Is it possible to shoot oneself in the face and not realize it? Better yet, have someone else shoot you in the face and be totally oblivious to that fact?
Last week, BuzzFeed did its reputation proud by pushing an article that said President Trump had directed his ex-personal lawyer Michael Cohen to lie to Congress about a real estate deal in Russia. It was based on anonymous sources, and one of its authors, Jason Leopold, is a known fabulist. The other author, Anthony Cormier, said that he hasn’t seen the evidence backing up his claim, but believes this happened. Yet, Leopold says he's seen the documents. Oh, it gets better. The Special Counsel’s office issued a rare statement last week saying the report was inaccurate, and that no documents relating to what Cormier and Leopold have alleged exist (via WaPo):
People familiar with the matter said after BuzzFeed published its story — which was attributed to “two federal law enforcement officials involved in an investigation of the matter” — the special counsel’s office reviewed evidence to determine if there were any documents or witness interviews like those described, reaching out to those they thought might have a stake in the case.
They found none, these people said. That, the people said, is in part why it took Mueller’s office nearly a day to dispute the story publicly. In the interim, cable news outlets and other media organizations, including The Washington Post, dissected its possible implications — even as their reporters were unable to independently confirm it.
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So, how does BuzzFeed respond after Mueller gutted its story like a fish? It doubled down saying it stands by its trash reporting (via CNN):
We're being told to stand our ground. Our reporting is going to be borne out to be accurate, and we're 100% behind it," investigative reporter Anthony Cormier told CNN's Brian Stelter on "Reliable Sources" Sunday.
Cormier was joined by BuzzFeed editor-in-chief Ben Smith on "Reliable."
The pair defended a story published on Thursday that said President Donald Trump directed his longtime personal lawyer Michael Cohen to lie to Congress about a potential hotel construction project in Moscow. The information was attributed to two unnamed "federal law enforcement officials" involved in the investigation.
Cormier, who wouldn't reveal his sources when asked, said the story had been in the works for months and went through a "rigorous" vetting process.
The story was reviewed by at least three editors, Smith said.
So, BuzzFeed's calling Mueller a liar. The man with all the evidence thus far about Trump-Russia is a liar; is that the line it's going with here? Isn’t this man a superhero to the Left, the person holding the key document that will lead to impeachment?
Also, let’s not forget that Rolling Stone’s story about sexual assault on the campus of the University of Virginia was total fake news trash. It landed them in court, and the author of the piece, Sabrina Rubin Erdely, was found guilty of libel and actual malice for which she has to pay $2 million in damages. BuzzFeed messed up. Its story took a headshot.
Apologize, maybe fire some people, and move on...until you mess up again. It’s inevitable. The anti-Trump hysteria that’s infected the liberal media will always produce great disaster like this story. Should I remind you all that Leopold thought Karl Rove was going to be indicted in 2006? It never happened, like how this alleged incident never happened. Oh, hi fake news, I didn't think I'd see you this early in 2019, but here we are.
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