Terry Jeffrey Trump Deficit Blame Avoidance Watch Topic: CNSNews.com
CNSNews.com editor in chief has long hada problem calling out his favorite president for his role in increasing federal deficits. That hasn't changed in his most recent round of budget-related articles. He complained in a Nov. 27 article:
The federal debt has increased by $1,303,466.578.471.45 since last Thanksgiving, according to data released by the U.S. Treasury.
That is the largest Thanksgiving-to-Thanksgiving increase in the debt in nine years. The last time the debt increased more from Thanksgiving to Thanksgiving was in 2010, when it increased by $1,785,995,360,978.10.
It also equals approximately $10,137.48 per household in the United States.
Jeffrey struck a similar tone in a Dec. 11 article:
The federal government collected record total tax revenues of $470,706,000,000 in October and November, the first two months of fiscal 2020, according to the Monthly Treasury Statement released today.
Despite collecting that record amount in taxes, however, the federal government still ran a deficit of $343,360,000,000 during October and November because it spent $814,012,000,000 in those two months.
That was the second-highest federal spending in the October-November period in the history of the United States. The only time the federal government spent more in the first two months of the fiscal year was in fiscal 2009 (October and November of 2008), when Congress enacted the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP) to bailout insolvent banks.
As is Jeffrey's pattern on these articles, the words "Trump" or "Republican" does not appear, and they are accompanied by photos that feature Democrats. The Nov. 27 article features the easily recognizable Democrats Nancy Pelosi and Chuck Schumer with two unnamed people who do not look familiar; the Dec. 11 article features a picture of Pelosi with President Trump, whose face is not visible.
Weirdly, despite being such a budget hawk, Jeffrey has yet to write about the $1.4 trillion spending bill passed by not only a Democratic House but a Republican Senate and signed by Trump on Dec. 20.
CNSNews.com is such a loyal pro-Trump, pro-Republican talkingpointsstenographer on impeachment that it treated a Republican's senseless tantrum seriously. Susan Jones (of course) wrote in a Dec. 13 article:
Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerry Nadler postponed a planned impeachment vote late Thursday night, infuriating Republicans who were not consulted about the schedule change, and prompting ranking member Doug Collins to say, "This committee is more concerned about getting on TV in the morning than it was finishing its job tonight and letting the members go home."
A short time later, Collins spoke to reporters:
"I have just witnessed just the most bush-league stunt I've ever witnessed in my professional life," Collins said after Nadler abruptly ended the 14-hour impeachment debate late Thursday night, telling the committee to return at 10 a.m. on this Friday the 13th to vote.
"But in the midst of impeachment, the chairman just ambushed the entire committee, did not have any consultation with the ranking member and tell him we're going to have votes at 10:00 a.m. in the morning?" Collins said.
[...]
Collins said the American people "know it's all about these TV screens. It's all about getting at a president because they want the prime time hit.
“This is Speaker Pelosi and Adam Schiff and the others directing this committee -- I don't have a chairman anymore. I guess I just need to go straight to Ms. Pelosi and say, what TV hit does this committee need to do? Because this committee has lost all relevance. I'll see y'all tomorrow.”
Jones made no mention of the fact that Collins' tantrum was nonsensical because it has long been a Republican talking point that the impeachment process was moving too quickly. It was also hypocritical because Republicans were the ones who prolonged the hearing by offering numerous amendments. Collins' insistence that Democrats wanted to delay the vote for a "prime time hit" on television also fails the smell test since 10 a.m. is not TV "prime time."
One can also argue that delaying the vote short-circuited another possible GOP attack line over the timing of the vote; had it taken place after 11 p.m., Republicans could have argued that the lateness of the vote was more evidence the process was being rushed or being done as a quiet midnight vote designed to obscure the process from Americans.
Jones did quote Nadler saying that he wanted "members on both sides of the aisle to think about what’s happened over these last three days and to search their consciences before we have our final votes," but she did not point out that nothing Collins said was in response to Nadler's statement.
You'd think that such blatant stenography would eventually get embarrassing to Jones and CNS. Apparently not.
CNS' Coverage of DOJ IG Report Filled With Bias, Ignored Key Finding Topic: CNSNews.com
CNSNews.com's coverage of the release of ther report by the Justice Department's Inspector General Michael Horowitz into the origins of the investigation into Russian contacts with the Donald Trump presidential campaign focused almost entirely on charry-picked findings that fit the narrative of the pro-Trump, pro-Republican CNS.
CNS tried to pre-spin the report in a Dec. 3 article by Susan Jones in which Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham accused the "liberal media" of, yes, trying to pre-spin the report by reporting a leaked finding that the report concluded that the FBI had enough information to justify launching the investigation. Graham asserted that the media was "trying overtime to spin this thing, to diminish its effect, to downplay it," and that the real issue was the Steele dossier and that the FBI "pulled a fast one on the FISA court, quite frankly, misled and defrauded the FISA court. I think that's what you're going to find."
Having staked this out as a talking point, CNS followed that to the letter with its stories on the report's official release and the reaction to it:
The key finding that no political bias was found on the FBI's part in opening the investigation did not warrant a headline in any CNS article, though it was later mentioned in a couple of them.
CNS served up the following articles on Horowitz's Senate testimony about the report:
None of these articles featured questions or comments from a Democratic congress, and none noted that Horowitz found no political bias on the FBI's part in opening the investigation. It did, however, find the time and space to complain that CNN didn't cover Graham's opening statement, with Melanie Arter citing the Trump campaign and other right-wingers -- including disgraced sexual harasser Bill O'Reilly, whom Arter described on as a "former Fox News host" -- insisting that this was an example of "liberal bias" in the media.
CNS Shows Its Anti-Gay Bias In Hallmark Channel Ad Controversy Topic: CNSNews.com
Let's examine the subtle bias in the way CNSNews.com managing editor Michael W. Chapman wrote this Dec. 16 article:
Hallmark Channel Submits to LGBTQ Pressure, Plans to Reinstate Gay Ads
The Hallmark Channel, which prides itself on airing family-friendly programs, caved to pressure from LGBTQ activists and said it plans to reinstate commercials on its channel that celebrate homosexuality, specifically a lesbian wedding where the two women passionately kiss during the ad.
The ad, part of six -- four gay-themed and two heterosexual -- was created by Zola.com, a wedding planning company. After the first lesbian-wedding ad was aired last week, the conservative group One Million Moms complained, and Crown Media, which owns Hallmark, decided to pull the commercial.
However, that sparked a backlash by some prominent homosexuals and LGBTQ activist groups over the weekend and Hallmark subsequently announced it was reversing its "wrong decision" and would seek to reinstate the ads after it consulted with Zola.com.
Note how Chapman describes One Million Moms as a "conservative group" merely "complained" about the ads, while those who reacted to the commercials being pulled are "activists" to whom Hallmark "caved" and "submit[ted]. One Million Moms is an activist group, and Hallmark certainly caved to it by pulling the commercials -- but Chapman would never describe these events that way.
Chapman also invokes his intense anti-gay hate by huffing that the commercials "celebrate homosexuality," not mentioning the fact that something like 99 percent of Hallmark Channel's holiday romance-laden programming can be described as celebrating heterosexuality. He further complained that advocacy group GLAAD "seeks to normalize homosexuality through the media" -- while, of course, Chapman is seeking to normalize anti-LGBT hatred through the media operation he runs.
Chapman further grumbled: "People supportive of Zola and the LGBTQ agenda tweeted using the hashtag #boycotthallmark, as did people supportive of real marriage between one man and one woman for life." Chapman has previously denied that gay marriage is "real marriage." And, again, he portray only LGBT supporters as having an "agenda." He also brought out the scare quotes to describe Ellen DeGeneres as "a 'married' lesbian," and did so again to describe GLAAD presient Sarah Kate Ellis.
Such blatant bias makes it hard for people to consider CNS a serious, legitimate news source. Too bad Chapman doesn't see that.
NEW ARTICLE -- CNS On Impeachment, Part 2: Copy and Paste Topic: CNSNews.com
CNSNews.com loves to repeat the same pro-Trump talking points in stories on impeachment -- even doing stories days apart that featuring Trump's GOP defenders saying the same exact thing. Read more >>
Again! CNS Recycles GOP Talking Points Just Days Apart Topic: CNSNews.com
Remember that time CNSNews.com devoted two articles days apart to repeating the exact same Republican talking points from the vey same person? Well, they did it again.
In a Dec. 12 article under the headline "Sen. Lindsey Graham: ‘I Don’t Need Any Witnesses at All – I Am Ready to Go’," Melanie Arter wrote:
Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) told Fox News on Thursday that he’s eager to get the Senate impeachment trial under way, and he doesn’t need any witnesses to do it.
“What I would imagine would happen, what I would like to see happen for this thing to get over as soon as possible. I don't want to give it any legitimacy, because it’s a crock. I trusted Mueller to look at all things trump and Russia. He did for two years and took no action,” Graham said in an interview with “America’s Newsroom.”
Then, on Dec. 16, under the headline Sen. Graham: 'I Don't Need Any Witnesses'," Susan Jones wrote:
Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) says it's best for the country to make quick work of the Senate impeachment trial.
"I am -- clearly made up my mind. I'm not trying to hide the fact that I have disdain for the accusations and the process. So I don't need any witnesses. The president can make a request to call witnesses. They can make a request or call Mike Pence and Pompeo and Joe Biden and Hunter Biden.
"I am ready to vote on the underlying articles. I don't really need to hear a lot of witnesses."
So dedicated is CNS to pushing the Republicans' pro-Trump, anti-impeachment narrative that it devoted two articles four days apart to repeating the exact same talking point.
That's not how a news organization -- that's how a propaganda operation works.
Why Didn't CNS Writer Tell Readers She Had Answered Lindsey Graham's Question The Day Before? Topic: CNSNews.com
When you're dedicated to mindlesslyanduncriticallyrepeating pro-Trump Republican talking points like CNSNews.com is, you forget that sometimes you've already answered some of the questions you've been dutifully writing down, and you forget to tell your readers that.
Susan Jones wrote in a Dec. 11 article about Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham ranting that the Horowitz report exposed a "massive criminal conspiracy" (though not that the report also found that political bias didn't motivate the FBI into investigating Russian connections to the Donald Trump presidential campaign). She went on to write:
Graham also raised the issue of defensive briefings – in other words, the FBI warning people, such as Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.), that one of her employees had ties to a foreign government.
"From the time they opened up Crossfire Hurricane until this debacle was over, they never made any effort to brief Donald Trump about suspected problems within his campaign," Graham said. "Why didn't they tell Trump? We'll figure that out later. But I think it's a question that needs to be asked."
Committee Chairman Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) said he wants to know why Donald Trump wasn't told about the FBI's concerns that individuals associated with his campaign were coordinating, wittingly or unwittingly, with the Russian government's efforts to interfere in the 2016 presidential election.
[...]
The inspector general's report addresses the question of "defensive briefings," as they are called.
Former Counterintelligence Division Assistant Director E.W. "Bill" Priestap, the FBI official who approved the launch of Crossfire Hurricane, told the IG that "he considered whether the FBI should conduct defensive briefings for the Trump campaign but ultimately decided that providing such briefings created the risk that 'if someone on the campaign was engaged with the Russians, he/she would very likely change his/her tactics and/or otherwise seek to cover-up his/her activities, thereby preventing us from finding the truth.'
"On the other hand," Priestap said, "if no one on the Trump campaign was working with the Russians, an investigation could prove that. Because the possibility existed that someone on the Trump campaign could have taken the Russians up on their offer, I thought it wise to open an investigation to look into the situation."
[...]
The IG report notes that President Barack Obama did suggest that the FBI give Trump a defensive briefing:
"According to McCabe's notes of what he had been told by (FBI Director James) Comey, President Obama stated that the FBI should think about doing 'defensive briefs.' The notes do not provide any further details about what Obama said regarding defensive briefings, and McCabe told us he did not recall that any further details were provided to him. However, McCabe said he surmised from his notes that the briefings under discussion were to be given to the Trump campaign."
Jones could have told her readers this in her Dec. 11 article; after all, the information was fresh in her mind, given that she had provided a detailed explaination of it the day before. Instead, she chose not to because furthering a Republican narrative of raising suspicions about any investigation into Trump -- never mind that the facts are much less sinistser -- was more important than her journalistic duty to tell readers the truth.
Lazy stenography is the worst kind of journalism, and CNS is becoming an increasingly egregious offender.
CNSNews.com managing editor and nasty gay-basher Michael W. Chapman wrote in a Dec. 4 post:
Commenting on a video that shows how pro-LGBT propaganda is being taught on a popular YouTube-based series for kids, U.S. Bishop Joseph Strickland, who oversees the Catholic Diocese of Tyler, Texas, tweeted that this so-called education is "evil" and constitutes "CHILD ABUSE."
"We must STOP THIS INSANITY!!" said the bishop.
The video is from an episode of "Sex Ed School" on the Shaftesbury Kids' YouTube channel, which is run by Shaftesbury in Toronto, Canada.
The right-wing Catholic message of Chapman's post, however, by CNS' decision to post the same day a column by its favorite right-wing Catholic, Bill Donohue, discounting actual child abuse at the hands of Catholic clergy:
Church-suing lawyers are celebrating the holidays with a boatload of new cases, all in the name of justice. In reality, more injustice than justice will be rendered. The steeple-chasers are jumping on the bandwagon effect of the Pennsylvania grand jury report that was issued last year.
A comprehensive news story by the Associated Press details how 15 states have enacted legislation to suspend the statute of limitations to allow the pursuit of old cases of sexual abuse. Why is this unjust? Here are seven good reasons, beginning with Pennsylvania.
[...]
Injustice #3 is the wave of lawsuits that are engulfing the Church across the nation; it is estimated that more than 5,000 new cases will be pursued, costing the Church more than $4 billion.
[...]
The suspension of the statute of limitations is injustice #4. This is a fundamental 5th Amendment right of due process, one that organizations that are as disparate as the Catholic League and the ACLU can agree on. How can a defendant have his rights protected in cases that extend back decades? Were there any witnesses in the first place? If there were, are they still alive? How accurate is their recall? Moreover, there is a really good chance that the accused priest is dead.
[...]
This is a scam. There will be lots of money exchanged—the lawyers will cream a third of the loot right off the top—but little in the way of justice will be achieved. By any measure, this is not a defensible outcome.
If more-Catholic-than-thou folks like Chapman and Donohue were actually interested in doing right by those victimized by Catholic priests, church officials ranting that a video is "child abuse" wouldn't look so ridiculous.
CNS' Coverage Of 4 Impeachment Legal Experts Ignored 3 Of Them Topic: CNSNews.com
CNSNews.com editor in chief Terry Jeffrey spent his Dec. 11 column complaining that Democrats aren't interested in finding the whole truth about "what Trump was trying to do with the Ukraine":
If the House Democrats were intent on getting firsthand testimony of what Trump was trying to do with the Ukraine, they would pursue testimony from White House acting chief of staff Mick Mulvaney, former national security adviser John Bolton and Trump's personal attorney Rudy Giuliani.
But they are not.
Professor Jonathan Turley of The George Washington University Law School last week presented the House Judiciary Committee with a powerful argument against impeachment.
He does not support Trump but thinks what the House is doing is wrong.
"First, this is a case without a clear criminal act and would be the first such case in history if the House proceeds without further evidence," he said in written testimony.
"As I have stressed, it is possible to establish a case for impeachment based on a non-criminal allegation of abuse of power," Turley testified. "The problem is that this is an exceptionally narrow impeachment resting on the thinnest possible evidentiary record."
"In the current case, the record is facially insufficient," Turley said. "The problem is not simply that the record does not contain direct evidence of the president stating a quid pro quo, as Chairman Schiff suggested. The problem is that the House has not bothered to subpoena the key witnesses who would have such direct knowledge. This alone sets a dangerous precedent."
Strange that Jeffrey cites only Turley here -- or maybe not so much. In covering the Dec. 4 hearing in which legal experts testified about the issues involving impeachment, CNS complaetely ignored the testimony of the three experts chosen by Democrats. It did, hjwever, devote two articles to the arguments of Turley, the expert chosen by Republicans:
Not only did CNS ignore the testimony of the Democrats' chosen witnesses, CNS' Susan Jones tried to baselessly cast aspersions on their qualifications. In one article, Jones dismissed them as "three liberal witnesses, billed as constitutional and legal experts." By contrast, Turley was repeatedly and uncritically described with full credentials as a "George Washington University Law School professor" who, as Jones highlighted in another article, was "not a Trump supporter."
The only article CNS did about the hearing that featured a Democrat in the headline had nothing to do with the hearing's content at all or anything said at it by a Democrat or one of the Democrats' witnesses; the piece by Melanie Arter featured how "Rep. Al Green (D-Texas) took to the House floor Wednesday to complain that 'not one person of color' is represented among the constitutional scholars testifying at the House Judiciary Committee’s impeachment inquiry hearing."
The fact that Jeffrey's column quoted only the one expert who supports his preconceived notions about impeachment of a Republican president is further proof he's falling down in his duty as a self-proclaimed journalist to report the truth.
With such biased, incomplete reporting, it appears that Jeffrey and CNS are the folks who, as Jeffrey's headline stated, "don't want to know the truth." And they falsely present themselves as journalistswho claim to be interested in the truth -- remember, CNS' mission statement claims that it "endeavors to fairly present all legitimate sides of a story," and once again it couldn't be bothered to do so here.
CNSNews.com writer Susan Jones' lead article on November's unemployment numbers includes the usual pro-Trump rah-rah over jobs created and how "158,593,000 Americans were working in November, the 24th record of Trump's presidency," as well as devoting half of the article to rehashing employment numbers from 2018. It also includes this statement:
Of that civilian non-institutional population, 164,404,000 were participating in the labor force, meaning that they either had a job or were actively seeking one during the last month. This resulted in a labor force participation rate of 63.2 percent.
The labor force participation rate has never been higher than 67.3 percent, a level achieved in the early months of 2000. The Trump-era high was set last month at 63.3 percent. Economists say retiring baby boomers account for some of the decline since the turn of the century.
As we've documented, when President Obama was in office, CNS obsessed over the relatively low labor force participation rate -- because it could use the number to misleadingly attack the economy under Obama as sluggish -- and rarely explained to readers that the rate was driven down in part because of retiring baby boomers.
CNS also served up the usual sidebars on Hispanic employment and manufacturing jobs. Craig Bannister also did what appears to be a new monthly feature of featuring the response by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi stating that the numbers offer "little solace to the farmers and hard-working families who are struggling to stay above water with the costs of living rising and uncertainty surging" even though, in Bannister's pro-Trump view, "the number of Americans employed set a new record high for the sixth straight month and the unemployment rate fell to a 50-year low."
CNS Is Sad Chick-fil-A Stopped Hating Gays As Much As CNS Does Topic: CNSNews.com
CNSNews.com used to love fast-food chain Chick-fil-A -- mainly because it hated gays as much as CNS does. It was just earlier this year that it gave Hans Bader column space to claim that the chain was facing a "First Amendment violation" because it was barred from opening a branch in an airport because of the company's support of groups like the Fellowship of Christian Athletes and the Salvation Army who in Bader's words "support and defend marriage as defined by the natural law and Christianity -- one man and one woman for life." And just a couple months ago that managing editor Michael W. Chapman was cheering how "continues to experience tremendous sales and growth despite opposition and boycotts from LGBT activists" over the company's financial support for groups that oppose "gay marraige" (scare quotes are his), adding that "Despite the protests from the homosexual left, Chick-fil-A is doing well.
But a month after Chapman touted Chick-fil-A's gay-hate, the company pulled back on its gay-hating, restructuring its charitable donation strategy to focus on specific causes such as hunger, homelessness and educationand no longer giving to other groups including FCA and the Salvation Army.
As you might imagine, CNS is very sad about this. A Nov. 20 article by Chapman misconstrued the policy to claim that Chick-fil-A made a "corporate decision to stop donating to groups that support marriage between one man and one woman and quoting right-winger Mike Huckabee accusing the chain of having "made a "very big, big mistake" in thinking it could appease the left and LGBTQ activists," going on to quote right-wing activist Tony Perkins ranting that the chain "helped legitimize the Left's labeling of these groups." Chapman also lazily copy-and-pasted Bader's description of FCA and the Salvation Army.
CNS also published a torrent of commentary attacking Chick-fil-A for the change in his funding strategy and justifying the gay-hate:
Daniel Davis declared that "many loyal Chick-fil-A supporters feel betrayed, and they’re letting Chick-fil-A know" and the change in strategy "tells [LGBT activists] they can win, if they just bully Christian organizations for long enough."
John Horvat II huffed that the change in donation strategy "shocked many conservatives" and that "With Chick-fil-A’s fateful decision, it became clear that even those who do not sympathize with the LGBTQ+ agenda are expected to bow to pressure and fear."
The Heritage Foundation's Kay Coles James insisted that "Christians do not hate gay people; our faith teaches us to love everyone" -- even as she criticized Chick-fil-A for "caving to the bullying of a minority of radical activists" and "bullies who will never be satisfied with compromise." (The Heritage Foundation knows a thing or two about not being satisfied with compromise.)
JP Duffy complained that the company "cut off future donations to the Salvation Army and sent a check to the Covenant House, a group that has hosted a local Drag Queen Story Hour and celebrates LGBTQ pride." He wants the company to go back to hating gays: "I would say follow the example of three of the most courageous biblical figures — Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego. They refused to bow to King Nebuchadnezzar’s image and as a result were thrown into a fiery furnace where God protected them from any harm. Their reverence for God was so strong that it overwhelmed fear. By following their example, you will be better equipped with the courage to glorify God in all you do."
Chapman wasn't done grousing, though, writing in a Nov. 27 article: "The number three fast-food chain in the United States, Chick-fil-A, which prides itself on being founded on biblical principles, donated $2,500 to the left-wing Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC). The SPLC maintains a "hate map" on its website and its listing of the Family Research Council (FRC) as an"anti-LGBT" hate group was cited by domestic terrorist Floyd Corkins in his FBI interview after he shot-up the FRC in August 2012." Actually, it turns out that the donation was made by a volunteer for the company's charitable foundation, not by the foundation itself; Chapman has not corrected his article.
Chapman was still sad that Chick-fil-A stopped hating gays as much as he does, lamenting that "Chick-fil-A has made donations to the pro-abortion group The Pace Center for Girls; the pro-LGBTQ YWCA; the pro-LGBT child welfare service Chris 180; and the left-wing New Leaders Council."
CNS Is Still Publishing -- And Promoting -- Increasingly Extremist Michelle Malkin Topic: CNSNews.com
In August, we noted that CNSNews.com published Michelle Malkin's dishonest defense of the white nationalist group VDARE, while its sister site NewsBusters did not. Interestingly, NewsBusters skipped a few other Malkin columns after that before stopping completely; the last one at NewsBusters appeared on Oct. 30.
Meanwhile, CNS is sticking with the increasingly extremist Malkin -- well, mostly. It declined to publish her Nov. 27 column in which she went full anti-vaxxer by ranting about "government-coerced immunization" regarding mandates for children to get immunized against human papillomavirus, dismissing it as "usually harmless" despite the fact that it's a leading cause of cervical cancer and obsessing over isolated cases of adverse side effects to falsely smear it as unsafe.
CNS apparently embraces Malkin's increasing vicious anti-immigrant rhetoric, such as her Dec. 5 column huffing that the U.S. is being "fundamentally and permanently transformed into United Nations refugee camps full of welfare dependents and tax burdens."
Shockingly, CNS remains so infatuated with the extremist Malkin that it touted an award she received. A Dec. 6 article by Craig Millward gushed:
Upon receiving an “Impact Award” from United in Purpose on Wednesday, Dec. 4, syndicated columnist and best selling author Michelle Malkin said, “I am an extremist when it comes to telling the truth.”
Malkin was one of 10 conservative leaders to receive an “Impact Award” in a ceremony held at Trump International Hotel in Washington D.C. on Wednesday.
[...]
“Because we all share a common zeal, an extreme zeal -- I embrace that word – yes, I am an extremist when it comes to telling the truth,” said Malkin. “And I know that each of the honorees here has been able to effectively use their powers of communication to do good and make an impact.”
Millward didn't mention that Malkin is also an extremist when it comes to white nationalism and anti-vaxxer conspiracy theories.
CNS should explain why it's continuing to align itself with such an extremist, even though its sister publication has stopped doing so.
NEW ARTICLE -- CNS On Impeachment: Cleanup Mode Topic: CNSNews.com
CNSNews.com is so pro-Trump that it not only tried to spin away the worst aspects of President Trump's Ukraine entanglement, it tried to retcon the most incriminating statements about it made by the president and his surrogates. Read more >>
CNS Lazily Reprints Press Release On Roger Stone's Conviction Topic: CNSNews.com
When Trump confidante and sleazy political operative Roger Stone was arrested on various on a warrant from special counsel Robert Mueller's investigation earlier this year, CNSNews.com was quick to embrace the bogus conspiracy theory that Mueller tipped off CNN to the arrest so it could have cameras there. Even Mueller himself pointed out this was not true, but CNS never told its readers about it.
Despite that obsession over Stone's arrest, CNS' interest in the case didn't extend to his trial, not even bothering to offer daily coverage of it. And when Stone was found guilty, CNS did the absolute minimum: an anonymously written Nov. 15 article stating that "Political consultant Roger Stone was found guilty today by a jury that convicted him of obstructing a congressional investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election, according to a statement put out by the Office of the U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia," followed by a copy-and-paste job of the entire statement.
No mention of the conspiracy theory it once embraced, no mention of any statement by Stone or his attorneys on the verdict -- just an grudging acceptance that maybe Stone is as terrible as everyone outside the Trump orbit CNS occupies has said, and the ultimate in lazy stenography.
The Media Research Center has tried to delegitimize the impeachment hearings by portraying them as boring and poorly rated (as if excitement and good ratings was a measure of justice), so it was inevitable that the MRC's "news" division, CNSNews.com, would push that same narrative. And that's exactly what Susan Jones does in a Nov. 19 CNS article:
Four witnesses will testify in the House intelligence committee's impeachment inquiry today, beginning with Alexander Vindman (member of the National Security Council since 2018) and Jennifer Williams (Vice President Pence's advisor) at 9 a.m.; and Kurt Volker (special envoy to Ukraine) and Tim Morrison (National Security Council official) at 2:30 p.m.
But who will be watching?
It's "boring television," Rep. Andy Biggs (Ariz.), a Republican member of the House Judiciary Committee, told Fox News’s Laura Ingraham Monday night.
Jones did not allow anyone to rebut Biggs' claims or to point out the obvious fact that TV ratings are not a measure of justice. Instead she repeats an attack on impeachment inquiry witness Alex Vindman by claiming that his former supervisor at the National Security Council "had raised concerns about Alex's judgment." That attack, of course, comes directly from the Trump White House.
But Jones never told her readers that Vindman rebutted this claim by reading from a performance evaluation of him by Hill that called him "a top 1% military officer and the best Army officer I have worked with in my 15 years of government service." Or that Hill herself later testified that she never had any issues with Vindman's judgment but, rather, was concerned about how a military man like him would handle the increasingly political direction the Ukraine issue was turning.
Remember: At CNS, reporting the facts doesn't matter -- adhering to the narrative does.
CNSNews.com editor in chief has long had a problem calling out his favorite president for his role in increasing federal deficits. That hasn't changed in his most recent round of budget-related articles. He complained in a Nov. 27 article:
CNSNews.com is such a loyal pro-Trump, pro-Republican 
CNSNews.com's coverage of the release of ther report by the Justice Department's Inspector General Michael Horowitz into the origins of the investigation into Russian contacts with the Donald Trump presidential campaign focused almost entirely on charry-picked findings that fit the narrative of the pro-Trump, pro-Republican CNS.
Let's examine the subtle bias in the way CNSNews.com managing editor Michael W. Chapman wrote this Dec. 16 
Remember 
Then, on Dec. 16, under the headline Sen. Graham: 'I Don't Need Any Witnesses'," Susan Jones 
When you're dedicated to 
CNSNews.com managing editor and 
CNSNews.com editor in chief Terry Jeffrey spent his Dec. 11 
CNSNews.com writer Susan Jones' 
CNSNews.com used to love fast-food chain Chick-fil-A -- mainly because it hated gays as much as CNS does. It was just earlier this year that it gave Hans Bader 
In August, we 
When Trump confidante and sleazy political operative Roger Stone was arrested on various on a warrant from special counsel Robert Mueller's investigation earlier this year, CNSNews.com was 
The Media Research Center has tried to delegitimize the impeachment hearings by portraying them as 
