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Fourth Estate Feeding Frenzy as Jack Smith Report Released

Journalistic standards need not apply.

The Department of Justice released Volume 1 of its final report into the case against President-elect Donald Trump and his alleged attempts to overturn the 2020 election. Prosecutor Jack Smith’s 174-page report details his motivation and “confidence” in the validity of his evidence. Naturally, the legacy media was enthused to have more ammunition against Trump, but what appears to be missing from the Fourth Estate narrative is that this was just one side of the argument. In reality, at least 50% of cases prepared (either in defense or prosecution) must by the nature of the judicial system be ultimately proved false.

A Headline Generator

The top headline on the digital edition of The New York Times this morning, January 14, proclaims “Special Counsel Report Says Trump Would Have Been Convicted in Election Case.” Well, of course it would! What prosecutor would spend millions of taxpayer dollars and countless man-hours to release a report that says “Trump would have beaten the charges we’ve tried to push”? That the paper of record would lead with a “grass is green” above-the-fold story smacks of narrative creation rather than serious examination.

Smith’s “recounting of the case also served as a reminder of the vast array of evidence and detailed accounting of Mr. Trump’s actions that he had marshalled,” the Times writes. Again, there is an omission here that Smith’s case was never actually prosecuted. Should Donald Trump’s lawyers rebut with their own report, would such “evidence” and “accounts” be spoken of with such stridency?

It should be noted that it was Jack Smith’s “confidence” that ultimately saw his unlawful prosecution of former Virginia Governor Bob McDonnell (and his wife) back in 2014 unanimously overturned by the US Supreme Court in 2016.

CNN posed a similarly slanted headline: “Special counsel report condemns Trump’s ‘criminal efforts to retain power’ in 2020.” The fig leaf of quotation marks around “criminal efforts” puts a heavy weight on the heart of the story. The CNN reporting continues:

“It contains a factual recitation of Trump’s attempts to overturn the 2020 election, including his ‘pressure on state officials,’ the ‘fraudulent electors plan,’ his ‘pressure on the Vice President’ Mike Pence, and a section on how Trump’s supporters attacked the US Capitol on January 6.”

Again, the word “factual” suggests that any actions taken by Trump and his colleagues are beyond dispute and unchallenged.

Smith Fails to Make the Point

When presented with just one side of a prosecution, all the evidence appears damning – because of course it does! No prosecutor will include exculpatory evidence in his report; to do so would defeat the entire point of the prosecution.

There’s an old, but appropriate saying regarding Grand Juries and their willingness to even indict a ham sandwich. And this was the course that Smith’s investigation followed. He gathered evidence that was compelling to his case, ignored that which was not, and presented it to a grand jury to determine whether or not to proceed. The jury gave the go ahead, and Smith and his team began making a case. That case was never tried in a court of law, and no jury heard a rebuttal.

Smith’s case may have been watertight. And it may have crumbled at first blush. Or, like Bob McDonnell, it may have been initially successful and then overturned. His confidence in exhibiting his case is entirely what a prosecutor should demonstrate. But that the Fourth Estate was so eager to embrace what is the epitome of a one-sided presentation speaks volumes on what the American public can expect over the next four years.

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Liberty Nation does not endorse candidates, campaigns, or legislation, and this presentation is no endorsement.

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