Over the years, the mainstream media had a lot of bad takes on the "Russian collusion" narrative, and they continued to this day. As the Associated Press reminded, those bad takes didn't just end because of Monday's release of John Durham's report. "The objective facts show that the FBI’s handling of important aspects of the Crossfire Hurricane matter were seriously deficient," Durham wrote in his 306-page report. That wasn't exactly the takeaway one would get from the AP's spin on it, though. Tuesday's headline now reads "Special prosecutor ends Trump-Russia investigation, saying FBI acted hastily."
BREAKING: A special prosecutor has ended his four-year investigation into possible FBI misconduct in its probe of ties between Russia and Donald Trump’s 2016 campaign. The report fell short of Trump’s prediction he would uncover the “crime of the century.” https://t.co/sOm17yjHPJ
— The Associated Press (@AP) May 15, 2023
The article text went through great lengths to undermine the report's findings, not just by focusing on Trump, but on Durham himself. For instance, as the tweet also mentioned, the opening paragraph also read in part that Durham "concluded a four-year probe that fell far short of the former president’s prediction that the 'crime of the century' would be uncovered." Another paragraph claimed that "Durham’s investigation delivered underwhelming results."
As further paragraphs mentioned:
The impact of Durham’s report, though harshly critical of the FBI, is likely blunted by Durham’s spotty prosecution record and by the fact that many of the episodes it cites were already examined in depth by th e Justice Department’s inspector general. The FBI has also long since announced dozens of corrective actions. The bureau outlined those changes in a letter to Durham on Monday, including steps meant to ensure the accuracy of secretive surveillance applications to eavesdrop on suspected terrorists and spies.
...
Still, Durham’s findings are likely to amplify scrutiny of the FBI at a time when Trump is again seeking the White House as well as offer fresh fodder for congressional Republicans who have launched their own investigation into the purported “weaponization” of the FBI and Justice Department. After the report was released, Republican House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan said he had invited Durham to testify next week.
In a further show of their particular narrative, the AP frames "scrutiny of the FBI" as it applies to Trump once more running for presidency and "fresh fodder for congressional Republicans," as if that makes such points any less true.
As Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL), who currently serves as the vice chairman of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, warned in a statement and a pinned tweet, that the damaging ramifications were far-reaching and long-term.
"America and its institutions are weaker today because of their actions, and it will take years for the FBI and others to rebuild that trust. Rigorous oversight of the FBI’s intelligence activities must be a top priority for the congressional intelligence committees," Rubio's statement mentioned in part.
Driven by their hatred fueled derangement for one man Comey & Morrell et al damaged the reputation of & trust in our intelligence agencies far more than any foreign power ever has or possibly could
— Marco Rubio (@marcorubio) May 15, 2023
Sen. Mike Lee (R-UT) also did not mince words in the severity of the report's findings, as he highlighted concerns with the constitutional aspect.
B) Lee: This shows that our nation's premier law enforcement agency was was able to take political motivations and weaponize them into our criminal justice system to undertake an investigation against a presidential candidate who they didn't want to win.
— Chad Pergram (@ChadPergram) May 16, 2023
D) Lee: Our government is of the people, by the people and for the people. The the implications of this cannot be overstated. And we've got to make sure that this is weeded out completely.. there are going to have to be major consequences for the FBI and the Dept of Justice
— Chad Pergram (@ChadPergram) May 16, 2023
3. But this was SO MUCH WORSE than that. It was an effort to use use a powerful, long-respected, federal law-enforcement agency to render a presidential candidate unelectable—entirely in the absence of any valid, good-faith basis for doing so.
— Mike Lee (@BasedMikeLee) May 15, 2023
4. So make no mistake—this can’t be dismissed as mere carelessness or even a severe example of garden-variety misconduct. No—this is as corrupt and as subversive of the Constitution as it gets.
— Mike Lee (@BasedMikeLee) May 15, 2023
7. Democrats and Republicans should be equally offended by this breathtakingly corrupt act.
— Mike Lee (@BasedMikeLee) May 15, 2023
Our friends at Twitchy highlighted the tweet and several reactions to it, chief among them from actor James Woods. Although Woods' has since been deleted, many replies to Woods similarly calling out the AP remain. Other users also chimed in to call the AP out as well, especially when it comes to how friendly mainstream media outlets are with the Democrats.
Unbelievable spin.
— Cernovich (@Cernovich) May 15, 2023
If you had any doubt that the AP is a propaganda wing of the DNC you don't any longer.
— David Wohl (@DavidWohl) May 15, 2023
Exactly! Their headline should have just read "The CIA/FBI and WH used their immense power to target and frame their political opponents but we don't care", because that's what this headline is actually saying.
— Phil (@P_dknight) May 16, 2023
This article in question also points to "related coverage" with similarly biased headlines, including one from Oct. 19, 2022, "Trump claim of ‘Crime of Century’ fizzles in 3-year probe."