Earlier this morning, AG Barr admitted in an open hearing that he’s going to investigate the genesis of the 2016 Trump investigation and that he personally thinks “spying did occur.” This of course left the Democrats on the panel stunned and in disbelief. They’ve been pushing for years that any such admission is just wild conspiracy mongering and no one in good company should ever state something so obvious.

This led to all kinds of hysterical (not in the funny sense) gnashing of teeth by “journalists” and cable news “analysts.”

(credit to Twitchy for compiling many of these)

Why does AG Barr deserve the benefit of the doubt and labels like "institutionalist" when he's out here today sounding like a crazy conspiracy theorist?

— Zerlina Maxwell (@ZerlinaMaxwell) April 10, 2019

Just an outrageous thing for the AG to say. First, there is zero evidence of this. Second, it's under investigation by the DOJ IG and he should wait until that's done. Third, how about defending the people who work for him rather than repeating right-wing conspiracy theories? https://t.co/zbJ7dbwZYC

— Matthew Miller (@matthewamiller) April 10, 2019

There is actually ample evidence of this. It’s not even debatable anymore that the Trump campaign was spied on. You’d think an MSNBC “Security Analyst” would be aware of the facts surrounding this case, but I guess not.

https://twitter.com/AaronBlake/status/1116009262810116099?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1116009262810116099&ref_url=http%3A%2F%2Face.mu.nu%2F

Yes, because James Clapper, who’s most famous for lying to Congress, is a completely trustworthy guy to juxtapose in this situation. Can someone get Andrew McCabe’s opinion while we are at it?

It sounds like William Barr is on the Spygate train.

Asked why he wants to review the Russia investigation, "I think spying on a political campaign is a big deal."

And then he says, "I think spying did occur." He wants to explore whether there was adequate probable cause.

— Chris Megerian (@ChrisMegerian) April 10, 2019

He’s on the Spygate train? How about he’s just doing his job to provide transparency about how an unprecedented investigation was started?

Where’s the media’s journalistic curiosity? If this involved the Bush administration spying on the Obama administration, I have a feeling the media would have treated it as the biggest scandal in American history. Instead, because it involves impropriety against Trump, they want to tell the public that water isn’t actually wet.

And that, in the end, is what makes all of this so ridiculous. These are supposed to be “journalists,” bravely seeking the truth. They are like firefighters, you see, risking everything to leave no stone unturned.

Well, unless it may confirm something President Trump has long said (and had ample evidence to support). Then their journalist instincts suddenly retreat and they fall back on the old mainstay of accusing those busting the narratives as “conspiracy theorists.” Remember, at one point it was a “conspiracy theory” to suggest that the Steele dossier was partisan BS. It was a “conspiracy theory” not too long ago to say that Trump didn’t collude with the Russians.

The modern mainstream media are so invested in their own partisanship that they now actively participate in the sandbagging of major scandals. There was a time when real reporters would have died for something to investigate like the FBI/Trump story. Today, they have no interest because their purpose is simply to protect the Democratic party. Nothing more.

While some conservatives still cling to the idea that a vibrant mainstream media is essential to the country, I don’t buy it. These people and entities provide nothing of value at this point. To be clear, I’m not suggesting anything be done to the media except their continued exposure to market forces.  If CNN goes bankrupt tomorrow, we’d all be better for it. There is no fourth estate. They are just partisan activists who are actually hurting the country’s ability to be exposed to the truth.

I’ll leave you with this astute observation of CNN’s ridiculousness by my RedState colleague, Brad Slager.

Some dolt on CNN was commenting on the possibility of Barr looking into the figures behind the Mueller investigation, caalling a deeply political move.
Because the past two years of delving into the possibility of collusion was not political in any fashion?

— Brad Slager: aka Wuhan Solo (@MartiniShark) April 10, 2019