Until the press uncovers audio of President Trump promising the Russian government anything that comes even close to what former President Obama did, it’s time to stop behaving like the White House is paying its staff in rubles.
The only secret conversation between a White House official and a Kremlin operative that the public knows about and in which something absolutely questionable took place is the one from March 2012, when Obama told then-Russian President Dmitry Medvedev, in the heat of the election, that he would have “more flexibility” to negotiate with Russia once re-elected.
Obama had made the mistake of whispering too loud into a live mic.
After his rub up on Russia, Obama was never mistaken for a spy. But every report on Trump comes with the suggestion that the Kremlin has quite possibly infiltrated the highest levels of U.S. government.
CNN reported Friday that federal investigators are still looking into “whether there was a computer server connection between the Trump Organization and a Russian bank.”
The bank, Alfa Bank, reportedly sent contact signals to a computer belonging to Trump’s company between May and September of last year.
The activity was originally reported in October by the New York Times, which said that the FBI “ultimately concluded that there could be an innocuous explanation, like a marketing email or spam, for the computer contacts.”
Even CNN’s own follow up report said that there was “only vague technical evidence” in the case but it ran under the ominous headline, “Sources: FBI investigation continues into ‘odd’ computer link between Russian bank and Trump Organization.”
On Thursday, after news broke that Trump’s former National Security Adviser Mike Flynn disclosed to the government he had done lobbying work on behalf of the Turkish government, Fox News anchor Shepard Smith segued smoothly to … Russia.
“There’s been lying about who you talk to, and by lots of people and almost inevitably and invariably, they were lying about talking to the Russians, about something,” said Smith. “It’s too much lying and too much Russia and too much smoke.”
Smith’s hysteria over Flynn goes back to his having neglected to tell Vice President Mike Pence that, prior to inauguration, he had been in touch with Russia’s U.S. ambassador and discussed the sanctions put in place by the Obama administration.
There’s still not a slice of evidence that Flynn said anything abnormal, and reports, citing anonymous sources, always fail to reveal any details of the conversations, other than that they happened and that the sanctions were referenced in some capacity.
When it comes to Trump’s White House, a conversation in itself, even in which the contents aren’t known, is proof of guilt.
The Washington Post on Mar. 1 reported that Attorney General Jeff Sessions “spoke twice last year with Russia’s ambassador to the United States.”
One of those conversations took place at a gathering of ambassadors at the Republican National Convention in July and the second happened in Sessions’ Senate office.
Those aren’t ideal locations for committing treason but MSNBC anchor Stephanie Ruhle just knew something was up.
“It’s just another question being raised,” she said on her show, exasperated. ” And Russia meddled with the election.”
Obama whispered about deal-making over missile defense with Russia’s president and it was treated like a campaign gaffe.
A New York Times headlined framed the moment as, “Microphone catches a candid Obama.” The story described the would-be secret exchange over military strategy as a “private moment of political candor.”
The Washington Post called it “a rare glimpse of a world leader speaking frankly about the political realities he faces at home.”
And if you look to the left, folks, you can see the koalas mating!
On the other hand, members of the new White House forget to mention that they had conversations with a Russian ambassador and the national media act like Trump’s hiding a shameful collection of nesting dolls in his closet.
It’s more than four months since the election was supposedly “hacked” by Russia and, after endlessly suggestive reporting, the national media still haven’t found any conclusive evidence that Trump was compromised by Moscow.
Reporters could just relax until they catch him on a live mic.
Eddie Scarry is a media reporter for the Washington Examiner.
