© Reuters / Jonathan Ernst
With Special Counsel Robert Mueller's report clearing President Trump of colluding with Russia to influence the 2016 election, the focus among anti-Trump types in the media and in Washington has now shifted to pushing for access to the full contents of the report, including its underlying evidence. Surely, they argue, there must be a speck of collusion in there somewhere.
Attorney General William Barr, who released a summary of its findings last Monday, has promised to turn over as much of the report as possible, "consistent with applicable law, regulations, and Departmental policies."
According to Maddow, "it's hard to believe" that Mueller would allow Barr - a Trump appointee - to pick through the report himself, deciding what passages need redaction. "They wouldn't leave that to Barr," she said on Sunday night. But Barr, she continued, is doing that "all by himself."
Except he's not. In a letter sent to Congress on Friday, Barr explicitly stated that Mueller is "assisting us" in making these redactions. Even Maddow's own producers flashed this newsline across TV screens, as Maddow argued the opposite.
In the two years Mueller has been investigating Trump, Maddow has stood out as one of the mainstream media's most fervent Russiagate conspiracy theorists, starring in her very own detective thriller every night on live TV. Trump, she said, was "curiously well versed" in "specific Russian talking points." The Kremlin, meanwhile, was running a "continuing operation" to steer the US government from within, and could "flip the switch" at any time if discovered, shutting down the entire US power grid.
As Maddow saw 'Reds under the bed,' MSNBC covered Mueller more than any other cable network, mentioning the investigator-turned-savior of democracy almost every day last year.
Could it be that the network's producers are finally tiring of Maddow's tinfoil-hat proclamations? If so, it's about time.
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