Former DNC chair Debbie Wasserman Schultz is at the center of a scandal involving her former IT staffer.
We covered the scandal in recent posts:
But you’d never know there was a scandal by the amount of time the mainstream media spends talking about it. Tim Graham reports at News Busters:
Major Newspapers Ignore or Downplay Imran Awan-Wasserman Schultz ScandalIt’s not just the TV networks that are ignoring or downplaying the Imran Awan-Debbie Wasserman Schultz scandal. The nation’s newspapers are barely getting their feet wet. A quick Nexis search shows The New York Times and the Los Angeles Times have yet to report it, while The Washington Post and USA Today just reported smaller stories in Thursday’s papers. The Post offered 429 words on page B-3, and USA Today reported just 323 words on page B-6. At least that was the back page of the B-section and included a photo of Wasserman Schultz.Still, both headlines avoided the D-word. The USA Today headline was “IT Worker for Congresswoman Arrested.” The Washington Post headline was “House staffer charged with equity-loan fraud.” As Tom Blumer noted, the AP covered this story. One headline was especially galling: “Florida lawmaker fires IT staffer; Anti-Muslim bigotry is cause of client’s arrest, lawyer says.”
Does anyone doubt this story would be getting much more aggressive coverage if Wasserman Schultz was a Republican, or a member of the Trump administration?
When anyone in the media does cover the story, the spin applied to the story is epic.
Holmes Lybrand reports at the Daily Caller:
Media Ditches Substance Of Wasserman Schultz FBI Boondoggle To Focus On Conspiracy TheoriesThe Daily Caller News Foundation’s Investigative Group reporter Luke Rosiak, who has covered this story extensively since it first appeared in February, broke the news Sunday that “FBI agents seized smashed computer hard drives from the home of Florida Democratic Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz’s information technology (IT) administrator, according to two sources with knowledge of the investigation.”The NYT and BuzzFeed fail to mention this and many other key facts in recent articles, and Snopes obfuscates the story by rating a claim from a no-name blog as false, requiring the reader to dig through the fact check to find the truth…A NYT article Friday dedicates the vast majority of its space to casting doubt on stories surrounding Awan by using his lawyer, Christopher Gowen, as a reputable defense for Awan. Not only does the NYT ignore Gowen’s deep ties to Clinton, which TheDCNF has reported in detail, but the article also attempts to cast doubt by citing theories from a no-name conspiracy theorist who supports Independent Sen. Bernie Sanders (though NYT calls him a “right winger”).
Meanwhile, members of congress have made it clear that they’re very interested in talking to Wasserman Schultz and getting an opportunity to ask a few questions.
Adam Kredo writes at the Washington Free Beacon:
Congress Seeks Wasserman Schultz Testimony in IT Scandal InvestigationCongressional leaders are interested in conducting their own independent investigation into a growing scandal surrounding IT staffers working for Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D., Fla.), who are accused of stealing sensitive computer equipment from House lawmakers’ offices.One of these IT staffers, Imran Awan, was arrested this week when trying to travel to Pakistan and charged with bank fraud after a months-long investigation that found he wired nearly $300,000 to that country. Several other staffers tied to Awan are the focus of an investigation into claims they stole sensitive equipment and illegally penetrated the House IT network.Leading members of the House Judiciary Committee and Government Oversight Committee told the Washington Free Beacon that the appropriate congressional bodies should launch an investigation into the illicit IT activity, which could include asking for testimony from Wasserman Schultz on the situation.
This was a perfect opportunity for the media to prove they’re not as biased as people think.
They blew it.
CLICK HERE FOR FULL VERSION OF THIS STORY