Mueller's BuzzFeed smackdown prompts press, pundits to pile on

Special counsel Robert Mueller released a statement late Friday disputing a report by media outlet BuzzFeed and promptly sending the media - which had been trying all day to match the bombshell report claiming President Trump had told his lawyer to lie to Congress -  into a frenzy.
BuzzFeed’s initial report this morning cited anonymous sources who accused  Trump of directing attorney Michael Cohen to lie to Congress about when the Trump Organization stopped pursuing construction of an office tower in Moscow and how the timetable related to the 2016 presidential campaign. This prompted  Mueller’s office to react, something Mueller and his investigative team had declined to do since they began the investigation.
GREGG JARRETT: BUZZFEED'S FALSE MUELLER REPORT IS MEDIA MALPRACTICE
Pundits, reporters and politicians reacted immediately including BuzzFeed Editor-in-Chief Ben Smith.
“We’re really confident in these specific sources and in the story the reporters told,” Smith told Anderson Cooper on CNN.
“The critics of the president should wake up,” Ed Henry said on Tucker Carlson Tonight. “ My broader point is CNN and everyone else, who, when you wake up this morning [say] the president’s about to be impeached....that’s just as bad as the original story, because you’re supposed to have credibility.”
“We called it. FAKE NEWS!” former Secret Service agent and current Fox News political commentator Dan Bongino tweeted.
CNN legal analyst Jeffrey Toobin told Anderson Cooper, “This is a bad day for the news media. Let’s not kid ourselves.”
ALAN DERSHOWITZ: BUZZFEED REPORT SHOWS MEDIA'S 'GET TRUMP' MENTALITY
Radio and Fox News Channel host Mark Levin appeared on “Hannity,” where he defended President Trump and admonished his detractors.
“They’re dragging down our republic by dragging down our president,” Levin told Sean Hannity.  “You want to try and take him out, wait for the next election.”
Trump’s attorney and former New York City mayor Rudy Giuliani chastised members of the media who wanted to “destroy the president.”
“I commend Bob Mueller’s office for correcting the BuzzFeed false story that Pres. Trump encouraged Cohen to lie. I ask the press to take heed that their hysterical desire to destroy this President has gone too far. They pursued this without critical analysis all day,” Giuliani tweeted.
New Yorker magazine investigative reporter Ronan Farrow tweeted that he had declined to report a story with a similar source.
“I can’t speak to BuzzFeed’s sourcing, but, for what it’s worth, I declined to run with parts of the narrative they conveyed based on a source central to the story repeatedly disputing the idea that Trump directly issued orders of that kind.” Farrow tweeted.
“BUZZBLEED!” was the headline on DrudgeReport.com.
As he often does, President Trump weighed on the story.
“Remember it was Buzzfeed that released the totally discredited “Dossier,” paid for by Crooked Hillary Clinton and the Democrats (as opposition research), on which the entire Russian probe is based! A very sad day for journalism, but a great day for our Country!” Trump tweeted.

Dems' $600G media campaign suggests Trump right about his foes using shutdown for 2020 strategy

A Democratic group aligned with Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer is launching a $600,000 media campaign attacking Republican senators up for reelection in 2020 over a government shutdown that entered its 28th day Saturday.
The massive media buy by Majority Forward, a nonprofit group that isn’t required to disclose its funding, appeared to confirm President Trump’s accusation that Democrats were already “looking to 2020” and using the government shutdown to score political points.
TRUMP SAYS HE’LL MAKE ‘MAJOR ANNOUNCEMENT’ SATURDAY ABOUT PARTIAL SHUTDOWN, BORDER ‘CRISIS’
The group has produced 30-second ads attacking Republican senators who are likely to face tough challenges from Democrats, according to the Washington Post. It’s planning to spend a total of around $600,000 on the media campaign effort.
The political ads target Sens. Martha McSally of Arizona, Cory Gardner of Colorado, David Perdue of Georgia, Joni Ernst of Iowa, Susan Collins of Maine, and Thom Tillis of North Carolina.
The alarmist ads decry “the longest government shutdown in history” and warn of the threats to air travel safety and other issues due to the shutdown.
In an effort to sway Republican and independent voters, some ads point to issues prevalent in the respective states that are or could be affected by the shutdown. In North Carolina, for instance, the ad emphasizes how the shutdown is damaging hurricane recovery efforts.
“It's the longest government shutdown in history … and here in North Carolina, the shutdown's forced a slowdown for hurricane recovery,” the narrator says. “Instead of being independent, he sides with his party's leaders, who refuse to even allow a vote to reopen the government.”
The ads are unlikely to convince the Republican senators to cave to congressional Democrats and vote to approve a government funding package that doesn’t feature Trump’s requested $5 billion for a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border.
But the ads are likely intended to help lay the groundwork for the 2020 Senate elections and pin the blame for the shutdown on Republican senators who didn’t push their leader, Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., to bring the bill approved by House Democrats to the Senate floor for a vote.
President Trump on Friday wrote in a tweet that he’ll make “a major announcement” Saturday afternoon concerning the ongoing partial government shutdown and the “humanitarian crisis” on the southern border.
Earlier this week, the confrontation between the White House and congressional Democrats reached its peak after House Speaker Nancy Pelosi requested Trump to delay the State of the Union address amid the partial shutdown, prompting Trump to retaliate by denying military aircraft to her scheduled overseas trip just minutes before the congressional delegation was set to depart.
Pelosi's office later accused the Trump administration of leaking plans for the congressional delegation to fly commercial to Afghanistan, saying the related security risks forced them to postpone the trip.
The White House adamantly denied the leak accusation, calling it a “flat out lie.”

Kamala Harris' record as 'progressive prosecutor' facing new scrutiny as she eyes 2020 run

U.S. Sen. Kamala Harris, D-Calif., speaks to reporters following an event at Des Moines Area Community College in Ankeny, Iowa. (Associated Press)

As speculation grows over U.S. Sen. Kamala Harris’s presidential aspirations, the California Democrat's record as a prosecutor and state attorney general are attracting new scrutiny.
The perception that Harris, 54, acted as a “progressive prosecutor” during her tenure as the district attorney of San Francisco and then California’s attorney general contradict her actions, a University of San Francisco associate law professor argues in an op-ed piece.
"Time after time, when progressives urged her to embrace criminal justice reforms as a district attorney and then the state’s attorney general, Ms. Harris opposed them or stayed silent,” Lara Bazelon writes in the New York Times.
KAMALA HARRIS DEFENDS RASHIDA TLAIB'S IMPEACHMENT OUTBURST
“Most troubling, Ms. Harris fought tooth and nail to uphold wrongful convictions that had been secured through official misconduct that included evidence tampering, false testimony and the suppression of crucial information by prosecutors.”
Bazelon then lists multiple instances where the Democratic senator failed to embrace criminal justice reforms – either opposing them or declining to state an opinion.
She cites Harris’ reluctance to take a position in 2014 on opposition to Proposition 47, a voter-approved ballot measure that reduced certain low-level felonies to misdemeanors. Bazelon also takes issue with Harris for not supporting standards on body-worn cameras for police officers.
According to Bazelon, Harris also opposed a 2015 bill requiring her office to investigate officer-involved shootings. Bazelon's Times piece criticizes Harris's decision to continue to prosecute death penalty cases as state attorney general even while supposedly opposing capital punishment.
Deemed worse, according to Bazelon, was Harris’ record in wrongful conviction cases. The writer cites the case of George Gage, who is serving a 70-year prison sentence for allegedly sexually abusing his stepdaughter. The case was largely built on the stepdaughter’s testimony, which some have called into question.
Harris' prosecution of Daniel Larsen – serving a 28-year sentence for possession of a concealed weapon – also raised questions. She also defended the murder conviction of Johnny Baca, in which judges found a prosecutor lied at the trial and relented after video of an oral argument received national attention, Bazelon writes.
“It is true that politicians must make concessions to get the support of key interest groups. The fierce, collective opposition of law enforcement and local district attorney associations can be hard to overcome at the ballot box. But in her career, Ms. Harris did not barter or trade to get the support of more conservative law-and-order types; she gave it all away,” Bazelon writes.
Harris has also advocated for civil asset forfeiture, according to the National Review, much to the chagrin of criminal justice advocates.
"All too often, she was on the wrong side of that history,” Bazelon writes in the Times.
But even with her criminal justice record coming under a microscope, some see Harris as a prime contender to win the 2020 Democratic presidential nomination.
Republican strategist Colin Reed recently picked Harris as his early favorite to stun what is expected to become an increasingly packed field. But her greatest vulnerability lies in her professional record, he said.
“Harris will be forced to explain past positions that are anathema to liberals, such as defending the death penalty, laughing at the idea of marijuana legalization, and threatening parents with jail time for truancy,” Reed wrote in a Fox News opinion piece. “In politics, when you’re explaining, you’re losing.”

Pelosi Cartoons

Why the press praises Pelosi, hailing her 'badass' moves against Trump

There's no question that Nancy Pelosi has been getting in the president's face in the two weeks since she regained the speaker's gavel.
And she's drawing plenty of cheers from the press.
Most journalists side with the view that Donald Trump, not Pelosi and her party, are to blame for the record-breaking shutdown about to enter its fifth week. (A majority of the public agrees, according to recent polls.)
And it's true that the San Francisco congresswoman is a skilled political brawler who hasn't blinked during the confrontation.
But it's clear from the coverage that most of the media, having watched Trump rule Washington for two years, have been yearning for someone to knock the president off his perch. The latest headlines capture the tone.
Politico: "'She's Satin and Steel': Pelosi Wages War on Trump."
Washington Post: "'She Wields the Knife': Pelosi Moves to Belittle and Undercut Trump in Shutdown Fight."
GQ: "Nancy Pelosi Has the President Outmatched."
The Week: "The Genius of Nancy Pelosi's Snub."
'YOU LIAR!': CHAFFETZ SLAMS NANCY PELOSI'S CALL FOR STATE OF THE UNION DELAY
These and other stories are tied to the speaker effectively disinviting the president from delivering his State of the Union in the House – a Trumpian tactic, to be sure. But in a larger sense, they're about a 78-year-old woman who relishes combat as much as the president. And so the pundits are casting her as the left's savior.
Imagine, for a moment, if Barack Obama were engaged in a shutdown battle with John Boehner, and the Republican speaker told him not to bother showing up for the State of the Union. Do you think we'd be awash in glowing profiles of Boehner? Or would the move be cast as rude, crude and borderline racist?
In this environment, though, CNN's Gloria Borger praised Pelosi for "a badass move."
Politico leads off by saying "Donald Trump may have finally met his match in Nancy Pelosi."
The piece notes that "Pelosi privately refers to Trump as the 'whiner in chief.' She's questioned his manhood. She calls out Trump's lies to his face and openly wonders whether he's fit for the job. She mocks Trump for his privileged upbringing and his lack of empathy for the less fortunate. She jokes with other senior Democrats that if the American public saw how Trump acts in private, they'd 'want to make a citizen’s arrest.'"
In the Post, the knife-wielding Pelosi is credited with "not merely a ­power play," but "a calculated personal slight ... Pelosi has moved aggressively to leverage her decades of congressional experience to needle, belittle and undercut Trump with swipes at his competence and even his masculinity."
The Week says of the "genius" speaker that "Nancy Pelosi knows how to hit President Trump where it hurts."
READ TRUMP'S LETTER TO PELOSI POSTPONING HER FOREIGN TRIP AMID SHUTDOWN
But the president can play that game as well. Yesterday he yanked the military aircraft for Pelosi's trip to Belgium, Egypt and Afghanistan, calling it a "public relations event" and telling her to stay in Washington to negotiate. The net effect is that it now looks like two teenagers squabbling while 800,000 people are out of work.
The Pelosi pieces contain brief references to a potential downside. CNN's Chris Cillizza, while crediting the speaker with "a major power move" against Trump, says "there's an argument to be made, however, that it could backfire on Pelosi – and in the process hand Trump a much-needed foothold in a debate he is very much losing at the moment."
And Pelosi's aggressive style will make her even more of a bête noire for the right, especially with Trump now urging Democrats to go around her and end the shutdown by backing the wall. But then, most conservatives never had any use for her.
For the most part, Nancy Pelosi is getting rave reviews for being a "badass" — an interesting yardstick, given that the media drop the first syllable for politicians they don't like.

'Principles' of Democrats not clear in battle over border security: Charles Hurt

As the partial government shutdown approaches the one-month mark, it's unclear what position the Democrats are actually taking in the ongoing battle over the U.S.-Mexico border, Washington Times opinion editor Charles Hurt argued Thursday.
Two days after House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif, sent a letter to President Trump, effectively delaying the State of the Union address, he returned the favor by postponing her overseas trip to Brussels, Egypt, and Afghanistan -- just as she and other Democratic lawmakers were about to depart.
On the "Special Report" All-Star panel, Hurt -- plus Real Clear Politics associate editor A.B. Stoddard and Washington Free Beacon editor-in-chief Matthew Continetti -- weighed in on the politics of the showdown between the president and the House speaker.
Hurt began by acknowledging that Washington has been “dysfunctional” for a long time and that for many, it’s a “relief” that the fight is “all out in the open.”
"If the government is shut down and maybe the crisis on the border is manufactured, but the crisis here is not manufactured, why aren’t you here negotiating?” Hurt asked of Democrats. “And at the end of the day, the big question remains, What are the principles the two sides stand for?
"We know what the principle that Donald Trump is standing for, which has to do with border security, building a wall, whatever you think of that. What are the principles that Nancy Pelosi stands for and Democrats stand for? They want to save money? Well, they don’t have a very good track record of that. They want a more efficient way of dealing with the border? So I think that the political fight here at the end of the day is beneficial to President Trump.”
Stoddard gave both Pelosi and Trump credit for their “sick burn” smackdown, insisting that there shouldn’t be a State of a Union address during the government shutdown and that no non-emergency resources that would have been used on the CoDel (congressional delegation) should be used as well.
Continetti insisted that Trump’s response to Pelosi’s letter wasn’t “surprising,” since the president is best known for being a “counterpuncher.”
“I think this dynamic illustrates why we’re no closer in reaching a compromise than where we were last month, which is that both sides are firmly entrenched and they’re playing to their base,” Continetti told the panel. "And when you have 80 percent of Democrats telling Nancy Pelosi, ‘Don’t give him any money for the wall,’ and you have 79 percent of Republicans telling Trump, ‘We need that wall or else,’ how are you going to reach a solution?"

Trump attorney dismisses report alleging president told Cohen to lie to Congress; Dems calls for investigation

Michael Cohen, a former lawyer to President Trump, leaves his apartment building in New York City, Dec. 7, 2018. (Associated Press)

A report alleging that President Trump instructed his former personal attorney Michael Cohen to lie to Congress about a shuttered real estate deal -- to build a Trump Tower in Moscow -- drew a quick dismissal from Trump lawyer Rudy Giuliani, but had Democrats calling for an investigation.
The allegations were detailed in a BuzzFeed report published Thursday night. It cited two unnamed federal law enforcement officials involved in an investigation on the matter who said Cohen acknowledged to Special Counsel Robert Mueller's office that he was instructed by Trump in 2017 to lie to Congress about negotiations to build the tower in Moscow.
"If you believe Cohen, I can get you a great deal on the Brooklyn Bridge,” Giuliani said in response to the report.
Earlier in the day, Cohen, who was recently sentenced to three years in prison, claimed Trump directed him to rig online polls in his favor ahead of the 2016 presidential election. He once proclaimed that he "everything in [his] power to resolve" any issue for his boss.
FORMER TRUMP LAWYER MICHAEL COHEN LIES TO IRS, LENDERS AND CONGRESS -- WHY BELIEVE HIS ATTACKS ON TRUMP?
In November, Cohen admitted he falsely told Congress that efforts by Trump to build the tower ended in January 2016, when, in fact, talks had continued through June of that year.
Special Counsel Robert Mueller noted that Cohen’s testimony was an attempt to “minimize links between the Moscow Project and Individual 1,” widely thought to be Trump.
Cohen pleaded guilty in November to lying about the testimony and in a two-page statement to the Senate and House intelligence committees.
The two law enforcement sources told BuzzFeed that Trump told Cohen to “make it happen” when discussing a plan to visit Russia during the presidential campaign to meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin to start negotiations for the tower.

President Trump's former personal attorney, Michael Cohen, has admitted lying to Congress under directions from his former boss, according to a BuzzFeed report. (Associated Press)

The report also said that Ivanka Trump and Donald Trump Jr. received regular details about the real estate deal from Cohen.
In response to the BuzzFeed article, Lanny Davis, Cohen’s adviser, issued a statement to MSNBC saying “Out of respect for Mr. Mueller’s and the Office of Special Counsel’s investigation, Mr. Cohen declined to respond to the questions asked by the reporters and so do I.”
The allegations against Trump stand in contrast to the president's past statements that he had no business deals in Russia even as the tower deal continued to unfold. Aside from Cohen's testimony, Mueller's office has more evidence that Trump played a role in encouraging Cohen to lie, BuzzFeed said.
Mueller’s office learned of the directive from interviews with witnesses from the Trump Organization and internal company email, text messages and documents, the BuzzFeed report said.
However, ABC News reporter John Santucci tweeted Thursday night that “I haven’t found any in the Trump Org that have met with or been interviewed by Mueller.”
On Wednesday, Giuliani claimed he "never said there was no collusion" between members of President Trump's 2016 presidential campaign and Russian officials -- but he did say that Trump himself never colluded with Russian officials.
MSNBC journalist Chris Hayes tweeted "Nixon was literally impeached for this," referring to President Richard Nixon, who actually was not impeached -- but resigned in 1974 amid heat from the Watergate investigation, becoming the first U.S. president to do so.
Lawmakers on Thursday vowed to investigate Cohen’s claim against his former client.
“The allegation that the President of the United States may have suborned perjury before our committee in an effort to curtail the investigation and cover up his business dealings with Russia is among the most serious to date,” Rep. Adam Schiff, D-Calif., chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, said in a statement. “We will do what’s necessary to find out if it’s true.”
Several other Democrats also called for an investigation.
“Based on the Buzzfeed report and numerous other articles showing @realDonaldTrump committed Obstruction of Justice and other possible felonies, it is time for the House Judiciary Committee to start holding hearings to establish a record of whether @POTUS committed high crimes,” U.S. Rep. Ted Lieu of California tweeted.
U.S. Rep. Joaquin Castro, D-Texas, who has already announced his 2020 presidential candidacy, went a step further, writing on Twitter: “If the @BuzzFeed story is true, President Trump must resign or be impeached.”
U.S. Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn., called for the special counsel to be more forthcoming about any information he has regarding President Trump.
Murphy tweeted, "Listen, if Mueller does have multiple sources confirming Trump directed Cohen to lie to Congress, then we need to know this ASAP. Mueller shouldn't end his inquiry, but it's about time for him to show Congress his cards before it's too late for us to act."

Trump denies Pelosi aircraft for foreign trip, after call for State of the Union delay

President Trump on Thursday abruptly denied military aircraft to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi for a foreign trip just minutes before the congressional delegation was set to depart, in a stunning decision that followed her call to delay the State of the Union address amid the government shutdown.
In a curt letter, Trump said her trip has been “postponed.”
“Due to the Shutdown, I am sorry to inform you that your trip to Brussels, Egypt, and Afghanistan has been postponed. We will reschedule this seven-day excursion when the Shutdown is over. In light of the 800,000 great American workers not receiving pay, I am sure you would agree that postponing this public relations event is totally appropriate,” Trump wrote.
CLICK HERE TO READ TRUMP'S LETTER TO PELOSI
“I also feel that, during this period, it would be better if you were in Washington negotiating with me and joining the Strong Border Security movement to end the Shutdown. Obviously, if you would like to make your journey by flying commercial, that would certainly be your prerogative.”
Asked if lawmakers might still be able to find another way to travel overseas, a senior congressional official told Fox News Thursday evening only, "I don't know."

According to sources, the president pulled the plug on Pelosi's aircraft as she was about to leave for her overseas trip. Her congressional delegation's military aircraft was slated to depart at 3 p.m. ET.
A senior White House official also told Fox News that all congressional delegation travel by military aircraft is now postponed.
SHUTDOWN STANDOFF: PELOSI RENEWS CALL TO DELAY STATE OF THE UNION, TRUMP SAYS DEMS 'HIJACKED' BY 'FRINGE' 
An official said that “as soon as the president found out about the trip today, he took immediate action.” A source told Fox News that when moving to cancel Thursday's flight, the White House reasoned that the trip would keep Pelosi out of the country beyond next Tuesday night—when the next government pay period would occur.
"If she had gone on this trip she would have guaranteed that 800,000 federal workers would not receive their second paycheck because she would not have been here to negotiate any kind of deal," a senior White House official said Thursday.
But Pelosi's office fired back, with spokesman Drew Hammill saying the purpose was to meet with allies and "express appreciation & thanks to our men & women in uniform for their service & dedication" -- while noting there was no planned stop in Egypt.
House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, D-Md., called the move "petty" and "small."
"It is unbecoming of the president of the United States. But it is unfortunately a daily occurrence," he said.
Republicans had a split response over the president's decision.
House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., said it was "completely appropriate." Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., called it "inappropriate."
"One sophomoric response does not deserve another. Speaker Pelosi’s threat to cancel the State of the Union is very irresponsible and blatantly political," he tweeted.
The president's move to cancel Pelosi's trip came after the House speaker's request to delay his annual State of the Union address -- though one White House official claimed the aircraft decision was not a "response" to Pelosi's letter.
The president has been slated to deliver his message to a Joint Session of Congress on Jan. 29, yet Pelosi on Wednesday urged the president to delay his delivery until the government re-opens, or deliver the address in writing.
The speaker stood by that call earlier Thursday.
“The date of the State of the Union is not a sacred date. It’s not constitutionally required. It’s not the president’s birthday. It’s just a date we agreed to,” Pelosi told reporters during a press conference on Capitol Hill Thursday. “That’s why I said to the president, if you don’t open up government, let’s discuss a mutually agreeable date.”
PELOSI TAKES HEAT FOR BID TO DELAY STATE OF THE UNION ADDRESS
She added: “It could be a week later—if the government is reopened.”
For more than 24 hours, Trump did not respond to Pelosi's request, even as fellow Republicans condemned her push for delay.
Congressional lawmakers, meanwhile, were left sitting on a bus waiting to see if they could depart. They included House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff, D-Calif., and House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Eliot Engel, D-N.Y. Fox News is told Capitol Hill security officials got an emergency call from the Pentagon canceling the overseas trip due to the shutdown.
Amid mounting confusion, Fox News is told there were furious calls going back and forth among Capitol Hill, State, Pentagon and White House offices. The bus later returned to the Capitol, where members filed back into the building.
When asked for additional context about the congressional delegation and the apparent trip delay, White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders reiterated that Pelosi could fly commercial: "The Department of Defense has to approve military air travel. As he made clear in the letter she can still go, she just has to travel commercial."
The rhetoric continues to show both sides of the standoff refusing to step off their positions that triggered the funding lapse shortly before the holidays last month.
Trump wants nearly $6 billion for a border wall, while Pelosi and fellow Democrats have described such a project as immoral. The two sides have been unable to strike a deal that both bridges their differences and re-opens a slew of shuttered agencies.
The shutdown, which is now the longest in U.S. history, has left more than 800,000 federal workers and contractors without pay. Some federal employees have been deemed essential to government function and are required to work without pay. Others have been furloughed, but still are left unpaid.