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.
After YEARS of pushing the Trump-Russia collusion fairy tale day in & day out to try to take down the President, often basing their wrong stories on anonymous sources, CNN & MSNBC aren’t even covering live the Senate Judiciary hearing w/ the person who launched the Mueller probe.
— Lee Zeldin (@RepLeeZeldin) June 3, 2020
Gee, whatever happened to Mueller-Russiagate obsession at CNN & MSNBC? Rod Rosenstein hearing just not on air today... pic.twitter.com/HaredHMSOu
— Tim Graham (@TimJGraham) June 3, 2020
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.
MSNBC and CNN are NOT showing Rod Rosenstein's testimony today at the Senate Judiciary Committee. This speaks volumes. That don't want to have to report and expose all the lies that they have told the American ppl for over 3 years.
— Gloria Wright (@gloriaw67) June 3, 2020
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."
NEW: @LindseyGrahamSC
— Brooke Singman (@BrookeSingman) June 3, 2020
: "The whole concept - that the Trump campaign was colluding with the Russians - there was no 'there' there in August 2017. Do you agree with that statement?"#RodRosenstein : "I agree with that general statement."
Rosenstein said in Wednesday's hearing that he understands why President Trump would be "frustrated" by the years long probe.
Ya think.