Sooner or later the Mueller report will emerge on public radar. Some analysts predict it will be sooner rather than later — and instant media mayhem will follow, no matter what the outcome. The press has been poised to pounce since special counsel Robert Mueller began his investigation on May 17, 2017, into possible “collusion” between President Trump and Russia. Journalists have been revving their engines about the possibilities for almost two years.
But what if there is no evidence of collusion? The media would be all gassed up — but their final destination would have changed, all those pre-loaded reports and op-eds, the provocative sound bites gone to waste.
“How big a deal is it if they don’t find collusion for the president?” ABC “Meet the Press” moderator Martha Raddatz asked Terry Moran, the network’s senior national correspondent.
“Huge. He’s cleared,” Mr. Moran replied.
“The central and most serious question in this investigation, the reason Robert Mueller started it is, did the current president of the United States assist the Kremlin in an attack on our democracy? And if Mueller, after two years, comes back and says, ‘I don’t have the evidence to support that charge,’ that’s a reckoning. That’s a reckoning for progressives and Democrats who hoped that Mueller would essentially erase the 2016 election. It’s a reckoning for the media. It’s a reckoning around the country if, in fact, after all this time, there was no collusion,” Mr. Moran observed.
The Democratic Party, of course, already has planned back-up investigations should the Mueller report reveal nothing. Mr. Moran suggests that their intentions may not be prudent, however.
“Democrats have to worry that they don’t look like they’re just throwing anything against the wall that’ll — and hope it’ll stick and get back to the old kind of politics. If they want to beat Donald Trump, beat him. Beat him on the issues, beat him in politics, don’t beat him on investigations,” he noted.
FOR THE LEXICON
“63red Safe.”
That’s the name of a new app for conservatives to help them find restaurants friendly to their political beliefs and ideology. You know, restaurateurs who wouldn’t throw a tantrum if, say, a customer walked in with a MAGA hat.
“We feel like there’s a general unease among conservatives out there, about whether they’ll be protected and safe as they go out to restaurants and local businesses,” creator Scott Wallace tells Fox News.
“We want businesses to understand there’s no money in politics. We want to make sure everyone’s safe out there,” he advised.
AND THAT’S A NO ON ‘9 to 5’
One Democratic presidential hopeful will have to go without a certain cheerful tune by Dolly Parton from now on. No more “9 to 5” for Sen. Elizabeth Warren, who has been using the song to introduce campaign rallies and underscore her populist messages without waiting for clearance to do so.
“Working 9 to 5, what a way to make a living / Barely getting by, it’s all taking and no giving,” the lyrics say.
Yes, well.
“Using campaign songs to help connect with voters can cause trouble for presidential hopefuls if musicians object to the use of their works, as Warren could be finding out,” notes The Associated Press
“We did not approve the request, and we do not approve requests like this of a political nature,” Danny Nozell, Miss Parton’s manager, told the news service.
The Warren campaign, meanwhile, has declined to comment.
TRUMP TIME
“Making Daylight Saving Time permanent is O.K. with me!”
— President Trump in a tweet on Monday
A DEFINITIVE KAVANAUGH BOOK
The confirmation hearing of Supreme Court Justice Brett M. Kavanaugh drew saturation news coverage and prompted wild speculation among the many scribes. Now comes what portends to be a fair-minded book about those days from Regnery, a conservative publisher.
The Federalist senior editor Mollie Hemingway and Carrie Severino, policy director and chief counsel of the Judicial Crisis Network, are collaborating on “Justice on Trial,” which is due in July and set to sort out what the heck really happened.
“In this definitive deep dive of the Kavanaugh hearings, Hemingway and Severino will break down the controversial Supreme Court confirmation and discuss how that process affects future Supreme Court nominations. The two female conservative media stars will also explore what the Kavanaugh confirmation reveals about the rule of law and the greater battle for the soul of America,” Regnery advises.
Importantly, the publisher says the two authors “have obtained exclusive and unparalleled access to those closely involved with the confirmation process.”
Ms. Hemingway is a Fox News contributor and a journalism fellow at Hillsdale College. A Harvard Law School grad who clerked for Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, Ms. Severino has testified before Congress on constitutional issues; has lent her expertise to MSNBC, Fox, CNN, C-SPAN, and ABC; and regularly files briefs in high-profile Supreme Court cases.
WHERE THEY ARE
“Most of the United States’ 10.7 million unauthorized immigrants live in just 20 major metropolitan areas, with the largest populations in New York, Los Angeles, Houston and Dallas-Fort Worth,” says a new set of estimate from the Pew Research Center, based on the Census Bureau’s 2016 American Community Survey.
Miami comes in fifth; followed by Washington, D.C., and its adjacent suburbs; then greater Chicago; and Atlanta.
“Five of the 20 metros with the largest unauthorized immigrant populations are in California: Los Angeles, Riverside-San Bernardino, San Francisco, San Diego and San Jose. Three — Houston, Dallas-Fort Worth, and Austin — are in Texas. The top 20 metropolitan areas for unauthorized immigrants have been remarkably consistent over the past decade. The top 18 areas have ranked among the top 18 in each year since 2005,” the pollster noted on Monday.
POLL DU JOUR
• 69 percent of Americans have a favorable opinion of Israel; 87 percent of conservative Republicans, 72 percent of moderate Republicans, 66 percent of moderate Democrats and 58 percent of liberal Democrats agree.
• 21 percent have a favorable opinion of the Palestinian Authority; 10 percent of conservative Republicans, 20 percent of moderate Republicans, 26 percent of moderate Democrats and 36 percent of liberal Democrats agree.
• 59 percent have sympathies with Israel in the Middle Eastern conflict; 81 percent of conservative Republicans, 52 percent of moderate Republicans, 28 percent of moderate Democrats and 3 percent of liberal Democrats agree.
Source: A Gallup Social Series poll of 1,016 U.S. adults conducted Feb. 1-10 and released Monday.
• Kindly follow Jennifer Harper on Twitter at @HarperBulletin
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