The Senate Intelligence Committee on Tuesday revealed its investigation into President Trump’s possible collusion with Russia during the 2016 election is about to wind up, with very little to show — no “direct evidence” of the president’s involvement here. News media coverage in the aftermath of this striking moment was, uh, scanty — something that Mr. Trump already has noticed in recent days.

“The mainstream media has refused to cover the fact that the head of the VERY important Senate Intelligence Committee, after two years of intensive study and access to Intelligence that only they could get, just stated that they have found NO COLLUSION between ‘Trump’ & Russia,” Mr. Trump tweeted Friday, following a pivotal appearance by Senate Intelligence Committee Chairman Richard Burr on CBS suggesting there was not much to show.

Some suggest the news media is just shocked.

“This has caused abject meltdown through much of the drive-by media,” talk radio kingpin Rush Limbaugh told his 14 million-member audience on Tuesday.

“They are beside themselves over this. They can’t believe it. Because, remember, these people literally have talked themselves into the fact that Trump stole the election working with Russia, despite how literally insane that is,” Mr. Limbaugh continued, citing such contributing factors as the unverified Steele dossier and “the Obama intel agencies.”

Meanwhile, a few headlines from the last 24 hours: “Shove it, Democrats: Senate Intelligence committee finds no direct evidence of Trump-Russia collusion” (Townhall); “Senate finds no direct evidence of collusion between Trump campaign, Russia” (MSNBC); “The Senate Intelligence Committee has not cleared Trump” (Washington Monthly); “Senate has uncovered no direct evidence of conspiracy between Trump campaign and Russia” (NBC News); Senate Intelligence Committee: no evidence Of Russian Collusion” (Daily Wire); “Warner splits with Burr on collusion question” (CNN).

Trump reports the border crime numbers

President Trump gave a rundown of crime statistics Tuesday during a Cabinet meeting, which began with a prayer given by Veterans Affairs Secretary Robert Wilkie, who prayed for U.S. troops. A few minutes later, Mr. Trump cited new data from Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen. Here is what the president told the gathering:

“The Democrats want everybody to be able to come into our country. We have many criminals. When you look at the numbers of criminals that are nabbed — I mean, I’m looking at numbers that are incredible. This card was just given to me by Secretary Nielsen: 99,000 assaults. Larceny: 40,000. Burglary: 25,000. Fraudulent activities: 25,000. Damage and stolen property: 17,000. Sex offenses: 13,552. Sexual assaults: 10,468. That’s sexual assaults on people that live in our country by people that are coming illegally across our borders,” Mr. Trump said.

“We are working very hard. We’re getting rid of tremendous numbers of MS-13. And the Democrats don’t like us to get rid of MS-13. Now, you figure that one out. These are violent people. And they don’t like us to get rid of MS-13. So. Robberies: 11,177. Kidnappings: 4,112. Murders: 3,914, ” the president continued.

Mr. Trump also had a specific citation for the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

“OK. So these are people that ICE is dealing with, and nobody can deal with them more effectively. There’s probably no group in this country that does so much and gets, really, so little respect or love as ICE. It’s really a terrible thing. They’re doing an incredible job,” the president told his Cabinet.

For the lexicon

“Build the wall and crime will fall”

— Motto from a new “limited edition” bumper sticker now being offered by the Trump Make America Great Again Committee, a joint fundraising committee composed of Donald J. Trump for President Inc. and the Republican National Committee.

Another wall to consider

“Heaven has a wall, a gate and a strict immigration policy. Hell has open borders. Let that sink in.”

So says a new ad from Mac’s Fresh Market, which has locations in Louisiana, Arkansas and Mississippi. The message drew a sizable reaction from the public.

“I wanted people to realize that heaven has walls and borders, and we have to get in that gate,” owner Reggy McDaniel told Fox News, citing relevant passages from the Bible.

” God has a place for us to go and he has a salvation for us, and that’s what I was trying to do. I’m really proud of it and I stand by my message,” said Mr. McDaniel, who said public reaction to the ad has been 90 percent positive.

“We’re giving a simple message that Jesus loves you,” he said, noting that many churches have sent messages that tell him “to stand firm, and we stand with you.”

Foxified

Fox News Channel, which just marked 17 consecutive years as the nation’s most watched cable news network, continues its reign as No. 1. Meanwhile, Fox News also was the most-watched network in the entire cable realm last week, according to Nielsen Media Research. Drawing more than 11 million viewers, Fox News also won the ratings race for President Trump’s State of the Union address — trumping all of its cable competition, along with ABC, CBS and NBC.

Fox Business Network, meanwhile, bested rival CNBC for the fifth consecutive week, led by “Varney & Co.”, now making the 90th consecutive week as the most-watched market program on TV, according to Nielsen.

Poll du jour

• 48 percent of Americans believe humans are “guided by God or a higher power”; 66 percent of black Protestants, 58 percent of white evangelicals, 56 percent of Catholics, 53 percent of white mainline Protestants and 24 percent of the religiously unaffiliated agree.

• 33 percent of Americans believe “humans evolved due to natural processes”; 6 percent of black Protestants, 4 percent of white evangelicals, 30 percent of Catholics, 30 percent of white mainline Protestants and 64 percent of the religiously unaffiliated agree.

• 18 percent of Americans believe “humans have always existed in their present form”; 27 percent of black Protestants, 38 percent of white evangelicals, 13 percent of Catholics, 16 percent of white mainline Protestants and 11 percent of the religiously unaffiliated agree.

Source: A Pew Research Center American Trends survey of 2,537 U.S./ adults conducted April 23-May 6, 2018 and released Monday.

• Kindly follow Jennifer Harper on Twitter @HarperBulletin

© Copyright (c) 2019 News World Communications, Inc.

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