NBC broke the story about a “potential bombshell” regarding the so-called Trump / Russia collusion last week, saying “Manafort Notes From Russian Meet Contain Cryptic Reference to ‘Donations,” which revolved around Manafort’s notes of a Trump Tower meeting involving Trump Jr, Jared Kushner, and a Russian lawyer. The word “donations” was considered especially telling.
Almost immediately, they begin backpedaling on this “bombshell”, even releasing a correction the very same day stating that the word “donation” did not actually appear in Manafort’s notes. As you may have noticed, none of the Trump / Russia crap has held up at all and it won’t. There’s nothing there… to quote one CNN anchor, “it’s a nothing burger”.
What do you think of this latest reveal? Will all the collusion claims fall apart?
As reported by The Daily Caller:
NBC’s corrected story still wasn’t accurate, according to a new Politico report, which said that the word “donor” didn’t appear in Manafort’s notes. Moreover, Manafort’s notes “are not seen as damaging to the Trump family or campaign officials,” Politico reported. The outlet cited several sources who have seen Manafort’s notes, while NBC relied on “two sources briefed on the evidence” to make its claim.
Even before Politico fully debunked NBC’s reporting, the network’s decision to publish the story came under fire. The day after NBC originally published the story, The Washington Post’s Erik Wemple criticized the story, which he said “provides only fodder for innuendo and conspiracy, not for sound conclusions about what happened.”
NBC News’ botched “bombshell” is just the latest anonymously sourced Trump-Russia story to fall apart.
CNN was forced to rewrite a story in June that claimed that former FBI Director James Comey’s Senate testimony would refute President Trump’s assertion that Comey reassured him three times that he was not under investigation. In fact, Comey confirmed Trump’s account.