MSNBC Cannot Believe Someone Was Allowed to Be Interviewed By MSNBC

Well, the amusement continues, as at MSNBC, Barbara McQuade looks at the media tour Kohrs is on and speculates that it was a bad idea.

•  "As a former prosecutor, I am mortified that a grand juror is talking about it publicly. A blabbing grand jury threatens to upend the whole enterprise. At some point, impropriety by a grand jury could be grounds for a claim of violation of the due process rights of the accused."

Sounds almost like it was a bad idea to have this woman ratchet-jawing all across the news spectrum. Maybe this is something that could have been expressed – before she gave her first interview to NBC News!

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Loose lips sink ships — and can surely do the same for investigations. Emily Kohrs' media tour is reckless. https://t.co/rywg29SRFk

— MSNBC (@MSNBC) February 23, 2023

Blue-anon – MSNBC

• Say, Mike, ya think maybe anyone else could have been responsible, possibly?

Another one seeing the Kohrs press junket and wondering about its propriety is regular MSNBC fixture, Michael Beschloss. He saw the foreman making comments and realized how bad it looked for the broadcasters, so he cooked up a fever-dream level of conspiracy to explain it away.

Was the sudden media tour by Georgia foreperson inspired by (a) innocent exuberance or (b) someone's deliberate effort to damage a potential case against the ex-President?

— Michael Beschloss (@BeschlossDC) February 23, 2023

Well done, Mike; I'm sure everyone will buy into the premise that Trump's people planted Emily on the jury and saw fit to have her chosen as foreman. In fact, Trump's people also had to force Nicolle Wallace to cover Kohrs on "Deadline: White House," compel Alex Wagner to do lengthy segments on the interviews, and coerce Lawrence O'Donnell to spend obsessive amounts of time on her comments as well.

Both Kinds of Standards – THE NEW YORK TIMES

• Is it possible this is jealousy over not receiving the videos themselves?

Many Democrats have, not surprisingly, been rather miffed when they learned that Kevin McCarthy turned over the clutch of video footage collected by the January 6 committee. But possibly taking it even harder could be The New York Times.

• "In granting exclusive access to Jan. 6 Capitol surveillance footage to a cable news host bent on rewriting the history of the attack, the speaker effectively outsourced a politically toxic re-litigation of the riot. His latest move to appease the right wing of his party, this time by effectively outsourcing a bid to reinvestigate the riot to its favorite cable news commentator, who has circulated conspiracy theories about the assault."

It's kind of interesting to see the news outlet that splashed The Pentagon Papers is now squeamish about congressional details being made public. Of course, for them to be this concerned, it means they have to overlook that McCarthy had long promised to make these tapes public when he rose to the speakership.

It is also hilarious to see the press – that has been banging the January 6 drum for two consecutive years – now come out and decry that anyone is daring to extend the investigation any longer.

News Analysis: In giving exclusive access to Jan. 6 Capitol surveillance footage to Tucker Carlson, who has circulated conspiracy theories about the riot, Speaker Kevin McCarthy effectively outsourced a bid to reinvestigate the attack, our reporters write. https://t.co/zP6RM2auqF

— The New York Times (@nytimes) February 23, 2023

A Pounce of Prevention – POLITICO

• Well, it is good to know that Politico sees what the real problem is with the Ohio train derailment – Republicans trying to make Pete Buttigieg look bad!

As the toxic cleanup in East Palestine continues, Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg finally made his way to the accident site after three weeks. Politico is here to note there is a reason he is being criticized so severely.

• "This month's toxic derailment in a small Ohio village has put Pete Buttigieg under pressure like never before – absorbing the brunt of attacks from the Biden administration's adversaries. Buttigieg's allies were complaining that he's taking an unfair pounding over the disaster."

What's better is that there is a reason given for one of the biggest criticisms he is facing – his long time spent before arriving and his lack of addressing the crash soon after it took place. See, he is not at fault for not commenting earlier because the press did not ask him about it sooner!

• "Three people in Buttigieg's orbit admit to being exasperated by the furor, saying nobody asked him about the derailment in any of the 23 media interviews he conducted during the first 10 days after the accident. Then critics lambasted him for not speaking sooner."

Naturally, the story is the Republican criticism, not Buttigieg's incompetent response. I'm mildly surprised, though: I'd have thought they would play the homophobia card by now.

"Buttigieg world frustrated at GOP attacks over train wreck" https://t.co/2vXwMFgeSU via @politico

— Phineas Fahrquar (@irishspy) February 23, 2023

Both Kinds of Standards – CNN

• Yes, the last thing you want to do with an issue involving political leaders is introduce politics into the discussion.

Keeping that seizing ball pouncing is Stephen Collinson, who sees the events playing out and declares the residents of East Palestine are "becoming political extras." See, these tragedies always bring out the partisan opportunists.

• "Whenever disaster strikes in divided America, toxic politics isn't far behind, and derailments – like hurricanes, industrial accidents and transportation meltdowns – come with a political scorecard."

It is always horrible when this happens, according to Collinson. Of course, the only ones making it political are Republicans.

And Stephen Collinson. 

It strikes one as slightly disingenuous to report how bad it is to politicize a disaster like this – only to lapse into being political.

• "Trump sidestepped a question over his role in weakening safety standards after he repealed an Obama administration rule requiring freight railroads to employ electronically controlled pneumatic brakes on certain trains hauling hazardous and flammable cargos. [Nikki] Haley's attack seemed inconsistent with her vow to be tougher than Biden on Russian President Vladimir Putin. After all, the president traveled to Europe around the anniversary of the Russian invasion to warn Putin would never win the war."