In a sign that even Trump-haters don’t see strong enough grounds to impeach President Trump, the New York Times on Monday “broke” yet another breathless story meant to bolster the case about his supposed abuse of power.
Trump “pressed” Australia’s leader “in a recent telephone call” to help Attorney General William Barr collect info to “discredit” the Mueller probe, the paper said, citing (as usual) unnamed sources. “The president,” it concluded, “is using federal law enforcement powers to aid his political interests.”
Other anti-Trump media pushed the smear with similar enthusiasm.
This on the heels of a whistleblower’s complaint that Trump made a similar request in a call to Ukraine’s leader that became the basis for Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s “impeachment inquiry.”
Trouble is, the Times’ story offered scant evidence to show the president crossed any lines, just as the text of the call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky failed to show any wrongdoing by Trump.
In fact, it was Barr, the top US law enforcement officer, who reportedly asked Trump to seek help from foreign leaders, since that could aid the probe into 2016 election meddling and the origins of the Russia collusion investigation.
And a top Australian diplomat confirmed that it was his country that “initiated the contact” and that “there was no pressure” from Trump, as Fox News reported.
Nor was it surprising that Trump and Barr sought the help: After all, Trump himself in May said on national television he hoped Barr would “look at” a host of countries, including the UK, Australia and Ukraine, to unravel the story.
How ironic that the Times (a supposed info-gathering outlet) and the anti-Trump crowd are besmirching efforts to gather info about election interference, after years of pushing the Russiagate non-story.
Maybe they’re afraid of what the info might show. Or just desperate to toss anything at Trump — in the hope something will stick to justify impeachment.
