‘He Never Wavered’; Networks Trumpet Jack Smith on the Hill Amid Trump ‘Threat’

On Thursday night and Friday morning, the broadcast networks of ABC, CBS, and NBC welcomed former special counsel Jack Smith like a conquering hero as he sat for a “fiery” and “tense” hearing, but had “no regrets” and “never wavered” in wanting to protect “the rule of law” from Donald Trump and Republicans wanting to level a “threat of retribution.”

CBS’s Scott MacFarlane — who eats, sleeps, and breathes anything January 6 — was on the case for Thursday’s CBS Evening News:

“With four police officers who helped stop the attack in the front row, Smith and Democrats blasted what they call a whitewashing of history by Trump and Republicans,” MacFarlane gushed.

And, on Smith’s mass seizure of years worth of Republican phone records under the guise of wanting to find communications about challenging the 2020 election results, MacFarlane leapt to his defense:

Republicans accused Smith of overreaching by seeking phone data from lawmakers who were allegedly targeted by Trump to help install fake electors...Smith said those records were reviewed because Trump and his allies called those lawmakers while trying to stop the election from being certified.

MacFarlane returned for Friday’s CBS Mornings with a nearly identical piece except for the part about the White House website on January 6, thus leaving zero doubt he included it as a jab at Dokoupil (or was given the clear to appease the liberal media meltdowns about how the newscast handled the anniversary).

Thursday’s World News Tonight included this cheap shot of a tease from ABC anchor David Muir:

ABC put longtime Justice correspondent Pierre Thomas on the case:

As a diversion from discussing the probe, Thomas boasted of one House Democrat going off about GOP hypocrisy on January 6: “Democratic Congressman Jared Moskowitz, among those defending Smith, claiming hypocrisy by many Republicans who he claimed changed their view of January 6.”

He later concluded with more fluff: “DOJ is reviewing how Smith handled his cases against President Trump. We await those findings. But today, Smith was defiant, saying I will not be intimidated.”

On Friday’s Good Morning America, Thomas largely re-racked his previous package (except for a few tweaks), but this time was tossed to by 20/20 co-host Deborah Roberts: “Well, now to Capitol Hill and heated testimony by former special counsel Jack Smith, who was grilled by the GOP-led House Judiciary Committee over his investigations of President Trump.”

Thomas gushed that “[i]n dramatic, five-hour hearing facing sustained attacks from Republicans, Jack Smith went on the offensive...[d]espite death threats and being personally attacked by President Trump” and “flatly declar[ed] that his investigation found ‘proof beyond a reasonable doubt’ that President Trump committed crimes.”

NBC was so excited about Smith they gave two different correspondents the chance to script their words of affirmation.

After NBC Nightly News anchor Tom Llamas invoked “that fiery hearing” Thursday in which Smith “did not back down” despite being “grilled by Republicans,” senior Capitol Hill correspondent Ryan Nobles defended the “career prosecutor” as he’s “been a target of Republicans since his two indictments of Trump[.]”

“In a tense hearing, Republicans accused Smith of spying on members of Congress by unlawfully seeking their phone records,” Nobles said, adding “police officers on duty during January 6” were in the room with “one tangling with a Trump-supporting protester.”

Because he’s a psychopath, Nobles refused to name him, but we will: Michael Fanone.

Nobles then asked Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan (R-OH) if it’s “appropriate” for President Trump to call for Smith to be investigated by the Justice Department and, back on the voice-overs, said Smith “is taking seriously” that “threat.”

“It’s not clear what if any charges the Department of Justice might bring against Jack Smith. His appearance here today made it clear he’s not afraid of any potential prosecution,” he concluded.

For Friday’s Today, NBC turned to longtime correspondent Kelly O’Donnell. Notice at the one-minute-and-39-second mark another unnamed citation of Fanone:

On that last point from the X post, here were O’Donnell’s thoughts in full: “Smith made a larger point, too [in the hearing], saying he believed his investigation was necessary for the sake of the rule of law. If the most powerful are not held to account, that sends a message to others, and he says puts our democracy at risk.”

To see the relevant transcripts from January 22, click here (for ABC), here (for CBS), and here (for NBC). To see the relevant transcripts from January 23, click here (for ABC), here (for CBS), and here (for NBC).