The (new) Times origin story

The New York Times has now published a new version of the Trump-Russia counterintelligence investigation origin story by Matt Apuzzo, Adam Goldman, and Nicholas Fandos in “Code Name Crossfire Hurricane: The Secret Origins of the Trump Investigation.” This is the new authorized version floated by the friends of the Times at the FBI. The new authorized version reflects the work of many hands at the Times. Additional reporting was contributed by Michael S. Schmidt, Sharon LaFraniere, Mark Mazzetti, and Matthew Rosenberg.

It’s a long story and it needs be read in its entirety. Indeed, we must bring our skills in close reading to the story. We must decode it much like citizens of the old Soviet Union decoded Pravda’s stories on internal political struggles among the leadership. Between the lines we see the outlines of the what is coming into view as the greatest political scandal in American history.

For help here, we have Mollie Hemingway’s “10 Key Takeaways From The New York Times’ Error-Ridden Defense Of FBI Spying On Trump Campaign” (Federalist) and Kemberlee Kaye’s “NYT Report Confirms Obama Administration’s FBI Spied on Trump Campaign” (Legal Insurrection).

Quotable quote, deep in the Times story: “A year and a half later, no public evidence has surfaced connecting Mr. Trump’s advisers to the hacking or linking Mr. Trump himself to the Russian government’s disruptive efforts.”

Andrew McCarthy commented on on Laura Ingraham’s radio program this morning (italicized for emphasis): “If this investigation is Crossfire Hurrican, John Brennan is Jumpin’ Jack Flash.” Query: Who is the toothless, bearded hag?

Sean Davis commented on the Times story in the tweet below.

Lee Smith responded to the Times story in the tweet below. As on Jeopardy, his answer came in the form of a question.

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