OPINION:
As Alice in Wonderland might say — the trail of Robert Mueller’s dog-sniffing into President Donald Trump-Russia collusion allegations keeps growing curiouser and curiouser.
The latest is Fox News host Tucker Carlson said his cable network’s reporting on the ties of the Podesta Group with Russia grew so hot that an attorney for Tony Podesta sent a “snarling legal threat.” Transparency, anyone?
Or is all that open government mumbo-jumbo simply a phrase the left likes to bandy about on campaign trails. Apparently.
Tony Podesta, who heads up the lobby firm, the Podesta Group, is the brother of John Podesta, the former chairman of Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign.
And just recently, facing heat from special counsel Robert Mueller, Tony Podesta has stepped down from his own group.
He promptly went to work blaming Fox.
“Tony Podesta resigned as head of his company,” Carlson said, on his recent Fox broadcast, the Hill reported. “His excuse? Us. That’s right. He blamed us. In his parting statement, Podesta said this, quote, ’It is impossible to run a public affairs firm by Fox News and the right-wing media.’”
Carlson went on, saying Podesta actually crossed the line from complaining, to threatening.
“This afternoon, we got a letter from … a lawyer with Geoff Farinther. It’s a lawyer with Veneable LLP, a big law firm here in D.C. The letter demands that this show, quote, ’immediately cease and desist disseminating false and misleading reports about Mr. Podesta and the Podesta Group,’” Carlson said. “It demands we retract and delete all our prior reporting on the Podesta Group and warns if we don’t do this, quote, ’Mr. Podesta may pursue legal action, including for damages, in order to fully protect his rights.”
The curiouser and curiouser and most interesting takeaway?
Just this: Why the threats and intimidation at the sudden ray of sunlight?
If everything’s above board — nothing to see here — well, then, there’s nothing to fear from media watchdogging.
The Podesta Group, it was just learned, was one of the companies referred to in the Robert Mueller-pressed indictment of Paul Manafort.
It’s a left-leaning outfit — and the public has a right to know where its lobbying has led, particularly if it’s in any way involved in so-called Russian collusion into the 2016 elections.
Why try to shutter free speech, the First Amendment, the free press?
A smarter Podesta move would be to go the other direction, and open doors wide to media attention. After all — if there’s nothing to hide, there’s nothing to hide.
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