Buzzfeed — the same outlet that first published the largely debunked and discredited Christopher Steele dossier in 2016 — released yet another anti-Trump “bombshell” story on Thursday that was revealed to be a complete dud less than 24 hours later. That story alleged that Robert Mueller’s special counsel investigation had evidence that President Donald Trump had instructed former attorney Michael Cohen to lie to Congress.
Much of the media ran wild with the story for the day, speculating broadly about the impeachment or resignation that could result from the story “if true” (no other media outlet could confirm Buzzfeed’s “scoop”) — that is, until a spokesman for Mueller released a surprising statement totally debunking the Buzzfeed allegation, and insiders like a New York Times source close to the Mueller probe confirmed that Buzzfeed’s story was wrong.
The Times contradicts Buzzfeed report
The New York Times — who somewhat surprisingly refrained from jumping on the “we’ve got him now!” bandwagon with the Buzzfeed story — released a story of their own Friday night that cited an anonymous insider “familiar with” Cohen’s testimony to the special counsel, who suggested that Cohen had never said that Trump had instructed him to lie to Congress.
“The New York Times has not independently confirmed the BuzzFeed report,” the article from The Times noted. “One person familiar with Mr. Cohen’s testimony to the special counsel’s prosecutors said that Mr. Cohen did not state that the president had pressured him to lie to Congress.”
The Times also shared the official statement released by a spokesman for Mueller’s investigation, Peter Carr, who said:
BuzzFeed’s description of specific statements to the special counsel’s office, and characterization of documents and testimony obtained by this office, regarding Michael Cohen’s congressional testimony are not accurate.
The Times further noted: “The statement by Mr. Carr, the special counsel’s spokesman, was unusual because it appeared to be the first time he had publicly challenged the facts of a news media account that had generated significant attention for its revelations about the president.”
A significant rebuttal
There was indeed “significant attention” given to the Buzzfeed story — and not just by the typical Trump-hating media outlets and personalities.
A number of elected Democrat officials, many of whom seemed to almost salivate at the mere thought that the president had finally been caught committing an impeachable offense — in this case, actual obstruction of justice by virtue of suborned perjury — also made note of the story in TV appearances and on social media.
But just as “significant” as the attention paid to the Buzzfeed story was the rebuttal it received from the Mueller probe, which — as duly noted by the Times — hasn’t exactly been outspoken in the past about knocking down the many “fake news” bombshells that have proven to be duds over the past year or so.
Rare skepticism from the NYT
Perhaps as surprising as the Mueller probe statement was the restraint shown by the Times in choosing not to run with the Buzzfeed story, which was noted by National Review‘s Kyle Smith before the Times ran their report undercutting Buzzfeed’s article.
After first laying out how these big bombshell stories usually are treated by the rest of the media — they first “pickup” the initial report while quietly attempting to “match” it with their own reports — Smith noted that “the New York Times’ response has been not what I would have expected. So far, on its site, the only indication I can find that the Times even acknowledges that the BuzzFeed story exists is this Associated Press story, which doesn’t even pop up on the main page or the politics page.”
Smith further noted that The Washington Post had several stories based on the Buzzfeed bombshell on their main page, and revealed that he knew reporters for the Times were working to “match” the original story. “But in the meantime,” he wrote, “you would expect them to at least run a big story on the homepage saying, ‘Report claims Trump directed Cohen to lie to Congress.’ They haven’t done that. To me that says the New York Times is skeptical about either this story in particular, or BuzzFeed in general, or both.”
[show_poll poll_id=1283]
Skepticism is a good way to treat most of the “bombshell” anti-Trump stories that come out every week or so, as the overwhelming majority of them quickly prove to be non-explosive duds, or worse: manufactured “fake news.”
Skepticism toward Buzzfeed is especially good, as well, given their prior track record of publishing unverified and uncorroborated “fake news” about the president — something the Times seemed to get this time, while the rest of the media eagerly took the bait and ran with it.
499 Responses
A motivating discussion is worth comment. I believe that you need to publish more about this subject, it may not be a taboo matter but usually people don’t speak about these topics. To the next! Cheers!!
Hi, i think that i saw you visited my site so i came to return the favor.I’m trying to find things to improve my website!I suppose its ok to use some of your ideas!!
Hey there! I just want to give you a big thumbs up for your great info you have here on this post. I am returning to your website for more soon.
Im impressed, I must say. Actually rarely do I encounter a blog thats each educative and entertaining, and let me inform you, you will have hit the nail on the head. Your thought is excellent; the difficulty is something that not enough persons are speaking intelligently about. I am very glad that I stumbled across this in my search for one thing relating to this.
This site was… how do you say it? Relevant!! Finally I have found something which helped me. Kudos!
Valuable information. Lucky me I found your web site by accident, and I am shocked why this accident didn’t happened earlier! I bookmarked it.
There’s certainly a great deal to find out about this issue. I really like all the points you made.
Very good post! We are linking to this great content on our website. Keep up the great writing.
There’s definately a lot to learn about this issue. I really like all of the points you have made.
Hello! I could have sworn I’ve been to this website before but after browsing through some of the post I realized it’s new to me. Anyhow, I’m definitely glad I found it and I’ll be bookmarking and checking back frequently!
It’s hard to come by experienced people on this subject, but you seem like you know what you’re talking about! Thanks
I used to be able to find good info from your blog posts.
Write more, thats all I have to say. Literally, it seems as though you relied on the video to make your point. You clearly know what youre talking about, why waste your intelligence on just posting videos to your site when you could be giving us something enlightening to read?
Greetings! Very helpful advice in this particular post! It is the little changes that will make the biggest changes. Thanks a lot for sharing!
An interesting discussion is definitely worth comment. I do think that you should write more about this subject matter, it may not be a taboo matter but usually folks don’t discuss these issues. To the next! Best wishes!!
This is a topic which is near to my heart… Thank you! Where are your contact details though?
Everything is very open with a clear clarification of the issues. It was definitely informative. Your website is very helpful. Thank you for sharing!
Thanks for your marvelous posting! I actually enjoyed reading it, you happen to be a great author.I will remember to bookmark your blog and definitely will come back very soon. I want to encourage that you continue your great posts, have a nice evening!
Hmm it appears like your site ate my first comment (it was super long) so I guess I’ll just sum it up what I wrote and say, I’m thoroughly enjoying your blog. I as well am an aspiring blog writer but I’m still new to the whole thing. Do you have any tips for rookie blog writers? I’d certainly appreciate it.
I’m really enjoying the theme/design of your website. Do you ever run into any browser compatibility issues? A handful of my blog audience have complained about my blog not working correctly in Explorer but looks great in Opera. Do you have any recommendations to help fix this issue?
Very nice article. I definitely love this site. Keep it up!
Way cool! Some extremely valid points! I appreciate you penning this write-up plus the rest of the website is also really good.
Spot on with this write-up, I honestly believe this website needs a great deal more attention. I’ll probably be back again to read more, thanks for the info!
You’ve made some good points there. I looked on the internet for additional information about the issue and found most people will go along with your views on this website.
Very good article! We are linking to this particularly great content on our website. Keep up the good writing.
It’s a pity you don’t have a donate button! I’d most certainly donate to this outstanding blog! I suppose for now i’ll settle for bookmarking and adding your RSS feed to my Google account. I look forward to brand new updates and will share this website with my Facebook group. Talk soon!
I needed to thank you for this great read!! I certainly loved every little bit of it. I’ve got you book marked to look at new things you post…
I’m amazed, I have to admit. Rarely do I encounter a blog that’s equally educative and amusing, and without a doubt, you’ve hit the nail on the head. The problem is something that too few people are speaking intelligently about. I’m very happy I found this during my hunt for something regarding this.
I loved as much as you will receive carried out right here. The sketch is attractive, your authored material stylish. nonetheless, you command get got an shakiness over that you wish be delivering the following. unwell unquestionably come further formerly again since exactly the same nearly very often inside case you shield this hike.
Howdy! This post could not be written any better! Looking at this post reminds me of my previous roommate! He always kept preaching about this. I am going to forward this post to him. Pretty sure he will have a great read. I appreciate you for sharing!
Hi! Someone in my Myspace group shared this site with us so I came to check it out. I’m definitely loving the information. I’m book-marking and will be tweeting this to my followers! Excellent blog and terrific design.
This is a topic which is close to my heart… Cheers! Where are your contact details though?
Good article! We will be linking to this particularly great content on our website. Keep up the good writing.
Hi, I do think this is a great website. I stumbledupon it 😉 I will return yet again since I saved as a favorite it. Money and freedom is the best way to change, may you be rich and continue to help other people.
You ought to take part in a contest for one of the greatest sites on the net. I most certainly will highly recommend this web site!
Everything is very open with a clear explanation of the challenges. It was really informative. Your site is very useful. Thank you for sharing!
Good information. Lucky me I found your website by chance (stumbleupon). I have saved as a favorite for later!
I love looking through a post that will make men and women think. Also, many thanks for allowing for me to comment!
When I originally left a comment I seem to have clicked the -Notify me when new comments are added- checkbox and now each time a comment is added I receive four emails with the exact same comment. Is there a way you are able to remove me from that service? Thank you!
The next time I read a blog, Hopefully it does not disappoint me just as much as this particular one. After all, I know it was my choice to read, but I really believed you would have something interesting to talk about. All I hear is a bunch of whining about something that you can fix if you were not too busy searching for attention.