Cal Thomas - Dirty tricks or criminal behavior?

MARY REICHARD, HOST: Today is Thursday, February 17th. Good morning! This is The World and Everything in It from listener-supported WORLD Radio. I’m Mary Reichard.

MYRNA BROWN, HOST: And I’m Myrna Brown. Here’s commentator Cal Thomas on what might be the biggest scandal in American political history.

CAL THOMAS, COMMENTATOR: The term “dirty tricks” was used to describe the tactics operatives within the Nixon administration used to smear the reputations of opponents and undermine the appeal of certain politicians. Fifty years ago, these dirty tricks included a false allegation that Democratic Sen. Henry “Scoop” Jackson had fathered an illegitimate child with a 17-year-old girl. They also included the break-in at Democratic National Committee headquarters at the Watergate complex in Washington, D.C., when Nixon aides and operatives attempted to find information to use against his perceived “enemies.”

Dirty tricks are not to be confused with negative campaigning. That at least has some component of truth. But a filing by special counsel John Durham that alleges Hillary Clinton’s 2016 presidential campaign paid a technology company to “infiltrate” Donald Trump’s presidential campaign and later his presidential office, goes beyond dirty tricks. I’d call it illegal.

In last week’s court filing, Durham alleges the purpose behind Russian “collusion” allegations was to establish a “narrative” between Trump and Russia. Trump denied it at the time and many times since, including during an interview with Lesley Stahl on 60 Minutes. Stahl said there was “no evidence” for Trump’s claim that he was being set up. Trump said there was and that her job was to investigate and find it. Now that there is at least a credible allegation, will Stahl deliver a correction? Not likely. And neither is it likely other major media, which flogged the Russian collusion story, will acknowledge error. These include The Washington Post, The New York Times, CNN, MSNBC, and NPR, as well as numerous liberal websites. They seem to have their own narrative based on a visceral hatred of Donald Trump.

Consider this: Donald Trump was being effectively slandered as a Russian agent, or minimally a Russian asset.

The Times and Washington Post won Pulitzer Prizes for basically repeating Democrat talking points. The prizes should be returned and the newspapers penalized by not allowing them to apply for another one for at least 10 years.

Congressman Adam Schiff did not cover himself in glory when he chaired a House panel investigation into all things Trump and repeatedly accused Trump of violating laws. Don’t expect an apology from him, either. And then there were the four FISA warrants obtained because of allegations by then-FBI Director James Comey and others that proved to be untrue. The Justice Department later admitted that two of the warrants lacked probable cause and said information from all four warrants would not be used.

Durham has only scraped the surface of what could, if proven, be the biggest scandal in American political history. That’s saying something, given past political behavior by members of both parties.

I’m Cal Thomas.

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