CNN's 'Fact Checkers' Avoid the Facts to Rally Around Biden

January 13th, 2024 4:00 PM

This week, after his court appearance in New York where he is being prosecuted by New York Democrat Attorney General Letitia James, former President Donald Trump said in an appearance before cameras: 

My legal issues, every one of them, civil and the criminal ones, are all set up by Joe Biden … they’re doing it for election interference.

Well, that wouldn't sit well with liberals. CNN promptly stepped forward with this headline: 

Fact Check: Donald Trump repeats false claims about his legal troubles after closing arguments in civil trial

Specifically, CNN “Fact Checker” Marshall Cohen wrote this: 

He also peddled the baseless conspiracy theory that President Joe Biden is pulling the strings and personally initiated the civil and criminal cases that he’s facing as a way to undermine Trump’s presidential campaign.

Say what? CNN believes what Trump said about Biden “pulling the strings” and pressuring his Attorney General to prosecute him is a "baseless conspiracy theory"??? 

Really? Not according to this story as headlined in a site named “Analyzing America” - which in turn was focused on a story in the New York Times. The headline: 

Resurfaced NYT Report Says Joe Biden Pressured Merrick Garland To Prosecute Donald Trump 

The reference is to this New York Times story from April of 2022 that was headlined: 

Garland Faces Growing Pressure as Jan. 6 Investigation Widens

The inquiry is a test for President Biden and Attorney General Merrick B. Garland, who both came into office promising to restore the Justice Department’s independence.

It should be obvious to everyone that Biden's Justice Department isn't independent, and that its "independent" counsel Jack Smith has been trying to convict Trump of something before November. That story said this, bold print for emphasis supplied: 

The attorney general’s deliberative approach has come to frustrate Democratic allies of the White House and, at times, President Biden himself. As recently as late last year, Mr. Biden confided to his inner circle that he believed former President Donald J. Trump was a threat to democracy and should be prosecuted, according to two people familiar with his comments. And while the president has never communicated his frustrations directly to Mr. Garland, he has said privately that he wanted Mr. Garland to act less like a ponderous judge and more like a prosecutor who is willing to take decisive action over the events of Jan. 6.

All of which is to say that, per the New York Times, President Biden had made clear to Garland that Trump “was a threat to democracy and should be prosecuted.”

And that is exactly what the Biden Justice Department is doing. 

Which is to say, contrary to the CNN “Fact Check”, Trump was not putting out any “baseless conspiracy theory” about Biden “pulling the strings” in getting Trump prosecuted. 

Anyone who has worked for a President -- and I have -- knows that whatever the President wants accomplished can easily be communicated in any manner of ways and understood by the crowd of White House staffers and Cabinet officials. Biden never had to communicate directly to his Attorney General. He can use aides -- or reporters who act like aides -- to do it. 

Recall this news from New York Post columnist Miranda Devine. 

After a recent speech demonizing Trump again, Biden was caught by a microphone as he whispered to First Lady Jill Biden:

I understand power.

Exactly. Biden, after over 50 years in Washington and whatever one thinks of him, does indeed understand power in Washington D.C.

He of all people would know that there is no need for him to pick up the phone, call Attorney General Garland directly and tell him to prosecute Trump. All he has to do is exactly what he did do. Express his wishes about prosecuting Trump through a story in the Times

Again, the Times reported that Biden “confided to his inner circle that he believed former President Donald J. Trump was a threat to democracy and should be prosecuted.” 

That was enough, once leaked to the New York Times, for the message of what Biden wanted done to get through to Garland. Not to mention when the Times also said that:

The attorney general’s deliberative approach has come to frustrate Democratic allies of the White House and, at times, President Biden himself.

Which is to say, the Attorney General got the message. Directly from The New York Times. The President wanted Trump prosecuted. The President was frustrated this had not yet happened. 

The message about what Biden wanted, once received, got through to the Attorney General. And Garland has complied.

While this incident is a small one in terms of media reliability, it illustrates exactly how the left-wing media covers for Biden while supposedly “Fact Checking” Trump. 

Which is to say: Trump was right and CNN was wrong. But CNN cares less about being right than about being reliably anti-Trump.