Those who say nothing has been gained from the Russia investigation aren’t paying attention. A clear, rather revealing narrative has emerged from the chaos, but it doesn’t involve dirty backroom dealings between President Trump and Russian operatives. No, the real “scandal” that has thus far emerged is the dirty backroom dealings taking place in supposedly “independent” newsrooms.
With that in mind, perhaps the most telling question offered during Thursday’s hearing came from Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., a longtime critic of Trump. “This investigation is full of leaks, left and right,” Rubio said to former FBI Director James Comey. “We’ve learned more from the newspapers sometimes than we do from our open hearings, for sure. Do you ever wonder why of all the things in this investigation, the only thing that has never been leaked is the fact that the president was not personally under investigation, despite the fact that both Democrats and Republicans in the leadership of Congress knew that and have known that for weeks?”
Comey’s scripted, puzzled look and “I don’t know” reply was reminiscent of Comey’s confusing answers of the past.
Of course Comey knew the answer. Everyone knows the answer!
The reason we hear about every damaging leak imaginable and nothing that would actually help to exonerate the president is because the media and people deep within the intelligence community and federal bureaucracy have no intention of doing anything to help this president. To the CNNs and ABCs of the world, the only good story is a story that damns Trump.
Don’t believe me? Pay close attention to media reports over the next week to see if one of Thursday’s biggest revelations—Comey’s admission that Obama-appointed Attorney General Loretta Lynch “directed [Comey] not to call” the investigation into Hillary Clinton’s lies about and use of her private e-mail server “an ‘investigation’ but instead to call it a ‘matter'”—will prompt the sort of outrage from the media we’ve seen over Trump’s handling of the firing of Comey and investigation of Michael Flynn.
Given the fact that Lynch privately and infamously met with President Bill Clinton on a tarmac in Arizona mere days before the FBI recommended not pursuing charges against Hillary Clinton, doesn’t this new admission from Comey also suggest the possibility of “obstruction of justice”?
The media’s narrative about this hearing and all other matters related to the alleged Trump-Russia connection was set months ago: Trump is guilty until proven innocent, and until and unless the appointed special prosecutor Robert Mueller adamantly declares no wrongdoing took place, the Russian cloud will perpetually hover over the White House.
This, however, is not to say Trump deserves to be let off the hook. Although it’s clear from Comey’s testimony Trump is not under investigation related to Russia or anything else and hasn’t been at any time in the recent past, Trump has without question mishandled the Russia investigation from the outset and has repeatedly walked into Democrats’ and the Left-wing media’s traps.
Instead of alleviating any fears fair-minded people might have about his potential involvement with the Russians, he’s exacerbated them by pressuring Comey to “let go” of the Flynn investigation, berating and insulting his detractors on Twitter, surrounding himself with people with close ties to Russia, and allegedly demanding “loyalty” from the head of the FBI, an agency that’s supposed to be fiercely independent.
Thus far, there’s no evidence to suggest Trump himself is guilty of committing any crimes related to Russia, but whether Trump likes it or not, he will be tried in the court of public opinion, and the future of this country hangs in the balance. Trump has a responsibility to fend off these Russian accusations if they aren’t true and coming clean if they are. And if he’s going to successfully fight off the allegations—which, as far as I can tell, seem increasingly more outlandish by the day—he must do so by being humble and beyond reproach.
The president should start by going directly to the people in a national address or through a massive commercial buy. He should apologize—to the people and, at least on some issues, to Comey—and own up to the mistakes he’s made while firmly and respectfully denying the accusations of collusion made against him.
Rather than accuse others of lying, Trump should use the address to lay all his cards on the table and then say he’s done dealing with this issue publicly. Instead, he should say he’s going to focus on issues that really matter and let the investigation play out. If he has nothing to hide, then there’s no downside to such an approach.
In the months that follow, Trump’s team should audit itself and remove anyone from the White House with even a slightly suspect connection to Russia or any other foreign government. Voters elected Trump precisely because they wanted an outsider who would clean up “the swamp” and couldn’t stand the thought of the Clintons and all their scandals making their way back to the White House. Trump should take that mandate seriously. If he does, the plot hatched by Washington Democrats and their friends in the media will falter.
Justin Haskins is a contributor to the Washington Examiner’s Beltway Confidential blog. He is an executive editor at The Heartland Institute.
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