Let us unpack this CYA from Mother Jones on the tape that they released today:
Update 4/Mother Jones Statement: We are still waiting for Sen. Mitch McConnell to comment on the substance of the article. Before posting, we contacted his Senate office and his campaign office—in particular, his campaign manager, Jesse Benton—and no one responded. As the story makes clear, we were recently provided with the tape by a source who wishes to remain anonymous. We published the article on the tape due to its obvious newsworthiness. We were not involved in the making of the tape, but it is our understanding that the tape was not the product of any kind of bugging operation. We cannot comment beyond that, except to say that under the circumstances, our publication of the article is both legal and protected by the First Amendment.
Background: MJ got its hands on an audio tape that had Mitch McConnell and his staff discussing how to make Ashley Judd regret that she had ever decided to run for office. They then published it, despite the fact that a) Ashley Judd effectively did publicly regret that she had ever decided to run for office and b) the information in the tape would hardly be a surprise to anybody familiar with political campaigns. But then there was a new wrinkle: Mitch McConnell called the FBI. Potential wiretap law violations, you understand.
Oops.
Hence, the CYA. Reading between the lines… MJ apparently did not get the tape from a disgruntled McConnell staffer; if they had, they’d just say so. McConnell apparently did not order that the tape be leaked to MJ; if he had, he wouldn’t be asking the FBI for an investigation. That pretty much leaves either a scenario where a third party did leave a recording device in the room and collected it later, or somebody at the meeting taped it themselves and somebody else stole the recording later. In either one of those scenarios, whoever passed the audio to MJ is in BIG trouble.
Exit question: man, I betcha that MJ is suddenly a lot more sympathetic to that Fox News reporter protecting her source, huh?
Moe Lane
Oh, I’m pretty sure they don’t. She’s guilty of not being part of the tribe after all.
What he said.
Good point about a disgruntled McConnell staffer. However, this is a bad, bad, bad development for our politics with no good remedy. Obviously the left is probably overjoyed by these kinds of developments. Since they own the media the feel they can maximize the pain, while minimizing any blow-back by refusing to question the means. See the interview here: http://youtu.be/_hJw8jtKdZ4 What I’d like to know who is the reporter asking the loaded question trying to take McConnell off message? Who does he represent? You never here these kinds of questions asked of the administration when it comes to things like oh, say, Bengazi.
I would pay to see McConnell tell the media “At this point, what does it matter?”
Or, let HRC ‘answer for him’ and play that clip.
This is the way you handle things. I remember when the worthless Tom Daschle got sent back to South Dakota, and on his way out started bleating about receiving death threats.
If I had been George Bush, I would have immediately ordered a full investigation by the FBI, with the director reporting to me and the results made public, and anyone involved prosecuted to the full extent of the law. So many on the left use this as some sort of badge, when most of the time it is a load of crap.
Way to go Mitch. If they want to play, then play.
I watched Jake Tapper’s The Lead (on CNN) and even his guests thought the information on the tape is a nothingbuger.
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If I was advising McConnell, I’d tell him to outright ignore MJ’s call for a statement beyond refering them to the on-going FBI investigation and the fact they are in a whole lot of trouble.