Following the big bombshell story from the New York Times and its leak of President Trump’s taxes, we have some goalpost-moving by Colorado Rep. Brianna Titone:
I don't think anyone was expecting to find massive fraud or ties to Russia. It proves he owes hundreds of millions to foreign banks which is a liability and a national security risk. It proves is that he's #DonTheCon.
— Rep Brianna Titone – COHD27 (@BriannaForCO) September 28, 2020
“I don’t think anyone was expecting to find massive fraud or ties to Russia.” Oh, really? Because here’s Drew Holden with another one of his fantastic threads rounding up the usual suspects and their belief that Trump was hiding his taxes because of illicit connections with Russia.
?Thread?
The biggest news out of NYT’s “bombshell” on Trump’s taxes is that it has flattened a conspiracy theory among Democrats & the media, popular in 2016-17, that Trump was hiding his taxes because of an illicit connection to Russia.
I’ve got some apology candidates? pic.twitter.com/ocaUikb1yT
— Drew Holden (@DrewHolden360) September 28, 2020
You may remember that, back when “Russian collusion“ was the talk of the town, countless pieces and tweets surmised that Trump hadn’t released his taxes because they would be filled with Russian connections.
Well, they weren’t. Wonder if we’ll get any follow up from @ewarren? pic.twitter.com/9doCcYdWPX
— Drew Holden (@DrewHolden360) September 28, 2020
“What are you hiding in your taxes, Donald Trump? Russia ties?”
Or perhaps @HillaryClinton, who made this conspiracy theory a component of her 2016 campaign, will be interested in following up? pic.twitter.com/idb4sLU1Re
— Drew Holden (@DrewHolden360) September 28, 2020
Or perhaps we’ll hear something new from @ChrisMurphyCT, who pushed this line more than perhaps any elected official?
I’m sure that @maddow, @allinwithchris or anyone else at @MSNBC would always be happy to have him back on, Senator. pic.twitter.com/2s6Vng49YP
— Drew Holden (@DrewHolden360) September 28, 2020
Or maybe @RonWyden would like to follow up on his letter request, now that we know the dastardly contents of Trump’s taxes? pic.twitter.com/UfHKumTLpV
— Drew Holden (@DrewHolden360) September 28, 2020
Et tu, @DickDurbin? pic.twitter.com/4Qp6DYTfu4
— Drew Holden (@DrewHolden360) September 28, 2020
It wasn’t just in the Senate either. Here’s @SpeakerPelosi pushing the same entirely unverified claim. pic.twitter.com/UPvOnqKqfL
— Drew Holden (@DrewHolden360) September 28, 2020
I don’t think it’s a stretch to say that @RepMaxineWaters may be the most unhinged member of Congress. pic.twitter.com/DDzVXen0yd
— Drew Holden (@DrewHolden360) September 28, 2020
Not an exaggeration to say the Dems were unified in pushing this allegation without evidence. Here’s @TheDemocrats. pic.twitter.com/ni4ezr3QFd
— Drew Holden (@DrewHolden360) September 28, 2020
But it wasn’t just the Dems. The media put together countless think pieces and investigations and whimsical musings on this subject, too, that went up in smoke.
Come take a bow, @CNN. pic.twitter.com/zMNarXNFO9
— Drew Holden (@DrewHolden360) September 28, 2020
That’s the way to do it, journalists … put your accusation into the form of a question and then do a piece about the hypothetical wrongdoing.
@Politico wasn’t all that far behind them. pic.twitter.com/StvFzwL23U
— Drew Holden (@DrewHolden360) September 28, 2020
We sure are seeing the word “could” a lot here.
I’m exactly zero percent surprised to see that chief Russian collusion cheerleader @MSNBC got in on this one. Also featuring @KatyTurNBC and @TimOBrien. pic.twitter.com/ncnDtCyDwQ
— Drew Holden (@DrewHolden360) September 28, 2020
Yet another allegation framed as a question that the American public was supposedly asking.
More of the same here from @abcnews, with another special shout out to @HillaryClinton. pic.twitter.com/EmISyLjKWs
— Drew Holden (@DrewHolden360) September 28, 2020
Both @thedailybeast and the funny men got involved on this one, too.
Does anyone remember the discourse? I remember the discourse. pic.twitter.com/nWoY61Mmyy
— Drew Holden (@DrewHolden360) September 28, 2020
And you had @HuffPost being, well, Huff Post. pic.twitter.com/hHRsPr1fpC
— Drew Holden (@DrewHolden360) September 28, 2020
But the real champions here are the blue check big thinkers.
We’ll start out with the gold standard in bad takes, @JRubinBlogger. pic.twitter.com/eMtT5GwyVR
— Drew Holden (@DrewHolden360) September 28, 2020
She may have been outdone here by @keithboykin. pic.twitter.com/VbuP2lwmqB
— Drew Holden (@DrewHolden360) September 28, 2020
No left-wing conspiracy theory would be complete without @SethAbramson.
I read the 30 tweets before this (and plenty after it) so that you didn’t have to. pic.twitter.com/ofCcZLg7o4
— Drew Holden (@DrewHolden360) September 28, 2020
Where Russian conspiracy theories go, the NeverTrump gang are always quick to follow. Here’s @BillKristol pic.twitter.com/PgeAjAGG5G
— Drew Holden (@DrewHolden360) September 28, 2020
Here’s @Eugene_Robinson from @washingtonpost, who has always been quick to tout Russian related conspiracies. pic.twitter.com/I9N5hITeIp
— Drew Holden (@DrewHolden360) September 28, 2020
There’s that word “could” again and a headline in the form of a question — stellar reporting. How about this: As journalists, you find out first, and then tell the rest of us the facts?
And no thread of Russian bullshit could be complete without @juliaioffe. pic.twitter.com/5ThM6NlefD
— Drew Holden (@DrewHolden360) September 28, 2020
Beautiful thread.
— marthadurham (@marthadurham512) September 29, 2020
Great Read ? pic.twitter.com/jAfGtlp4r3
— Diann Gatlim (@DGatlim) September 29, 2020
And now everyone’s pretending that Trump’s supposed financial ties to Russia weren’t the point of contention.
Related:
Unlike Biden, Trump didn’t profit from his office: List of what Trump’s tax returns ACTUALLY debunks Russia collusion hoax and much more https://t.co/DChHhCrAJL
— Twitchy Team (@TwitchyTeam) September 28, 2020
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