Topic: WorldNetDaily
Just as it did over his first two indictments, WorldNetDaily ran to Donald Trump's defense again on his third indictment. Joe Kovacs kicked things off in an Aug. 1 article, quoting only pro-Trump sources and the Trump campaign:
Former President Donald Trump was indicted Tuesday in connection with the investigation by Special Counsel Jack Smith into the mayhem at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, prompting fresh calls of "election interference" from the Trump campaign.
Fox News reported Trump was indicted "on four federal charges out of the probe, including Conspiracy to Defraud the United States; Conspiracy to Obstruct an Official Proceeding; Obstruction of, and Attempt to Obstruct an Official Proceeding; and Conspiracy Against rights."
It's the second indictment of Trump by the special counsel, and the former president who is the leading Republican candidate for the 2024 presidential nomination has already pleaded not guilty to 37 counts for his alleged improper retention of classified records.
Reaction from Trump supporters was swift.
"Jack Smith is the enforcer for the Biden Crime Family," said Karoline Leavitt, spokeswoman for Make America Great Again Inc.
Bob Unruh devoted an article the next day to attacking Smith:
Among Jack Smith's claims in his most recent indictment of President Donald Trump is one in which he alleges Trump "knew" his claims of election fraud were wrong and he pushed them anyway.
And Smith, whose claims against Trump suspiciously have been revealed right after major accusations have developed against Hunter Biden, and the involvement of his father, Joe Biden, in his international business schemes, cited one case as an example.
[...]
But Smith may have set himself up to be proven false.
A report from Just the News documented there has been a federal indictment accusing a pair of Iranian hackers of successfully breaking into a state elections computer system.
And they are charged with stealing voter data and using that to intimidate Republican lawmakers.
That case was originally reported in 2021, which Unruh failed to mention. Federal officials stated at the time that the goal of the hackers was to "undermine voter confidence and sow discord" -- something WND has arguably been doing for years on Trump's behalf.
An anonymously written Aug. 2 article played whataboutism, citing the highly discredited Gateway Pundit:
President Donald Trump is facing his latest court case, from prosecutor Jack Smith, over what he said and did to challenge the 2020 presidential election count – the one influenced by the FBI's decision to falsely tell media organizations to suppress details about the Biden clan's international business schemes because it was Russian disinformation.
The same election that was influenced by Mark Zuckerberg's decision to hand out some $400 million plus to local elections officials, who often used it to recruit voters in Democrat districts.
Charges filed by Smith include conspiracy and obstruction.
But a report in the Gateway Pundit is openly asking whether Joe Biden, Merrick Garland and Jack Smith will hold "Democrats to the same standards as Trump?"
As usual, WND is misleading about the money Zuckerberg donated to election efforts in 2020. As we've previously noted, any election office could have gotten that money if they had simply requested it. The fact that some election offices used that money to reach out to voters and help make it easier for them to vote during a pandemic does not mean that money "stole" the election, because it is not illegal to want more people to vote.
Another Aug. 2 article by Unruh touted a writer for the right-wing Federalist hyperbolically claiming that "Jack Smith's court papers name President Donald Trump as the defendant, the DOJ prosecutor actually is coming after the American voter. If they support Trump." Unruh again misleadingly referenced "the $400 million Mark Zuckerberg handed out like candy to various local elections officials, who often used it to recruit voters in Democrat districts." Unruh played gotcha in another article that day:
In a development that has more than a little irony involved, Jack Smith, Joe Biden's point man on the campaign to file charges against President Donald Trump, has admitted he lied in court.
He apparently failed to provide to the defense all of the video material that he was supposed to. And then he said in court that it had been done.
"The government's representation at the July 18 hearing that all surveillance footage the government had obtained pre-indictment had been produced was therefore incorrect," he admitted in a court filing.
Unruh offered no evidence that Smith knowingly "lied"; a statement later found to be incorrect is not necessarily a lie.
Unruh turned his stenographical efforts to Trump himself in yet another article that day, complete with overdramatic introduction:
President Donald Trump right now is in the cross-hairs of the Deep State, the establishment, the power structure, whatever name fits.
The latest is a series of charges from the Department of Justice over his comments made about his belief that the 2020 presidential election was stolen.
In fact, there's significant evidence of wrongdoing, including that the FBI interfered in the election by falsely telling social and legacy media to suppress accurate reporting about the international business scheming of the Biden clan, apparently including both Hunter and Joe.
Essentially, he's been accused of trying to undermine America by challenging the 2020 results.
But it actually was the other side, the Democrats, who actually staged a "de facto coup," he wrote in a commentary at Newsweek.
Trump explains: "The report by Special Counsel John Durham makes clear beyond a shred of doubt that the Russia Hoax was the most atrocious weaponization of our government in American history. It was a crime like no other.
As in all of his articles, alternative points of view were not allowed. In one more article that day, Unruh got even more unhinged, with an assist from Trump:
Joe Biden's Department of Justice is going after his chief political rival in the 2024 presidential race with a vengeance, listing charges that could bring him centuries in prison.
Or even the death penalty.
A report at the Gateway Pundit cited the latest complaint from Jack Smith, of Biden's Department of Justice.
It accuses Trump of conspiracy and obstruction regarding his comments about the results of the 2020 election, that vote influenced by the false claims by the FBI, to media outlets, that the reporting about the Biden family's international business schemes was Russian disinformation.
Further, Mark Zuckerberg handed over $400 million plus, to local elections officials, who largely used it to recruit voters in Democrat districts.
Trump's response? "With Crooked Joe’s corrupt DOJ having unlawfully INDICTED yours truly yet again, reports indicate that I could now face a combined 561 YEARS in prison from the Left’s witch hunts. 6 LIFETIMES…"
Trump explained, "There’s only ONE MESSAGE someone can send by trying to throw you in jail for 6 lifetimes, and that’s FEAR. The fear that if you vote for the ONLY candidate who puts you FIRST, you too could be harassed, indicted, and even ARRESTED by the current Marxist regime in Washington."
Peter LaBarbera served up his contribution to the cause by attacking the judge who will be handling this particular indictment, Tanya Chutkan, whom he described in the headline as a "left-wing activist" who "gave serious campaign donations to Obama" -- but he cited only a $1,500 donation she gave to an Obama-related PAC "during the Democrat's first presidential run," before she became a federal judge. LaBarbera's evidence that Chutkan is a "left-wing activist" is just as thin, largely through guilt by association with a law firm where she once worked and has supported abortion rights, which led her to call her "somewhat of a ... zealot" on the issue. He also didn't like that she allegedly gave out "very harsh punishments to J6 prisoners who protested the 2020 election."
Unruh returned for more Trump stenography in an Aug. 4 article, with additional dishonesty about what Trump was charged with:
President Donald Trump, indicted yet again by Joe Biden's Department of Justice for having and expressing his own beliefs about the 2020 election in a move that has left analysts gasping for breath at the First Amendment violations it would demand, wants the Supreme Court to become involved.
Because the repeated attacks by the Biden DOJ on Biden's primary opposition in the 2024 election are "election interference."
Trump, in fact, on Truth Social social media, said, "CRAZY! My political opponent has hit me with a barrage of weak lawsuits, including, D.A., A.G., and others, which require massive amounts of my time & money to adjudicate. Resources that would have gone into Ads and Rallies, will now have to be spent fighting these Radical Left Thugs in numerous courts throughout the Country. I am leading all Polls, including against Crooked Joe, but this is not a level playing field.
"It is Election Interference & the Supreme Court must intercede. MAGA!"
Unruh went on to write that "Many analysts explain the series of cases against Trump by Biden's DOJ is just a way to try to remove him from the race, giving Biden a better chance at re-election." As usual, no dissenting views were allowed.
