The crew at CNN En Español´s Directo USA took the White House's strategy of saying “as little as possible about the handling of President Biden´s documents” to heart. The subject garnered exactly 21 seconds of airtime after which anchor and correspondent whined over House GOP committee assignments.
“At the White House press conference, where the strategy is still to answer as little as possible about the handling of President Biden's documents, even confronting some journalists and waiting for the process to move forward. That's the priority for now”, Lopez said at the 5:01:43 pm mark of last Wednesday´s newscast. “But in Congress, not far from the White House, there are other issues. The appointments for the legislative commissions are already known, at least for the members of the Republican Party,” he added before introducing Washington correspondent Ione Molinares.
JUAN CARLOS LOPEZ, CNNEE: At the White House press conference, where the strategy is still to answer as little as possible about the handling of President Biden's documents, even confronting some journalists and waiting for the process to move forward. That's the priority for now, on a day where President Biden had no public events. But in Congress, not too far from the White House, there’s another issue. The makeup of the legislative committees, at least of the Republican members, is now known.
Molinares quickly began her segment-- which made no further mention of Biden- with a smirk. Next came the usual name-calling for a group of Republicans deemed by the reporter to be white nationalist, conspiracy theorists and extremists.
IONE MOLINARES, CNNEE: “Yes, it's true; some of those among the 20 rebels that made it hard for Kevin McCarthy to get the speakership of the House of Representatives, perhaps ended up receiving much of what they wanted in the midst of these negotiations, some of them secret, of which very little is known. But in essence, many of them have for years followed, are loyal to white nationalists, have histories of advancing conspiracy theories. All of them are now at the helm of, er, or at least being part of one of the strongest committees in Congress. Extremists like Marjorie Taylor Greene, like other Members of Congress such as Lauren Boebert.”
…
But they are, some of them, extremists, as I said before.
Following her accusatory intro, Molinares proceeded to air clips of “incendiary rhetoric” coming from Republican representatives Marjorie Taylor Greene, Lauren Boebert and Paul Gosar; basically a cut and paste of the official White House talking points of the day that CNNEE included in the report:
KARINE JEAN-PIERRE, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SEC.: These are members who have promoted violent rhetoric and dangerous conspiracy theories, including suggesting violence against political opponents, trafficking in antisemitic lies, and defending and downplaying a violent insurrection against our democracy.
The contrast in time spent on the Biden scandal vs. demonizing the new congressional appointments - and their “secrecy” - screams bias in this report brought to you by sponsors like Walgreens. You can contact them here.
Press on Expand to view the complete transcript of the segment mentioned above as it was aired on CNN En Español on Wednesday, January 18, 2023.
JUAN CARLOS LOPEZ, CNNEE: At the White House press conference, where the strategy is still to answer as little as possible about the handling of President Biden's documents, even confronting some journalists and waiting for the process to move forward. That's the priority for now, on a day where President Biden had no public events. But in Congress, not too far from the White House, there’s another issue. The makeup of the legislative committees, at least of the Republican members, is now known. We go to Ione Molinares at the Capitol complex. Ione, we now know these designations. The interesting thing here is that those who supported the Speaker of the House, Kevin McCarthy, got the committees that they wanted, but so did those who attacked him.
IONE MOLINARES, CNNEE: Exactly- and that, more or less, shows the direction of how the party is going to work on its own agenda in the next two years. Yes, it's true- some of those among the 20 rebels that made it hard for Kevin McCarthy to get the speakership of the House of Representatives, perhaps ended up receiving much of what they wanted in the midst of these negotiations, some of them secret, of which very little is known. But in essence, many of them have for years followed, are loyal to white nationalists, have histories of advancing conspiracy theories. All of them are now at the helm of, er, or at least being part of one of the strongest committees in Congress. Extremists like Marjorie Taylor Greene, like other Members of Congress such as Lauren Boebert. Look. What are we talking about? These some of those who were already named, and many of them, some of them, most of them, will be part of the Congressional Oversight Committee. They are going to have an important power regarding the investigation of everything that is happening in the government. In other words, they are going to watch the executive closely. But they are, some of them, extremists, as I said before. What are we talking about? Look, here's an example of what they've said in the past:
REP. MARJORIE TAYLOR GREENE (R) GEORGIA: It's odd there's never any evidence shown for a plane in the Pentagon… Saudi Arabia, the Rothschilds, and Soros, he says are the puppet masters that fund this global evil…
REP. LAUREN BOEBERT, (R) UTAH:: Everything that I’ve heard of Qanon, I hope that this is real because it only means that America is getting stronger and better
REP. PAUL GOSAR(R) AZ:: My suggestion was that we actually have some hearings and review this and set a new election for Biden and Trump before the end of the year
MOLINARES: Well, two of them, especially Marjorie Taylor Greene and Paul Gosar, had lost the chance of being part of committees during the previous Congress because Democrats, and some Republicans also, voted- due to the volume of incendiary rhetoric that these two Members of Congress had voiced. But now Marjorie Taylor Greene is going to be part, for example, of the Homeland Security Committee, and Paul Gosar of the Congressional Oversight, so the White House is going to be part of many of those investigations, and this was today’s answer:
KARINE JEAN-PIERRE, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SEC.: These are members who have promoted violent rhetoric and dangerous conspiracy theories, including suggesting violence against political opponents, trafficking in antisemitic lies, and defending and downplaying a violent insurrection against our democracy. You all — many of you covered what we saw on January 6th, 2021. And so, Republican leaders should explain. They should have to explain, not us. They should have to explain why allowing these individuals to serve on these committees and come clean with the American people about the secret agreements, the secret deals that were made with these MAGA extremists that are currently in — in the House.
MOLINARES: Congress is not in session today, so that question will surely have to be answered later on, that is if another scandal does not come up in Congress to distract attention. Another one of those characters who are part of the exceptional group, is George Santos who was also given the chance to work in two commissions. Santos has a long list of lies and is facing a series of complaints to make him resign.
But Santos has indicated that he won't. But in two commissions, he was assigned two commissions, one having to do with small businesses; the other one, the Science Commission and it draws attention because obviously, at least in the Small Business Commission obviously, Santos has a history of lying and puffing up some of his businesses, and so on. So let's see what happens. And, regardless, the congressmen say many congressmen like him have the right, even when they are being investigated. Watch:
REP. BARRY LOUDERMILK, (R) GEORGIA: He hasn't committed a crime, he hasn't been charged with anything right now. You're innocent until proven guilty in this country, just like anybody else would just like if you were accused of something, so we will treat him like any other member, and you know, we’ll be watching.
MOLINARES: This congressman was part of the committee that plans these different groups and the truth is that they usually answer to whatever the Speaker of the House of Representatives wants. The fate of the Democrats is still pending, especially three that are being watched closely. The speaker of the House of Representatives has already said that he does not want to see Adam Schiff, Ilhan Omar, or Eric Swalwell, the two who are on the left and right and are part of the House Intelligence Committee, and Ilhan Omar is part of the House Foreign Affairs Committee. Let's see what happens, Juan Carlos, because the Democrats say they will continue to be assigned, triggering another new fight in Congress.
LOPEZ: In Swalwell's case he has already termed out of that commission so they could- would not appoint him again. In Schiff’s case, he could be appointed, but McCarthy would be getting back at him for having been one of the managers in one of the two impeachments of Donald Trump. Ilhan Omar...they don't like her. Thank you very much Ione Molinares from the Capitol complex.
