Republicans might as well have brought in Sean Hannity to question Robert Mueller in Congress last week since so many of their questions sounded like they were read from a Fox News teleprompter.
After former special counsel Robert Mueller testified to the House Judiciary and Intelligence Committees last week about the findings of his investigation into Russian interference in our 2016 election, Sean Hannity patted himself on the back for (ostensibly) killing impeachment. Whether or not impeachment is really dead remains to be seen. Regardless, we should all mourn how Hannity, who has repeatedly smeared murder victim Seth Rich in an effort to cover up Russia’s interference, certainly deserves credit for helping, if not commanding, Republicans to help cover up Donald Trump’s role in that foreign interference by smearing the investigation, too.
Media Matters put together a video (embedded below) that shows just how obediently Republican Committee members parroted Fox News talking points. In its article accompanying the video, the site summarized the damning results of Mueller’s investigation that should concern all Americans, especially Republicans questioning other peoples' patriotism:
[Mueller's] probe resulted in indictments or guilty pleas from 34 people -- including top Trump advisers. His final report detailed a sustained, multi-faceted effort by the Russian government to help Trump win the election, numerous contacts between Russia and Trump associates, presidential efforts to sabotage the investigation, and endless lies by Trump to cover up all of the above.
But in what Media Matters called “a case study” in how Republicans are controlled by Fox, the GOP Committee members focused their questions (with the notable exception of Rep. Will Hurd) on attacking the investigation with just the cover-up questions Fox commanded:
[Fox's] years-long effort came to a head on Wednesday, with Hannity effectively dictating the GOP’s strategy in handling Mueller. The night before the hearings, he urged congressional Republicans to focus their attention not on the results of the investigation, but on the investigators. And that’s exactly what many of them did, using questions ripped from Hannity’s program to demand Mueller weigh in on the network’s conspiracy theories.
Media Matters put together a brilliant video juxtaposing Fox News talking points with the questions from the Republican toadies in the hearings. Watch it below.
It would be laughable were it not such a tragedy for our country.
(Hannity image via screen grab)
Sean Hannity is so influential with Trump he’s called his unofficial chief-of-staff and now he’s the author of questions for Republican lawmakers. Add to his “Fox & Friends” being the driving force behind many of Trump’s vicious tweets.
The tragedy of it all is ‘boy scout’ Mueller doggedly refused to defend himself against Sean’s conspiracy theories which only adds fuel to the Fox News fire. Maybe the mainstream media can step in and try to debunk this stuff but they are really in a weak position since Mueller and his staff are the only sources who can fully discredit the right-wing conspiracies.
