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There's just a lot of shadiness around Avenatti
“THERE’S JUST A LOT OF SHADINESS AROUND AVENATTI”: MAGA WORLD IS NOT QUITE COMING TO TERMS WITH STORMY’S LAWYER’S LATEST BOMBSHELL
At this point in the Russia investigation, Trump’s allies in the conservative media are expressing a rather creative interpretation of events.
BY TINA NGUYEN
https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2018/05/trumpworld-reaction-michael-cohen-russia-payments
The Fake News is working overtime,” Donald Trump tweeted early on Wednesday, the morning after the lawyer of his alleged porn-star mistress dropped a dime on the Russia investigation. All through Tuesday night, news outlets were running with stories detailing Michael Avenatti’s claim that a wealthy Russian oligarch, as well as several major corporations, had deposited millions of dollars in an account controlled by Michael Cohen, Trump’s personal lawyer. Though this bombshell raised new questions regarding the relationship between the Trump campaign and the Russian government, Trump’s interpretation was rather nebulous and predictable: “Just reported that, despite the tremendous success we are having with the economy & all things else, 91% of the Network News about me is negative (Fake). Why do we work so hard in working with the media when it is corrupt? Take away credentials?”
Indeed, while CNN and MSNBC went into breaking-news mode, and the nation’s leading newspapers scrambled to reorganize the next day’s front page, Fox News and other bastions of Trump-aligned thinking insulated themselves in a comforting cocoon of ignorance, or apathy. “I think it’s pretty safe to say that a lot of the Trump world has willfully checked itself out of the news surrounding Michael Cohen,” Jared Holt of Right Wing Watch told me, surveying the fake-news landscape. “Trump world has paid even less attention to this recent development, aside from insinuating possible foul play in Avenatti’s acquisition of the records in question,” he added. “Rather than deal with the facts coming out of the investigation and reconcile with what it may all mean, they’ve chosen to look elsewhere. It’s pure cognitive dissonance.”
Fox News, in fact, was mostly on autopilot Tuesday night, with just one story about the Cohen bombshell on its Web site, near-total radio silence during prime time, and only a passing reference to the scandal the following morning on Fox and Friends. As ThinkProgress notes, the name “Michael Cohen” was never mentioned Tuesday night—not by Tucker Carlson, Sean Hannity, or Laura Ingraham, who spent the majority of their programs hailing Trump for a giant series of accomplishments, tearing down former New York attorney general Eric Schneiderman, or revisiting the cultural impact of their new rap god, Kanye West. By Wednesday morning, the hosts of Fox and Friends had moved to giddily harping on the growing popularity of therapy goats. They spent 48 seconds discussing Cohen.
<SNIP>
The pro-Trump pundit and erstwhile conspiracist Jack Posobiec was similarly suspicious of Avenatti’s motives. “There’s just a lot of shadiness around Avenatti,” he told me, echoing an emerging talking point on the right. “How does he have bank files from Cohen? Also, the company is American-owned,” he added, referring to the investment firm that deposited half a million dollars in Cohen’s account. The firm, Columbus Nova, has previously been described as a subsidiary of Renova Group, which was founded by Russian billionaire Victor Vekselberg; Nova’s American C.E.O., Andrew Intrater, is his cousin. Nevertheless, Trump’s supporters have seized on the murkiness of the relationship between Vekselberg and Cohen to call foul on the insinuations that Democrats have been eager to make. When an attorney for Intrater and Nova released a statement asserting that the firm was owned by Americans, not Vekselberg, for instance, Townhall.com columnist Kurt Schlichter pounced. “Wait, the media is wrong? You mean Stripper Matlock didn't get it right?” he tweeted.
Indeed, while CNN and MSNBC went into breaking-news mode, and the nation’s leading newspapers scrambled to reorganize the next day’s front page, Fox News and other bastions of Trump-aligned thinking insulated themselves in a comforting cocoon of ignorance, or apathy. “I think it’s pretty safe to say that a lot of the Trump world has willfully checked itself out of the news surrounding Michael Cohen,” Jared Holt of Right Wing Watch told me, surveying the fake-news landscape. “Trump world has paid even less attention to this recent development, aside from insinuating possible foul play in Avenatti’s acquisition of the records in question,” he added. “Rather than deal with the facts coming out of the investigation and reconcile with what it may all mean, they’ve chosen to look elsewhere. It’s pure cognitive dissonance.”
Fox News, in fact, was mostly on autopilot Tuesday night, with just one story about the Cohen bombshell on its Web site, near-total radio silence during prime time, and only a passing reference to the scandal the following morning on Fox and Friends. As ThinkProgress notes, the name “Michael Cohen” was never mentioned Tuesday night—not by Tucker Carlson, Sean Hannity, or Laura Ingraham, who spent the majority of their programs hailing Trump for a giant series of accomplishments, tearing down former New York attorney general Eric Schneiderman, or revisiting the cultural impact of their new rap god, Kanye West. By Wednesday morning, the hosts of Fox and Friends had moved to giddily harping on the growing popularity of therapy goats. They spent 48 seconds discussing Cohen.
<SNIP>
The pro-Trump pundit and erstwhile conspiracist Jack Posobiec was similarly suspicious of Avenatti’s motives. “There’s just a lot of shadiness around Avenatti,” he told me, echoing an emerging talking point on the right. “How does he have bank files from Cohen? Also, the company is American-owned,” he added, referring to the investment firm that deposited half a million dollars in Cohen’s account. The firm, Columbus Nova, has previously been described as a subsidiary of Renova Group, which was founded by Russian billionaire Victor Vekselberg; Nova’s American C.E.O., Andrew Intrater, is his cousin. Nevertheless, Trump’s supporters have seized on the murkiness of the relationship between Vekselberg and Cohen to call foul on the insinuations that Democrats have been eager to make. When an attorney for Intrater and Nova released a statement asserting that the firm was owned by Americans, not Vekselberg, for instance, Townhall.com columnist Kurt Schlichter pounced. “Wait, the media is wrong? You mean Stripper Matlock didn't get it right?” he tweeted.
36 replies
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At this point, I couldn't care less if he eats kittens for breakfast. As long as he is going after Trump and company hard and making their lives miserable, I'm a fan. He is the only one who seems to consistently continue to hammer away at them and he won't stop until he's got them. I'm tired of all the spineless "diplomats" on our side who don't want to upset the deplorables too much. To hell with them.
They are only going after Avenatti because is is effective.
Yummy.
...but the biggest crook in the land is Crooked Donald.
