Sat Jan 19, 2019, 01:17 PM
Star Member cynatnite (29,976 posts)
There is a lot of blame to go around for the Buzzfeed story...
Jason Leopold and Anthony Cormier, because I have doubts they did enough to vet their sources.
Trump, because he lies on a minute by minute basis. Considering how much he screams witch hunt, calls the press the enemy of the people and the witness intimidation this story was seen as quite possibly being true with his history. Even after the negative publicity surrounding this story, I'm still more inclined to believe that tRump did in fact tell, push or encourage Cohen to lie. All of which is still illegal, including knowing that he was going to lie.
Mueller's Office. They have let their filings do all the talking for them and rather than keeping anyone's expectations in check, they have said next to nothing about their investigation or it's progress. Then in the evening hours they release a statement undercutting this story.
In the ironies of all ironies, tRump and rudy have jumped on the statement and act like Mueller is a stand-up guy despite their maligning of him for the last couple of years.
Lastly, Buzzfeed. Yes, I put a good share of the blame on them. If they ever wanted to be considered a reliable news source, this story and the doubts raised has pretty much pulled that rug out from under them. I do think that in the aftermath of the last big bombshell story about the penthouse for Putin, that they grew overconfident and may not have pushed to have the story more thoroughly vetted.
It's understandable that after a series of successes, they would grow more confident and see themselves as a legit news. Going to the main page, the top banner leads with an article about TV shows to be excited about. The article of Buzzfeed standing by their story is off to the right and in much smaller print.
My guess is they'll stand by the story and hope the questions surrounding it go away and it will for a little while until Cohen testifies on Feb. 7th.
With tRump in the WH, believing the worst is almost second nature, but what happened here does far more damage than it ever could help.
At this point, all anyone can hope for is that Cohen talks about his conversations with tRump regarding his past testimony.
If I were an editor at Buzzfeed, I think I would tell Leopold and Comier to go back to their sources, push for more info, get more evidence one way or the other and rewrite the story.
They should do it for the sake of the truth. It's better for the story to be rewritten with a more thorough accounting even if it means backing off of their main claim, for the sake of their credibility and for that of Buzzfeed's.
There is too much at stake. They have to get it right.
Just my two cents.
https://www.democraticunderground.com/100211694986Response to cynatnite (Original post)Sat Jan 19, 2019, 01:19 PM
manor321 (2,035 posts)
1. Buzzfeed contacted Mueller's team ahead of time and got no response.
Then, 22+ hours after publication, Mueller's spokesman writes a short vague statement.
The problem is on Mueller's side.
The primitives are blaming Mueller for the Buzzfeed Fitzmas screwup, like he had something to do with it.
They are really going to come unglued when Mueller's years long witch hunt peters out and Donald Trump is still president after all is said and done. When that day comes they won't be posting anymore pictures of Mueller from when he was a handsome, studly young buck over in Viet Nam, they are going to be posting memes of Mueller that accentuate his floppy jowls or some other unflattering physical feature.
When this is over, the leftists are going to lash out at Mueller--House democrat investigation, the whole schmear. It's already starting now.
