{"id":42804,"date":"2019-09-20T14:00:59","date_gmt":"2019-09-20T21:00:59","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/?p=42804"},"modified":"2019-09-23T13:56:41","modified_gmt":"2019-09-23T20:56:41","slug":"fox-news-defends-trumps-state-sponsored-political-extortion-as-just-the-art-of-the-deal","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/?p=42804","title":{"rendered":"Fox News Defends Trump’s State-Sponsored Political Extortion as Just ‘The Art of the Deal’"},"content":{"rendered":"

The news that Donald Trump may have promised the president of Ukraine hundreds of millions of dollars in military aid if he would open a bogus investigation into Joe Biden has captured the attention of the press. And rightfully so. This would amount to state-sponsored extortion by Trump<\/a><\/strong> in order to smear a political opponent. And it wouldn’t even be the first time that Trump has conspired with a foreign country to steal an election (see: Russia, 2016).<\/p>\n

\"Donald
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As this scandal continues to build steam, Trump is managing to get himself into even more hot water. In a press avail<\/a><\/strong> with the Prime Minister of Australia, Trump gave contradictory answers about what he knew about the affair. In fact, when asked if he read the report he contradicted himself in the space of a single sentence saying, “No I haven’t. I just – I tell you, everybody’s read it. They laugh at it.”<\/em> He went on to attack the press, as usual, saying that “Our media has become the laughingstock of the world […] You’re a joke.”<\/em> Which only proves that he is pitifully incapable of recognizing who the world is actually laughing at.<\/p>\n

In the midst of this unfolding melodrama, Fox News is adopting their routine position as Trump-fluffing propaganda disseminators. And taking the lead is Trump’s favorite morning show, Fox and Friends<\/em>. Their defense of Trump is a bizarre spectacle of ludicrous justifications for Trump’s potentially treasonous behavior (video below)<\/em>. Co-host Steve Doocy began by telling his dimwitted viewers to…<\/p>\n

“Keep in mind this whistleblower filed this report with the inspector general of the Intel community on August the 12th. That was over a month ago. Then they kicked it around, sent it to the Department of Justice, and said ‘We do not have to hand it over to Congress.'”<\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

First of all, it is entirely improper for the Justice Department to interfere in this process in any way. It negates the whole purpose of the Whistleblower Protection Act if the President’s henchmen (Attorney General William Barr, et al) can suppress information provided in good faith by insiders concerned about national security. And it endangers the welfare of the whistleblower whose identity is disclosed to people who have motive to retaliate.<\/p>\n

That said, after having improperly interfered, the Justice Department has no authority to rule that the complaint can’t be turned over to Congress. The law says unambiguously that it “shall”<\/em> be turned over. So the Justice Department is wrong, and Fox News is wrong to excuse this breach of the law. But Doocy wasn’t finished. He continued…<\/p>\n

“The reason the whistleblower apparently said that it was ‘serious’ and ‘urgent’ is because that designation usually automatically triggers it getting to Congress. The Department of Justice says that that is not appropriate, so we don’t have to give it to the Committee. Well, somebody with knowledge of this person’s story didn’t like the fact that Congress wasn’t gonna get it and it wasn’t gonna become public. So they leaked the story to the Washington Post.”<\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Again, none of this is the Justice Department’s call. But Doocy is also introducing something that was never a part of this. He implies that somebody wanted this to become public. But had the complaint been turned over to Congress, they would have reviewed it privately. The only reason any of this is becoming public is because the process was breached by the administration.<\/p>\n

It’s ironic that Fox News is more worried about this complaint leaking than the substance of the complaint which is Trump’s attempts to extort and\/or bribe a foreign country and to pressure them into aiding his election fraud. But if you thought that Fox was bothered by any of that, here’s what Doocy’s co-host Ainsley Earhardt had to say about it:<\/p>\n

“They say the President was making promises, leaking delicate information to another heads of state. But this is what they do. They talk. They negotiate. And the President’s known for that. The art of the deal. Who’s leaking this? Is it someone that works at the White House?”<\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

So to Fox News this is standard operating procedure in negotiations. They consider it acceptable for Trump to bully foreign leaders into manufacturing political dirt on his opponents. They regard it as simple dealmaking, despite the fact that there are no components of this deal that are in the interests of the United States. It is a purely hostile swipe at Biden, who Trump expects to run against next year. So Earhardt is defending dealmaking that is only intended to disrupt an election. But then again, that’s what Fox News does every day. Disrupting elections by airing distortions and lies is the whole reason Fox News exists.<\/p>\n

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How Fox News Deceives and Controls Their Flock:
\nFox Nation vs. Reality: The Fox News Cult of Ignorance.<\/a>
\nAvailable now at Amazon.<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

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Fox & Friends co-host defends Trump "making promises" to another head of state as "The Art of the Deal" pic.twitter.com\/avGEFfMRP0<\/a><\/p>\n

— Media Matters (@mmfa) September 20, 2019<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n