helsinki
<font size="4" face="Times New Roman"></font><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">7/18 premature?</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">tip pt?</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">=</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><div style="font-size: small; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4"></font></div><div style="font-size: small; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><p class="yiv0165278452headline3" times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" serif="serif" font-size="font-size" px="px" color="color" rgb="rgb" background-color="background-color" style="margin: 10px 0px; padding: 0px;"><a rel="nofollow" target="blank" href="https://rawstory.us2.list-manage.com/track/click?u=80b42ecc21f29763320aceb90&id=1bae644758&e=4da1f92934" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); outline: none;">Lanny Davis Explains Why Helsinki Was a 'Significant Turning Point’ in Michael Cohen's Decision to Turn on Trump</a></p><p times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" serif="serif" font-size="font-size" px="px" color="color" rgb="rgb" style="margin: 10px 0px; padding: 0px;">By Travis Gettys, Raw Story</p></div><div style="font-size: small; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><p style="margin: 5px 0px; padding: 5px 0px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">=</font></p></div></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">mmfa</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">defenders</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 13px; -webkit-margin-before: 1em; -webkit-margin-after: 1em; line-height: 1.5em; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">mid bipartisan criticism of President Donald Trump’s capitulation to Russian President Vladimir Putin, some of Trump’s fiercest media allies are standing behind him, even as many of his loyalists defect.</font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 13px; -webkit-margin-before: 1em; -webkit-margin-after: 1em; line-height: 1.5em; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">During a July 16 <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2018/07/16/world/europe/trump-putin-election-intelligence.html" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-color: transparent; text-decoration-line: none; outline: none; border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); font-weight: bold !important;">press conference</a> with his Russian counterpart, Trump questioned the findings of his own intelligence community and legitimized Putin’s false claim that Russia did not meddle in the 2016 election, calling his denial “extremely strong and powerful.” His shameful performance garnered sharp rebukes from <a href="https://www.pbs.org/newshour/politics/how-lawmakers-intelligence-experts-are-reacting-to-trumps-comments-about-russia" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-color: transparent; text-decoration-line: none; outline: none; border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); font-weight: bold !important;">intelligence community veterans</a>, <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2018/jul/16/trump-putin-latest-news-updates-republicans-democrat-response-treason" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-color: transparent; text-decoration-line: none; outline: none; border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); font-weight: bold !important;">Democrats</a>, <a href="http://www.latimes.com/politics/la-na-pol-washington-reacts-helsinki-20180716-story.html" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-color: transparent; text-decoration-line: none; outline: none; border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); font-weight: bold !important;">Republicans</a>, and <a href="https://www.mediamatters.org/blog/2018/07/17/right-wing-media-are-mad-trump-picked-putin-over-us-intelligence-he-was-just-following-their-lead/220703" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-color: transparent; text-decoration-line: none; outline: none; border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); font-weight: bold !important;">even friends</a> of Trump who have defended the president through some of his most egregious slip-ups.</font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 13px; -webkit-margin-before: 1em; -webkit-margin-after: 1em; line-height: 1.5em; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Nonetheless, a group of Trump’s most ardent supporters in the media rejected the overwhelming consensus and defended the president:</font></p><ul style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 10px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><li style="box-sizing: border-box; width: 605px; margin: 0px 0px 5px !important; padding: 0px !important; float: none; border: none; line-height: 1.5em;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Fox's <a href="https://www.mediamatters.org/video/2018/07/17/foxs-jeanine-pirro-what-was-trump-supposed-do-take-gun-out-and-shoot-putin/220699" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-color: transparent; text-decoration-line: none; outline: none; border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); font-weight: bold !important;">Jeanine Pirro</a>: "What was [Trump] supposed to do, take a gun out and shoot Putin?"</font></li><li style="box-sizing: border-box; width: 605px; margin: 0px 0px 5px !important; padding: 0px !important; float: none; border: none; line-height: 1.5em;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Fox host <a href="https://www.mediamatters.org/video/2018/07/16/hannity-praises-trump-during-interview-being-very-strong-end-press-conference/220696" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-color: transparent; text-decoration-line: none; outline: none; border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); font-weight: bold !important;">Sean Hannity</a> praised Trump for being "very strong at the end of the press conference."</font></li><li style="box-sizing: border-box; width: 605px; margin: 0px 0px 5px !important; padding: 0px !important; float: none; border: none; line-height: 1.5em;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Infowars host <a href="https://www.mediamatters.org/video/2018/07/16/infowars-trumps-press-conference-putin-it-just-kept-getting-better-time/220682" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-color: transparent; text-decoration-line: none; outline: none; border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); font-weight: bold !important;">Owen Shroyer</a> on the press conference: "It just kept getting better in time."</font></li><li style="box-sizing: border-box; width: 605px; margin: 0px 0px 5px !important; padding: 0px !important; float: none; border: none; line-height: 1.5em;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Conservative radio host <a href="https://www.mediamatters.org/embed/clips/2018/07/17/60539/fbn-varney-20180717-simone_trump_putin" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-color: transparent; text-decoration-line: none; outline: none; border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); font-weight: bold !important;">Mark Simone</a>: “The whole idea of a summit is to make peace. That’s what he was doing there.”</font></li><li style="box-sizing: border-box; width: 605px; margin: 0px 0px 5px !important; padding: 0px !important; float: none; border: none; line-height: 1.5em;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Fox host <a href="https://www.mediamatters.org/embed/clips/2018/07/17/60532/fnc-ingraham-20180717-trump_putin" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-color: transparent; text-decoration-line: none; outline: none; border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); font-weight: bold !important;">Laura Ingraham</a> admonished “mass hysteria” in reaction to the press conference and downplayed Trump’s performance as involving an “unfortunate word choice.”</font></li><li style="box-sizing: border-box; width: 605px; margin: 0px 0px 5px !important; padding: 0px !important; float: none; border: none; line-height: 1.5em;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Fox’s <a href="https://www.mediamatters.org/embed/clips/2018/07/17/60533/fnc-tucker-20180716-trump_putin" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-color: transparent; text-decoration-line: none; outline: none; border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); font-weight: bold !important;">Tucker Carlson</a> attacked media for their reactions to the press conference and said it seems like politicians critical of Trump’s actions toward Putin and Russia “seek increased conflict with Russia.”</font></li><li style="box-sizing: border-box; width: 605px; margin: 0px 0px 5px !important; padding: 0px !important; float: none; border: none; line-height: 1.5em;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Breitbart’s <a href="https://twitter.com/joelpollak/status/1019199167481012224" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-color: transparent; text-decoration-line: none; outline: none; border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); font-weight: bold !important;">Joel Pollak</a>: “A day after the media/Democrats/NeverTrump meltdown over Trump-Putin summit, they're still wrong, the world's still here, and the future is bright.”</font></li><li style="box-sizing: border-box; width: 605px; margin: 0px 0px 5px !important; padding: 0px !important; float: none; border: none; line-height: 1.5em;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Breitbart’s <a href="https://twitter.com/charliespiering/status/1019199562479816706" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-color: transparent; text-decoration-line: none; outline: none; border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); font-weight: bold !important;">Charlie Spiering</a>: “Remind me, did Obama forcefully confront Putin for” the 2014 attack on a Malaysian Airlines passenger flight over Ukraine?</font></li><li style="box-sizing: border-box; width: 605px; margin: 0px 0px 5px !important; padding: 0px !important; float: none; border: none; line-height: 1.5em;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a href="https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2018/jul/17/ron-paul-calls-trump-putin-meeting-success-was-sig/" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-color: transparent; text-decoration-line: none; outline: none; border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); font-weight: bold !important;"><em style="box-sizing: border-box;">The Washington Times</em></a> boosted comments from former Rep. <a href="https://twitter.com/RonPaul/status/1018909472734007296" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-color: transparent; text-decoration-line: none; outline: none; border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); font-weight: bold !important;">Ron Paul</a> (R-TX), current host of the web show Liberty Report, who categorized Trump’s meeting with Putin as “significant diplomacy.”</font></li></ul></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"></font></div><div><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">uring a July 16 press conference, Donald Trump questioned the findings of his own intelligence community and legitimized Putin’s false claim that Russia did not meddle in the 2016 election, calling Putin's denial “extremely strong and powerful.” While this provoked widespread outrage, Trump hardcore loyalists <a rel="nofollow" target="blank" href="https://mediamatters.nationbuilder.com/r?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.mediamatters.org%2Fblog%2F2018%2F07%2F17%2Fsmall-chorus-pro-trump-figures-defending-his-disastrous-presser-putin%2F220702&e=2fd18ded548fce9ef66e074aaf01da3d5df1923b&utm_source=mediamatters&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=722weekly&n=8&v=1415" style="">were pleased</a>. Fox prime-time hosts Tucker Carlson, Sean Hannity, and Laura Ingraham all defended Trump. So did Infowars and Breitbart. Fox host Jeanine Pirro <a rel="nofollow" target="blank" href="https://mediamatters.nationbuilder.com/r?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.mediamatters.org%2Fvideo%2F2018%2F07%2F17%2Ffoxs-jeanine-pirro-what-was-trump-supposed-do-take-gun-out-and-shoot-putin%2F220699&e=2fd18ded548fce9ef66e074aaf01da3d5df1923b&utm_source=mediamatters&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=722weekly&n=9&v=1415" style="">even asked</a>, "What was he supposed to do, take a gun out and shoot Putin?" So it was no surprise that a majority of Republicans ended up supporting Trump's remarks, even as a broad overall majority of Americans <a rel="nofollow" target="blank" href="https://mediamatters.nationbuilder.com/r?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.cbsnews.com%2Fnews%2Fpoll-trump-putin-meeting-helsinki-summit-russia-election-meddling%2F&e=2fd18ded548fce9ef66e074aaf01da3d5df1923b&utm_source=mediamatters&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=722weekly&n=10&v=1415" style="">disapproved</a>.</font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">There were a ton of excuses made. One Fox personality <a rel="nofollow" target="blank" href="https://mediamatters.nationbuilder.com/r?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.mediamatters.org%2Fvideo%2F2018%2F07%2F17%2Ffox-columnist-speculates-trumps-weak-performance-his-press-conference-putin-was-protect-some%2F220700&e=2fd18ded548fce9ef66e074aaf01da3d5df1923b&utm_source=mediamatters&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=722weekly&n=11&v=1415" style="">hilariously speculated</a> that Trump had to be feeble during the press conference because he was so dominant to Putin behind closed doors. Others on Fox News <a rel="nofollow" target="blank" href="https://mediamatters.nationbuilder.com/r?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.mediamatters.org%2Fresearch%2F2018%2F07%2F18%2Fapr-s-helsinki-le-d-luge-right-wing-media-claim-trump-s-glad-handing-putin-only-alternative-war%2F220725&e=2fd18ded548fce9ef66e074aaf01da3d5df1923b&utm_source=mediamatters&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=722weekly&n=12&v=1415" style="">said that</a> the only alternative to Trump's subservient behavior would be nuclear war. Soon enough, pro-Putin Russian politicians were <a rel="nofollow" target="blank" href="https://mediamatters.nationbuilder.com/r?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.mediamatters.org%2Fblog%2F2018%2F07%2F19%2Frussian-senator-and-right-wing-media-agree-trump-just-trying-avoid-war-russia%2F220729&e=2fd18ded548fce9ef66e074aaf01da3d5df1923b&utm_source=mediamatters&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=722weekly&n=13&v=1415" style="">using the same talking point</a>. Meanwhile, a fake image of Putin and Obama <a rel="nofollow" target="blank" href="https://mediamatters.nationbuilder.com/r?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.mediamatters.org%2Fblog%2F2018%2F07%2F19%2FA-fake-image-of-Putin-pulling-Obamas-tie-is-circulating-online%2F220737&e=2fd18ded548fce9ef66e074aaf01da3d5df1923b&utm_source=mediamatters&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=722weekly&n=14&v=1415" style="">made the rounds</a> on right-wing social media. Tucker Carlson had <a rel="nofollow" target="blank" href="https://mediamatters.nationbuilder.com/r?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.mediamatters.org%2Fvideo%2F2018%2F07%2F16%2Ftucker-carlson-downplays-russian-election-interference-claiming-mexico-routinely-interfering-our%2F220694&e=2fd18ded548fce9ef66e074aaf01da3d5df1923b&utm_source=mediamatters&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=722weekly&n=15&v=1415" style="">the most racist excuse</a> for Trump, saying that the real election interference is from Mexico "by packing our electorate."</font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">And when Trump absurdly said that he accidentally said the exact opposite of what he intended -- a claim that doesn't pass any smell test given any cursory view of the press conference -- Fox News <a rel="nofollow" target="blank" href="https://mediamatters.nationbuilder.com/r?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.mediamatters.org%2Fblog%2F2018%2F07%2F18%2Ffox-helps-trump-sell-his-absurd-claim-he-misspoke-during-his-press-conference-putin%2F220720&e=2fd18ded548fce9ef66e074aaf01da3d5df1923b&utm_source=mediamatters&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=722weekly&n=16&v=1415" style="">went to the mat</a> to sell it. The message was clear: They wanted the scandal and talk of Trump's fealty to go away.</font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Here's the thing, though: All those things that Trump said during the press conference? They came <a rel="nofollow" target="blank" href="https://mediamatters.nationbuilder.com/r?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.washingtonpost.com%2Foutlook%2Ftrump-could-get-his-intel-from-the-government-instead-he-gets-it-from-fox-news%2F2018%2F07%2F20%2F4ee4ba80-8b94-11e8-8aea-86e88ae760d8_story.html%3Futm_term%3D.f9aadacfe1c2&e=2fd18ded548fce9ef66e074aaf01da3d5df1923b&utm_source=mediamatters&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=722weekly&n=17&v=1415" style="">right from Fox News</a> in the first place. It's only a matter of time until Fox -- and shortly thereafter Trump himself -- return to the same lies.</font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><em>Also:</em> In the midst of all of this, Fox News <a rel="nofollow" target="blank" href="https://mediamatters.nationbuilder.com/r?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.mediamatters.org%2Fblog%2F2018%2F07%2F17%2Ffox-news-barely-covering-arrest-alleged-russian-agent-ties-nra%2F220706&e=2fd18ded548fce9ef66e074aaf01da3d5df1923b&utm_source=mediamatters&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=722weekly&n=18&v=1415" style="">mostly ignored</a> the arrest of an alleged Russian agent with ties to the NRA. Fox host Lou Dobbs and his guest also <a rel="nofollow" target="blank" href="https://mediamatters.nationbuilder.com/r?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.mediamatters.org%2Fvideo%2F2018%2F07%2F19%2Fjudicial-watchs-tom-fitton-mueller-indictment-12-russians-deep-staters-hijacking-our-foreign-policy%2F220740&e=2fd18ded548fce9ef66e074aaf01da3d5df1923b&utm_source=mediamatters&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=722weekly&n=19&v=1415" style="">had a meltdown</a> about twelve Russian military officers indicted for hacking the DNC by special counsel Robert Mueller. A Sean Hannity guest <a rel="nofollow" target="blank" href="https://mediamatters.nationbuilder.com/r?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.mediamatters.org%2Fvideo%2F2018%2F07%2F19%2Fhannity-guest-theorizes-russians-were-hired-owned-and-paid-dnc-hack-themselves%2F220739&e=2fd18ded548fce9ef66e074aaf01da3d5df1923b&utm_source=mediamatters&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=722weekly&n=20&v=1415" style="">even theorized</a> that the DNC paid Russians to hack themselves.</font></p></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">==</font></div>