OPINION:
Hillary Clinton’s campaign manager Robby Mook accused GOP rival Donald Trump of treason on Sunday, and the mainstream media was all too eager to perpetuate the extraordinary claim without any responsibility to fact-check it.
“Experts are telling us that Russian state actors broke in to the [Democratic National Committee], took all of these emails and now are leaking them out through these websites. … It’s troubling that some experts are now telling us that this was done by the Russians for the purposes of helping Donald Trump,” Mr. Mook said on ABC News on Sunday.
Really? So somebody told Mrs. Clinton, the presumptive Democratic nominee, that the Russians are behind the attack, and Mr. Trump is behind them? Perhaps the Russians hacked the DNC, but were they really doing so on behalf of Mr. Trump?
It’s an incredible leap for any rational person to take — but I suppose the Clinton team is very familiar with emails and hacking.
Instead of treating the claim incredulously — or even mocking it like they would if Mr. Trump dared to make such an accusation against Mrs. Clinton — the press ran with it, all too eagerly.
On Monday, The Washington Post wrote a front-page article titled: “Clinton campaign, some cyber experts say Russia is behind email release.”
The story then quoted Mr. Mook, underscoring the charge “came as some national security officials have been growing increasingly concerned about possible efforts by Russia to meddle in the election, according to several individuals familiar with the situation.”
Yes, bring in a bunch of unnamed sources to back-up Mr. Mook’s radical charge.
Then The Post wrote: “If the accusation is true” [meaning, The Post has no idea if the charge is true, but they report like it is anyway] … it would be the first time the Russians have actively tried to influence an election in this manner, analysts said.”
The Post then gives more unnamed sources to tell us how dangerous this would be, if it actually happened.
But the real head-spinning moment came on Monday, when a reporter asked Mr. Mook at a morning briefing, who exactly gave Mrs. Clinton’s campaign the Russian hacking information and how was it tied to Mr. Trump?
His answer? The media, of course! He said his team was just reading public reports, and then he guided the media as to their next step.
“Reporters need to take a look at this. It’s troubling if it’s true,” Mr. Mook said of Mr. Trump’s possible involvement. He then cited — of all things — Monday’s Washington Post story as evidence.
This, folks, is how the press and establishment politicians work — hand in hand, together, spinning lies and false accusations without being burdened by the evidence.
To top everything off, the FBI announced Monday it would be looking into the DNC hack to determine the “nature and scope of the matter.”
So Attorney General Loretta Lynch has decided to unleash her dogs on the matter — giving the press and Mrs. Clinton’s team a few more days to focus on, and cover, this made-up political garbage.
Does anyone wonder why this election year has given rise to the political outsider?
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