The front-page headline in the conservative Washington Times stood out. “No remorse: Democrats stick to Trump-Russia collusion claims despite Durham report,” it read. The subtext was hardly subtle: The conservative newspaper was incredulous that some rascally observers, even now, in the wake of John Durham’s findings, still believe that the Russia scandal is a real, legitimate controversy.
The nerve of some people. Where’s their “remorse”?
For Republicans and their allies, the Russia scandal became the “Russia hoax” quite a while ago, but in the wake of the special counsel’s report reaching the public on Monday, the party is acting as if the case is now officially closed — and Donald Trump was right all along.
“The Russian hoax was a figment of Hillary Clinton’s imagination,” Sen. Marsha Blackburn of Tennessee declared on Monday night. Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas condemned reality-based observers for “breathlessly spreading these ‘Russia, Russia, Russia’ lies.” Sen. Eric Schmitt pointed to Durham’s findings as confirmation that the “collusion” story was a “politically motivated hit job.” His fellow Missourian, Sen. Josh Hawley, added, “It was all a hoax.”
Conservative media outlets are eagerly playing along. In addition to the aforementioned Washington Times report, Trump appeared on Newsmax last night, and during the interview, the on-screen chyron delivered the message to viewers that the former president wanted to see: “Durham report proves Russian collusion was a witch hunt.”
To be sure, these reactions were inevitable. It didn’t much matter what the special counsel wrote — I find it very difficult to believe any of these folks actually read the report — because Trump and his allies settled on their message ahead of time.
But reality is stubborn.
University of Michigan law professor Barbara McQuade, a former U.S. Attorney and an MSNBC legal analyst, explained yesterday, “[T]he Durham Report provides fuel for…
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