Donald Trump regime begins telling TV news networks which specific people to kick off the air
It’s been just twenty-four hours since Donald Trump’s handpicked Attorney General issued a misleading and absurd “summary” of the still-secret Robert Mueller report, and Team Trump is already seizing on the false narrative that Trump was “framed” and has been “exonerated.” In fact the Trump regime is now telling TV networks which specific people should be banned from the air going forward. No really, this is happening.
This afternoon it was revealed that the Donald Trump campaign has sent a memo to TV news producers, titled “Credibility of Certain Guests.” The memo falsely claims that Mueller’s report “found that no one associated with President Donald J. Trump’s 2016 campaign colluded with Russia.” Mueller’s own court filings have proven that this is false, and even Barr’s “summary” merely stated that Mueller didn’t find enough evidence to bring criminal charges of collusion with the “Russian government” – which is not the same thing as “Russia.” After making these false claims, the Trump memo then urges TV networks to ban five specific people from the air.
The “ban” list includes House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff, House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerry Nadler, House Intelligence Committee member Eric Swalwell, Senate Judiciary Committee member Richard Blumenthal, and DNC Chair Tom Perez. Conveniently, four of these five people are currently tasked with investigating Donald Trump’s wrongdoing, and two of them are in charge of such investigations.
The Trump regime is making the argument that, because each of these five individuals has used past TV appearances to assert that there was collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia, they should not be allowed to appear on the air again. This is being sent from the Trump 2020 campaign, ostensibly as a way of giving Donald Trump a sliver of deniability. But make no mistake: the President of the United States is demanding that TV networks kick his political opponents off the air.
There is no indication thus far that any TV network is planning to go along with this. But make no mistake: the President of the United States is threatening the media, by trying to dictate which specific guests they are or are not allowed to interview going forward. Trump’s escalating retaliatory moves against the media, for daring to expose his scandals, could end up putting him on a fast track for impeachment after all. You can find a copy of the Trump regime’s threatening letter here.
