Topic: Newsmax
We've documented how Newsmax went into full Trump defense mode immediately after after the FBI search of his Mar-a-Lago compound for classifed documents. It continued that defense mode for several days afterward. Its coverage on Aug. 11, three days after the raid, relegated Attorney General Merrick Garland's statement that he approved the raid to a wire story. featured the usual stenography of pro-Trump toadies:
- Rep. Babin to Newsmax: FBI Using Russian Secret Police Tactics in Trump 'Witch Hunt'
- Dershowitz to Newsmax: DOJ's Trump Warrant Should Be Made Public
- Trump Lawyer: Garland's Depiction of Mar-a-Lago Events Inaccurate
- Poll: 83 Percent of GOP Voters Say FBI Raid on Trump Increases Desire to Vote
- Rep. Nehls to Newsmax: Raid Another Attempt to Keep Trump Off 2024 Ballot
- Gov. Greg Abbott: Texas Will Hire Any 'Dissatisfied' FBI Agents
- Antonio Sabato Jr. to Newsmax: 'It Can Happen to Anybody' (no mention of the fact that this can and should happen to anyone who is similarly in wrongful possession of classified documents)
Newsmax did offer a little more balance this day, though: One article noted that "Former White House acting chief of staff Mick Mulvaney said 'somebody very close' to Donald Trump tipped off the FBI before the bureau's raid at Mar-a-Lago, another noted a Washington Post report that "classified documents relating to nuclear weapons" were being sought in the search, and yet another article surprisingly highlighted how hated Republican Rep. Liz Cheney "blasted her fellow GOP lawmakers for the ''sickening'' attacks they have directed at the FBI agents who executed a search warrant at former President Donald Trump's Mar-a-Lago home, saying the comments are putting lives at risk."
The top stories on Aug. 12 involved the pro-Trump talking point of the day, that the classified documents seized from Mar-a-Lago were supposedly declassified by Trump before he left office. One article touted how Trump claimed he had "the power to classify and declassify documents," while another, by the apparently unironically named Charlie McCarthy, hyped that "White House documents that former President Donald Trump brought with him to Mar-a-Lago had been declassified, Trump allies said," while burying the balancing viewpoint that "Trump foes, however, reject the notion a president can declassify documents so easily" in the last few paragraphs of the article.McCarthy also whined that "Former CIA Director Michael Hayden made a comment on social media that seemed to promote execution for leakers of nuclear secrets."
Then it was Trump sycophancy time:
- Trump: FBI Playing Politics With Raid, Didn't Need to 'Seize' Anything
- Trump Calls 'Hoax' on Nuclear Documents Report, Urges Warrant Release
- Mar-a-Lago Raid Judge Donated to Obama, Recused From Trump Lawsuit
- Jim Jordan to Newsmax: Raid Shows 'Double Standard' at DOJ
- Rep. Donalds: Mar-a-Lago Raid Will Backfire on Biden, Dems in Midterms
- Giuliani to Newsmax: FBI 'Took Weekend in Palm Beach' Before Raiding Mar-a-Lago
- Paul Manafort to Newsmax: Dems Weaponizing FBI, DOJ to 'Destroy' Trump
- Rep. Mullin to Newsmax: FBI Needlessly Took Trump Search to 'Nuclear Level'
There was also one more piece of Trump misdirection stenography, courtesy of Jeffrey Rodack:
Former President Donald Trump said former President Barack Obama kept 33 million pages of documents, many of them classified, and speculated that quite a few pertained to nuclear weapons.
Trumps comments came in a statement released Friday: "President Barack Hussein Obama kept 33 million pages of documents, much of them classified. How many of them pertained to nuclear? Word is, lots."
A New York Post column claimed Tuesday that at the end of his presidency, Obama took 30 million pages of his administration's records, vowing to digitize them and put them online. The column, by author James Bovard, said the National Archives reveals that no pages have been digitized or disclosed.
In fact, the Obama records that were moved to Chicago are unclassified and remain in possession of the National Archives; the classified documents remain at a National Archives facility in Washington, D.C. Obama has no personal possession of any of those documents.
Newsmax served up more of the same on Aug. 13:
- Trump: 'Does Anybody Really Believe That the White House Didn't Know'?
- Trump Lawyer Habba to Newsmax: President Not Fazed by FBI Raid
- Rep. Waltz to Newsmax: Mar-a-Lago Search Politically Motivated
- Rudy Giuliani to Newsmax: Raid Warrant From Anti-Trump Judge
- Dershowitz to Newsmax: DOJ Wanted to Seize Jan. 6 Documents in Raid
It did, however, also publish a wire story noting a report that "A lawyer for former U.S. President Donald Trump signed a statement in June that said all classified material held in boxes at Trump's Mar-a-Lago residence had been returned to the government" -- an apparent false statement, which governmental agencies tend to frown upon.
Even more pro-Trump stenography was delivered on Aug. 14:
- Seb Gorka to Newsmax: 'Bogus' Raid Won't Stop Trump in 2024
- Kash Patel: Trump's Long Been in 'Bureaucratic Battle' Over Classified Docs
- Tom Fitton to Newsmax: FBI Raid 'Wild Abuse of Power'
- Rand Paul Calls for Repeal of Espionage Act After FBI Raid
- Trump Requests Return of Materials Seized in FBI Raid Via Social Media
There was also an article on a statement by press secretary Karine Jean=Pierre that the White House is not interfering or otherwise "involved" in the investigation into Trump.
On Aug. 15, McCarthy returned to serve up some painfully unironic stenography of Trumpoffering "to do 'whatever I can to help the country' during 'a dangerous time' following the FBI's raid of his Mar-a-Lago home." and that the "temperature has to be brought down" McCarthy didn't mention, of course, that Trump is primarily responsible for raising that temperature -- even though a few hours earlier, he wrote an article touting Trump's inflammatory claim that the raid was "a 'sneak attack on democracy' that was conducted purely for political reasons." The usual cascade of Trump lackeys followed:
- DeSantis Slams FBI for Raiding Trump's Florida Home
- Jon Voight: 'Democrat Fools' Guilty of 'Lies, Tricks' After Trump Raid
- Trump Attorney to Newsmax: DOJ Against Independent Review
- Rep. Nehls to Newsmax: Mar-a-Lago Has 'Changed the Game'
- Rep. Biggs to Newsmax: FBI Crossed 'Rubicon' With Trump Raid
- Trump Says FBI 'Stole' His Passports, Predicts Raid Backlash Will Help GOP at Polls
- Rep. Mike Turner to Newsmax: 'Congress Needs to See FBI Search Affidavit'
- Trump Atty Christina Bobb: FBI Overstepped on Passports, Nuke Claims
And there was still more on Aug. 16:
- Trump: 'No Way to Justify' FBI Raid
- Garland Waited Weeks to Authorize Raid at Mar-a-Lago
- Trump Attorney Habba to Newsmax: 'Shocked' If Biden Didn't Know of Trump Raid
- Trump: FBI Raid 'Grabbed Everything' Like a 'Common Criminal'
- Manafort to Newsmax: Affidavit Will 'Expose the Corruption' of DOJ
- Trump Attorney Habba to Newsmax: Mar-a-Lago Raid a 'Spectacle' to Distract
- Dershowitz to Newsmax: Arresting Trump Won't Keep Him Out of 2024 Race
- WashPost: Swing Voters Say Politics Played Role in FBI Raid
- Trump Attorney Bobb to Newsmax: FBI, DOJ Quiet on Mar-a-Lago Raid Intent
Newsmax also served up a reader poll asking if the raid was "an abuse of power" and if FBI director Christopher Wray should resign, adding, "Newsmax will provide the results of this poll to major media outlets. Newsmax's results also will be shared with popular radio talk-show hosts across America." It's a meaningless poll nbecause it's an opt-in poll for a highly biased audience.
