For years - literally years - Russia was the only thing the mainstream news outlets covered. It seemed that CNN, MSNBC, and Democrats were intent on proving, no matter how much effort and airtime it took, that Donald Trump's presidential campaign colluded with Russia to win the 2016 election.
It's strange, then, that those same outlets had little interest in airing Wednesday's Senate Judiciary Committee hearing with former Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein, who appointed Robert Mueller as special counsel of the Russia probe. Rep. Lee Zeldin (R-NY) was one of the first to make the spot-on observation.
During the hearing, multiple Democrats claimed that the hearing was a waste of time. People turning into C-Span "must think they're watching a rerun," Sen. Dick Durbin (D-IL) charged. The investigation was completed more than a year ago, Durbin added. The only reason the GOP-led committee was holding this hearing, he claimed, is because the story "has become a bloody shirt on the right."
Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) said it's "absurd" to be having this hearing, adding that she wants to have more meetings on criminal justice.
But perhaps a Rosenstein grilling is only a "waste of time" now because the probe concluded that Trump did not collude with the Kremlin.
Had these outlets aired today's testimony, they'd hear Rosenstein admit that he did not do an independent investigation into Robert Mueller before he appointed him as special counsel into the investigation into Russian collusion. They'd also hear how he signed a faulty FISA application to surveil Trump campaign aide Carter Page, without reading it in its entirety.
Most importantly, Rosenstein agreed with Chairman Lindsey Graham that "there was no there there."
Rosenstein said in Wednesday's hearing that he understands why President Trump would be "frustrated" by the years long probe.
Ya think.
