From the department of YOU HAVE ONE JOB, comes yet another tale of a merry band of reporters who don’t give a damn about actual reporting.
Wednesday night, Fox News host Sean Hannity criticized special counselor Robert Mueller and the double standards involved in federal investigations. During this particular segment, Hannity suggested that if those under investigation by Mueller’s team erased data, phones, and servers like Hillary did, they’d be in a heckuva lot more trouble.
Somehow, this completely innocuous comparison, one made by right-leaning pundits a gazillion times a day (on average) turned into “Hannity suggested witnesses illegally destroy evidence! BURN THE WITCH!”
First the segment:
Next, the transcript:
“Meanwhile as the Mueller witch hunt churns on, the special counsel — this is interesting. They are demanding that witnesses turn in their phones so Team Mueller — and of course, his pit bull Andrew Weissmann and Jeannie Rhee, who worked for Clinton, get to review all of their electronic communications.”He wants the phones turned over. Even texts that are on what are called encrypted apps like WhatsApp or Signal or one of these things. And they need Mueller’s witnesses … I don’t know.”If I were to advise to follow Hillary Clinton’s lead: Delete all your emails and then acid-wash the emails on the hard drives and your phones, then take your phones and bash them with a hammer to little itsy-bitsy pieces, use BleachBit, remove the SIM cards, and then take the pieces and hand them over to Robert Mueller and say: ‘Hillary Rodham Clinton, this is equal justice under the law.'”How do you think that would work out for everybody who Mueller’s demanding their phones of tonight? I’m certain the result would not be the same as Hillary’s.”
Business Insider hilariously reported this story seriously, including the penalty for tampering with evidence:
Destroying or altering evidence is a criminal offense under US federal law and can result in up to 20 years’ imprisonment.
And used the following caption beneath a picture of Hannity:
Sean Hannity, perhaps sarcastically, on Wednesday night urged Robert Mueller’s witnesses to destroy their phones.
“Perhaps sarcastically.”
MSNBC too reported the story as though the question were literal and not to make a point, going so far as to edit out the last bit where Hannity said, “How do you think that would work out for everybody who Mueller’s demanding their phones of tonight? I’m certain the result would not be the same as Hillary’s.”
And for real:
Anyone who ran this story seriously is not a serious person. There is absolutely no way you can honestly watch Hannity’s segment in full and come to the conclusion that Hannity was, in earnest, suggesting witnesses destroy evidence.
A year and a half after her embarrassing national loss and the media are still circling the wagons around Hillary. At this point, it’s just sad.
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