As James Comey’s new book exploded onto the scene, CNN pumped the breaks on its “Facts First” campaign to revisit perhaps the most salacious claim contained in the Steele dossier. The dossier alleged that Donald Trump had paid ladies of the night to micturate upon one another in Moscow, and that the Russian government had taped the horrific escapade. To date, no part of these allegations has been substantiated.
Intrepid NewsBusters analysts examined transcripts of all CNN broadcasts that aired between April 12 and April 16, finding 77 separate mentions of the absurd claim. The cable network feverishly replayed a clip of Comey repeating the allegation to ABC’s George Stephanopoulos, which constituted 28 of those instances. April 13 featured a particularly steady stream of mentions: 48 in one day, for an average of one every 30 minutes.
For the purpose of this study, a mention was defined as any allusion to the most graphic aspect of the rumor. Thus a clip in which James Comey merely mentioned Russian prostitutes would not have factored into the study. Rather, analysts looked only for phrases such as “prostitutes urinating on each other,” “the pee tape,” and, of course, “golden showers.” – READ MORE
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