**Written by Doug Powers
When I saw an ABC News report early Friday about “candidate” Trump supposedly ordering Michael Flynn to contact Russia before the election, I said to myself “it’s Brian Ross — wait for the real story to come out.” And sure enough:
ABC News issued a correction Friday on a report published earlier in the day that stated former National Security Advisor Michael Flynn was instructed by President Trump to contact Russians while Trump was still a candidate.
Instead, the “clarification” noted that Trump’s request came after the election – a significant detail as Trump would have been transitioning from campaign mode to preparing for the start of his administration.
“Significant detail” indeed. How’s this for a “clarification”?
Clarification: During a live Special Report, ABC News reported that a confidant of Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn said Flynn was prepared to testify that then-candidate Donald Trump instructed him to contact Russian officials during the campaign. That source later clarified that during the campaign, Trump assigned Flynn and a small circle of other senior advisers to find ways to repair relations with Russia and other hot spots. It was shortly after the election, that President-elect Trump directed Flynn to contact Russian officials on topics that included working jointly against ISIS.
The original Brian Ross report pushing the “collusion” angle really implodes when it’s discovered that if Trump had Flynn contact Russia, it was after the election. It’s kind of difficult to “collude” with Russia to win an election after the election has taken place, but this is ABC News we’re talking about, and they’ve got a narrative to push.
I’m still laughing at the “clarification” part. They spelled “retraction” wrong:
CLARIFICATION of ABC News Special Report: Flynn prepared to testify that President-elect Donald Trump directed him to make contact with the Russians *during the transition* — initially as a way to work together to fight ISIS in Syria, confidant now says. https://t.co/ewrkVZBTbc pic.twitter.com/GQAKwT1Eda
— ABC News (@ABC) December 2, 2017
Chicago Daily Tribune, 1948: “Clarification: Yesterday we reported ‘Dewey Defeats Truman.’ It was actually the other way around. We stand by the other details in our report.”
Trump really has driven the media into the toilet.
Also, sometimes “fake news” comes at a literal price for some:
The initial report caused the Dow to initially plunge by some 350 points.
Way to go, ABC News! Next they’ll probably feature the drop in a report about why Trump’s bad for the market.
**Written by Doug Powers
Twitter @ThePowersThatBe
