Sen. Ron Johnson (R-WI), chairman of the Homeland Security Committee, correctly told CNN's Jake Tapper on Sunday that the Russia Collusion conspiracy theory was a hoax. Special Counsel Robert Mueller wasted nearly three years and tens of millions of taxpayer dollars just to conclude the conspiracy theory, put forth in the debunked Steele Dossier and paid for by the Clinton campaign, wasn't true after all. Who would have guessed? Of course, CNN spent the last few years hysterically peddling the theory, so it's probably a little hard for Jake Tapper to now tell his viewers they were all worked up over nothing.
Sen. Johnson said there were selective leaks "that wrapped up this entire Russian collusion hoax, and it was a hoax, and who's the recipient of these leaks ... I would like to see members of the press actually start looking into all the leaks. ..."
It must have been too much for CNN's viewers. Jake Tapper went off about unrelated Russian meddling in the 2016 election, which, as the senator pointed out, has probably happened in every election in recent history.
"Senator, it's not a hoax that the Russians attempted to interfere in the 2016 election," Tapper obfuscated. "You know that. It's not a hoax."
The senator was clearly talking about the now-debunked conspiracy theory that the Trump campaign colluded with Russia. But Tapper was trying to keep the conspiracy alive by confusing it with Russia's election meddling in general. The senator wouldn't allow it.
"They put Russian disinformation into the Steele Dossier that was bought and paid for through cutouts for the Hillary Clinton campaign. That is what we found out, Jake. You gotta look at the evidence, look at those footnotes that we have declassified," the senator pushed back.
"I'm not disputing it," Tapper said. "I'm not disputing it -- the idea that we don't know what was in the Steele Dossier, and how it got there and whether it was disinformation, but that's not what I'm talking about. You're suggesting the entire Russian interference campaign was a hoax and it was not."
The senator suggested no such thing.
"The hoax is that there was collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia," Sen. Johnson carefully explained. "The disinformation that Russia put into the 2016 campaign flowed through the Steele Dossier and Hillary Clinton. No, I'm not denying that Russia tried to intervene in our election. They've been doing it probably since their founding. That's what they do."
"Can we get back to unmasking?" asked a defeated Tapper.
(Video via Daily Caller)
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