Laura Ingraham did her part to spin the indictments of 12 Russian agents yesterday by avoiding all thoughts of Donald Trump’s guilty-looking behavior and instead foaming at the mouth over Hillary Clinton’s emails. Sadly, liberal guest A. Scott Bolden helped legitimize the scheme.
Even after indictments, Fox News continues to cover up for Trump
Just as on the Outnumbered show earlier, there was not a concern about Trump’s disturbing behavior from a conservative to be seen in this prime time Fox News arm of the Cover-up Caucus – not over Trump’s obviously bogus attack on the Russia investigation as “a hoax” and “a witch hunt” nor his alarming affinity for Russia, Russians and Russian President Vladimir Putin, nor his obvious lack of interest in Russia’s meddling.
In other words, Trump’s behavior should give every single American concern about his relationship with Putin. The fact that Fox is abetting Trump's behavior is just as concerning.
Ingraham started off by casting suspicion not on Trump but on Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein, who oversees the Russia investigation:
INGRAHAM: Well, a lot of people saying the timing is curious given that Trump is meeting with the Russian President Vladimir Putin in Helsinki on Monday.
She also disingenuously suggested Rosenstein had cleared Trump in what she called an “important clarification,” that there was “no allegation in this indictment that any American citizen committed a crime.”
“Not quite at collusion yet, are we,” Ingraham sneered. But Ingraham, an attorney, surely knows that “no allegation in this indictment” does not mean that Rosenstein was saying he had no evidence of collusion at all.
Ingraham did later acknowledge, albeit grudgingly, some of the importance.
INGRAHAM: [O]n the pure issue of trying to influence our election and hack into our systems, it does seem like Mueller is coming up with some facts that are very important and looks like he could probably get some convictions. Whether that matters because you’re not going to get these people coming to the United States, they seem to be hot on the trail of something here.
Guest Kimberley Strassel, a Wall Street Journal columnist, responded by attacking the Mueller investigation, the press and Democrats – while ignoring the Trump/Russian elephant in the room.
STRASSEL: Well look, what was missing from all of those comments is the realization that, yes, there are this new indictment engaged in 12 people but none of it had to do with collusion. None of it has to do with obstruction of justice from the Trump team as Rosenstein made very clear and as he did the last time they came out and named Russian nationals who they had charged with hacking and being engaged in our election. And I think that this is the one disingenuous aspect of the Mueller probe which frustrates a lot of Americans out there, which is if he’s spending 95 percent of his time looking to unravel plots of Russian infiltration here, it would be nice if he could come out and make that clear because the press certainly doesn’t want to go there. The Democrats they still are obsessing and everyday making it out to sound like as though there’s an imminent arrest of a Trump official coming at any moment.
Ingraham covers up White House lack of concern about Russia with Hillary Clinton whataboutism histrionics
Ingraham cited the White House response to the indictments. But instead of pointing out the glaring lack of condemnation of Russia, Ingraham began ranting about Clinton to Bolden:
INGRHAM: Scott, another thing a friend raised with me and I hadn’t thought of it, I wish I had. Doesn’t this also underscore how important it was for Hillary or anyone in high levels of government not to have unsecure email servers? Remember back when we discovered that this email server had been unsecure that she was using, very unusual the way she was keeping her emails?
That Peter Strzok, when this issue was raised with him about whether this could have been compromised, pretty much every expert believes the Russians probably were able to hack into her system. They were going into Podesta’s, they were trying to go into hers. He decided not to engage on that issue. Curious, if they’re so worried about Russian hacking, they didn’t seem all that worried about hacking into Hillary’s emails?
Ingraham worked herself into a theatrical lather, shouting, that Clinton had violated “all” the rules and “This was the secretary of state having an email server in a house or within a bathroom!”
Sadly, Bolden inexplicably failed to address the chicanery going on here. Even worse, he gave credence to Ingraham’s ploy. “Absolutely,” he agreed. “And whether she was reckless or careless or what have you, that’s been said.”
No guest should let Fox’s cover-up for Trump go unaddressed
Bolden should have called out this ploy. And while he was at it, Bolden should have pointed out that even after the investigation into Russia’s meddling began, Trump spilled highly classified information to the Russians and, even now, he reportedly finds it “too inconvenient” to use properly secure cellphones. Where's the conservative outrage about that?
Bolden is a regular Ingraham guest so his failure to tear apart the baloney being fed to viewers in his presence was inexplicable and inexcusable.
Whether Bolden was ill-prepared for this discussion or did not want to make waves that might have jeopardized future Fox appearances, the result is he acquiesced in Fox's dangerous game of helping Trump conceal whatever it is that he is obviously afraid of Americans knowing.
Sorry, Mr. Bolden, it's Code Red for our democracy these days and we need all hands on deck, not going along to get along.
Watch the unscrupulous Trump-enabling below, from the July 13, 2018 The Ingraham Angle.