although Cavuto tried to to insert softening agents every now and then such as “Now I’m not saying you’re a liar,” and “None of this makes me a Never Trumper,” and “None of this makes you evil,” and “None of this makes what you say fake.” Why the heck not? Actually, all of that makes him a liar and what he says fake. But Cavuto can only go so far. And for him this is light years. He closed with an especially pungent censure of the President that would surely sting if his handlers ever let him hear it:

“Your base might not care, but you should. I guess you’re too busy draining the swamp to stop and smell the stink you’re creating. That’s your doing. That’s your stink. Mr. President, that’s your swamp.”

You have to wonder what happened in the editorial suites at Fox News that allowed this diatribe to make it onto the air. Perhaps there are people in the executive ranks who see the writing on the wall (which Trump will never build) and don’t want to get sunk along with the President when Mueller’s probe is completed. Fox News may be trying to hedge their bets a little in case the raid of Cohen’s offices turned up incriminating evidence. Whatever the reason, it appears that Trump might not be able to always depend on Fox News to cover his backside. Of course, this may be an anomaly, so it’s too soon to draw any conclusions. Stay tuned.

How Fox News Deceives and Controls Their Flock:
Fox Nation vs. Reality: The Fox News Cult of Ignorance.
Available now at Amazon.

Other Things Giuliani Told Hannity that are as Bad or Worse than Stormy’s Hush Money

Posted by on May 3, 2018 at 9:59 am. 5 Comments :

Wednesday was another chaotic day in the epically unraveling administration of Donald Trump. His newly unwrapped lawyer, Rudy Giuliani, went on Fox News and told Sean Hannity that Trump lied about not knowing anything about the hush money paid to Stormy Daniels by his personal attorney, Michael Cohen. That revelation has roiled the Trump White House and the media. But that isn’t all that Giuliani spilled in the hour long interview.

Fox News, Sean Hannity, Rudy Giuliani

Sean Hannity hosted Giuliani for the entire program, mostly without commercial interruption. That’s an indication of how important this was to Hannity and Fox News. That they would forgo significant revenue in order to hold their audience enrapt in the unhinged stylings of Giuliani is further evidence that the network is literally state-TV and an arm of the Trump PR machine.

In addition to the shocking confessions about the hush money payoff, Giuliani delved into matters related to Trump’s unsavory connections to Russia and the collusion that he is so tightly associated with. What follows are some of the non-Stormy babblings of Giuliani that should receive some attention when the more salacious disclosures of porn star payments subside:

Giuliani: “[Trump] fired Comey because Comey would not, among other things, say that he was not a target of the investigation. […] So he fired him and he said ‘I’m free of this guy'”

Giuliani just provide the latest confession of Trump’s obstruction of justice. Firing Comey because he refused to clear the President, and declaring freedom from the pending investigations could not be a clearer admission of guilt.

Giuliani: “Lester Holt asked him why he did it. He said ‘I did because I felt that I had to explain to the American people that their president was not a target of the investigation.'”

That’s not even close to what Trump told Holt. Actually, he told Holt that he did it because “I said to myself, I said ‘you know, this Russia thing with Trump and Russia is a made-up story, it’s an excuse by the Democrats for having lost an election that they should have won’.”

Giuliani: “Comey should be prosecuted for leaking confidential FBI information. When he leaked his report intended to develop a special prosecutor for the President of the United States.”

Of course, Giuliani doesn’t bother to cite what law was broken here, because there wasn’t any.

Giuliani: “Comey is a pathological liar.”

This is typical Trumpian projection. It’s the President who is known for his compulsive lying. Comey may have used some poor judgment in the run up to the election, but it has yet to be shown that he lied.

Giuliani: “I have the indignity of unfortunately having hired [Comey] for his first big job, and I’m embarrassed that I hired him.”

This is about the only act of repentence you’ll ever see from Giuliani or Trump.

Giuliani: “I believe they [Sessions and Rosenstein] should, in the interest of justice, end this investigation. There’s been too much government misconduct. The crimes now have all been committed by the government and their agents.”

Naturally Giuliani would like the investigation to end by the waving of a magic wand. He certainly doesn’t have the legal capability of ending it or succeeding. But he does like to make baseless accusations of crimes.

Giuliani: “I’m sorry Hillary. I know your very disappointed that you didn’t win. But you’re a criminal. Equal justice would mean that you should go to jail.”

Both Trump and Giuliani like to recklessly throw around baseless accusations of guilt. That is irresponsible and unprecedented behavior for a president or his representatives.

Hannity: “He said that [Hillary] Clinton deeply respects the rule of law. Comey said that.”
Giuliani: “Wow. Then this is a very perverted man.”

For heaven’s sake, Rudy. What the heck are you talking about?

Giuliani: “The President of the United States didn’t do anything wrong. We are lucky that we have a president who can focus. In a way it almost hurts him.”

For heaven’s sake, Rudy. What the heck are you … Um, I used this one already. But it still fits.

Giuliani: “Ivanka Trump? I think I would get on my charger and go right into their office with a lancet if they request Ivanka. If they do do Ivanka, which I doubt they will. The whole country will turn out. They’re going after his daughter?”
Hannity: “What his son-in-law [Jared Kushner]? They’re going after him.”
Giuliani: “Jared is a fine man. You know that. But men are, you know, disposable. But a fine woman like Ivanka? Come on.”

Men are disposable? Does that include Trump? And the day when you mount a charger and ride into battle might indeed get the whole country to turn out. Just for the laughs.

Hannity: “This was supposed to be about the Trump campaign, Russia collusion.”
Giuliani: “Gone.”
Hannity: “Gone. Never happened.”
Giuliani: “He’s been cleared of that.”

Cleared? Seriously, what planet are these guys broadcasting from?

Giuliani: “Russia collusion is total fake news. Unfortunately it has become the basis of the investigation. And Mueller owes us a report saying it means nothing, it didn’t happen.”

Relax Rudy. You’ll get your report from Mueller. Although it may not contain exactly the sort of vindication you’re hoping for.

How Fox News Deceives and Controls Their Flock:
Fox Nation vs. Reality: The Fox News Cult of Ignorance.
Available now at Amazon.

For those of you with strong stomachs, here is the video of the whole interview:

Holy Sh*t: Giuliani Told Hannity That Trump Reimbursed Cohen for His Payment to Stormy

Posted by on May 2, 2018 at 7:20 pm. 3 Comments :

This is gonna be a short article to post for the record a shocking admission that was made public for the first time. Sean Hannity hosted Donald Trump’s new attorney, Rudy Giuliani for the whole hour of his program on Wednesday night. And it was stunning.

Rudy Giuliani

For the most part Giuliani was rambling incoherently. He spent most of the hour insulting James Comey and calling everyone from Comey to Clinton liars. But one particular exchange is certain to make some news. With regard to the $130,000 payment that Trump’s personal attorney Michael Cohen made to Stormy Daniels, Giuliani revealed that Trump reimbursed Cohen. Here is how that segment of the interview went down courtesy of Yashir Ali who was live tweeting the show (video below):

The significance of this revelation cannot be overstated. Trump has previously said that he knew nothing about the arrangements that Cohen had made with Daniels. Now, according his own lawyer, that was a lie.

This what Trump gets for hiring a freak job like Giuliani and putting his legal life in his hands.

How Fox News Deceives and Controls Their Flock:
Fox Nation vs. Reality: The Fox News Cult of Ignorance.
Available now at Amazon.

UPDATE: CNN got a reaction from Stormy Daniels’ attorney Michael Avenatti:

And now “a source close to Trump just confirmed.”

And Giuliani Trump is “pleased” that he’s been outed as a liar and this was all part of their master plan:

Kiss of Death? Another Trump Goon Sleeps With the Fishes After Praise From the White House Don

Posted by on May 2, 2018 at 1:27 pm. 1 Comments :

The big news out of Washington on Wednesday is that Donald Trump’s last remaining original lawyer working on Russia collusion matters is off the case. The President has had a difficult time hiring and maintaining legal defenders to counter the investigation of special counsel Robert Mueller. A few weeks ago his lead attorney, John Dowd was dismissed. And his personal attorney, Michael Cohen has his own legal problems and might be close to flipping on his former client.

Godfather

Ty Cobb was one of the first lawyers that Trump brought aboard to handle the special counsel matter. And throughout a tumultuous tenure. Trump has fiercely insisted that Cobb was in it for the duration and had his “full confidence.” Trump affirmed that in a tweet as recently as April 12. What’s more, Trump was outraged (as usual) at the the New York Times for reporting last March that there were problems within his legal team and that changes were imminent:

Apparently, the Times’ Maggie Haberman got a lot right despite Trump’s whining that she “knows nothing” and was “not given access.” It turns out the story wasn’t false after all. Both Dowd and Cobb have left since those tweets. And his insistence that he would not be hiring anyone else has also proven to be untrue. In a much ridiculed display of desperation, Trump hired Rudy Giuliani. And along with the news about Cobb’s departure is the addition of Emmett Flood. Flood’s significance as a new member of the team is that he is one of the few attorneys alive who has experience with impeachment, having worked on Bill Clinton’s hearings in 1998. What does that say about what Trump is currently fixated on and worried about?

And don’t let anyone tell you that Cobb’s departure was simply due to his desire to retire. That is an utterly implausible assertion. He just took this job a few months ago and was well aware that it wasn’t going to be a quick gig. The truth is that Cobb and Trump have been at odds regarding Trump’s behavior and particularly his tweets attacking Mueller which just make him sound more guilty. CNN’s Jim Acosta confirmed this with sources who said that Cobb “was not going to be ‘part of a mud slinging campaign.'”

In conjunction with the news about Cobb, Trump fired off some more rage-tweets denying that there was any collusion or obstruction of justice. You know, like any innocent person would do five times a day. One of the tweets quoted Joseph diGenova on Fox News (who was on Trump’s legal team for about half an hour) saying that Trump could fire anyone he wants at any time. Of course, that isn’t true. There are exceptions for criminal conspiracy and obstruction of justice that specifically apply to Trump’s situation.

Trump also tweeted a promo for Fox News legal analyst, Gregg Jarrett, and his new book “The Russia Hoax – The Illicit Scheme to Clear Hillary Clinton and Frame Donald Trump.” Jarrett is disreputable character whose credentials are pitiful. He hasn’t practiced law in 30 years, and has been at Fox News half of that time. Trump and Jarrett both share the problem of repeatedly referring to the Mueller investigation as a hoax. PolitiFact honored that phrase with its 2017 “Lie of the Year” award.

How Fox News Deceives and Controls Their Flock:
Fox Nation vs. Reality: The Fox News Cult of Ignorance.
Available now at Amazon.

Like many of the other members of Trump’s White House staff who he has praised, Cobb was dumped a few weeks later. Having Trump’s approval is the best warning that you are about to be unceremoniously shit-canned. Cobb should have seen it coming. And now that there are new reports that Chief-of-Staff John Kelly has been calling Trump an idiot, Trump came out with criticism of those reports and is standing by Kelly. In other words – goodbye Kelly. He’s just the latest flunky to get the Fredo treatment from the White House Don.

The Worm Turns: Fox News is Fake News According to – Sean Hannity

Posted by on May 1, 2018 at 3:05 pm. 2 Comments :

It’s more complicated every day trying to cover the rapidly crumbling administration of Donald Trump. Who his friends and enemies are change by the hour. His long-time personal attorney, Michael Cohen, appears to be cooperating with prosecutors. His Chief-of-Staff, John Kelly, reportedly thinks he’s an idiot. And he isn’t the only one.

Fox News, Sean Hannity

Now Sean Hannity of Fox News is taking an unusual position with regard to to his own network. On Monday the New York Times revealed a list of questions that were reportedly prepared by Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s office for an interview with Trump. The list was said to have been transcribed by Trump’s lawyers who provided it anonymously to the Times. Legal analysts describe the questions as focusing on multiple issues, including collusion and obstruction of justice.

Predictably, when Hannity’s program aired he was determined to undermine the significance of these questions and the investigation in its entirety. So he started off his segment on the subject by belittling the use of anonymous sources while asserting that his anonymous sources contradicted those of the Times.

“I am told by my sources tonight that The New York Times is full of crap. A lot of those questions are not the questions that the Special Counsel is asking. Clearly a leak by the Special Counsels’s office, again with anonymous sources.” […]

“It is a disinformation campaign. How stupid is it? They want to get in the President’s mind, ‘Did you ever think of firing Mueller?’ When he never fired Mueller. And he has every right to fire Mueller constitutionaly. This is how bad the press in this country is. They’re being fed lies, disinformation to manipulate the America people.”

So Hannity is disputing the legitimacy of the questions published by the Times. The only problem with that is that Fox News also published the questions in an article that claimed they had independently obtained the list themselves. So if the Times is full of crap, then so is Fox News.

In addition to maligning the reporting of his own network, Hannity totally mangled his analysis of the impact of these questions. First of all, he asserts falsely that their disclosure was “clearly a leak by the Special Counsel.” But the Times explicitly reported that it was Trump’s team that leaked them. Then Hannity makes several assertions that are legally unfounded. He says that it’s “stupid” to try to get into the mind of the President. But that’s exactly how prosecutors establish intent in criminal cases. Hannity also said that Trump has the right to fire Mueller, which most legal experts say is not true. Although he could fire Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein and appoint a replacement who could fire Mueller. But Hannity wasn’t through yet. He got even more frenzied later in the segment, saying with regard to the list of questions:

“Put it in your fireplace and burn it — because we have sources — half these questions are dumb anyway. ‘Oh, what was in your mind at the time.’ You don’t punish people or charge people – not that you can charge a sitting president, and the President has the right to fire anybody he wants – for the thoughts they have in their head.”

It’s as if Hannity is determined to put his utter ignorance about the law on display for all of American to see and laugh at. And that determination is so obviously driven by his compulsion to defend his Dear Leader, Donald Trump. And by the way, Trump is no better at this legal stuff than Hannity:

Below are the videos of Hannity’s Trump-fluffing, if your stomach is strong enough to handle it.

How Fox News Deceives and Controls Their Flock:
Fox Nation vs. Reality: The Fox News Cult of Ignorance.
Available now at Amazon.