Topic: WorldNetDaily
WorldNetDaily loves Steve Stockman so much that it effectively served as the PR shop flr the right-wing congressman while in office and running for re-election. Stockman repaid the favor by sending money WND's way in the form of buying copies of an anti-Obama book by then-reporter Aaron Klein to give away to his congressional colleagues. When Stockman was convicted earlier this year on 23 counts related to financial crimes, WND editor Joseph Farah rushed to his defense, insisting that "There’s not a corrupt bone in his body. Don’t believe anything else you read about this case anywhere – including Fox News, which hung him out to dry."
Now, WND is cranking up the conspiracy machine, as a June 24 article by Bob Unruh paints Stockman as the victim of the "Deep State" and lobbies President Trump to pardon him:
Former Texas Congressman Steve Stockman, having been accused of using money from mega-donors for personal and campaign expenses, was convicted in April by a Houston jury on 23 counts of financial crimes and sent to prison. Case closed, right?
Maybe not. While his lawyers and family have promised multiple appeals of the verdicts delivered after a trial during which multiple defense witnesses simply were disallowed, the case is also attracting a wider kind of attention.
For one thing, a recent WND online poll, conducted after President Trump announced the pardon of conservative filmmaker Dinesh D’Souza, gave more than a dozen options as to who should be the next person Trump would pardon – names ranging from Hillary Clinton to Harvey Weinstein to Jonathan Pollard to Jack Abramoff to Martha Stewart.
Stewart got 5 percent of the votes, “Everyone being probed by Mueller” got about 25 percent.
But Stockman got the most votes: 53 percent.
[...]
Stockman himself has blamed the case against him on the “Deep State,” referring to established bureaucrats who largely run government.
Patti Stockman told WND she cannot comment on what his lawyers plan next, regarding an appeal or further action, but she just observed that the “Deep State” – whose attempts to take down President Trump Americans are witnessing daily – goes very, very deep indeed.
It’s not just the Loretta Lynches, James Comeys and others, she said, but the entire ranks of federal bureaucrats working with a political agenda, she said.
Needless to say, Unruh doesn't spend very much time examining the offenses for which Stockman was found guilty; instead, he goes for more conspiracy mongering, "The family website says the attack on the former congressman was orchestrated by the very IRS (as well as the public integrity division of the DOJ) that earlier had tried to throttle tea party organizations in opposition to Obama.
Unruh also dutifully parrots his boss, quoting Farah's statement that "I hope President Trump pardons Steve Stockman like he pardoned Scooter Libby."
Missing, however, is any objective poirtrayal of the prosecution's side of the case, which tells us WND is still not into the factual-journalism thing after its years of conspiracy-mongering nearly killed it earlier this year.
