If you were a reader of RedState during the Donald Trump era, especially while the Robert Mueller investigation was ongoing, you no doubt got acquainted with several “journalists” who dutifully parroted whatever Fusion GPS told them to. Of that group, two names routinely stood out as the worst of the worst – Ken Dilanian of NBC News and Natasha Bertrand of Politico (and later, MSNBC).
The latter was notorious for using the debunked Steele Dossier as a primer to mix with anonymous sourcing. In the end, almost every major salacious claim made by Bertrand under the guise of news ended up being wrong, not the least of which was the idea that Trump colluded with the Russians to steal the 2016 election. She was so obviously partisan in her work that she eventually earned the moniker “Fusion Natasha” from her detractors.
Now, Bertrand has a new job, and you’ll be less than shocked to know it’s with CNN. Yes, the liberal network apparently wants to make sure that every terrible reporter and corrupt dossier-pusher are on their payrolls.
Glenn Greenwald, a frequent guest on Tucker Carlson’s show, shared the news and proceeded to roast Bertrand. He also noted that her bad reporting goes well beyond the dossier.
As @ErikWemple has documented, @NatashaBertrand was one of the most reckless and conspiratorial Russiagate journalists, constantly getting promoted after each embarrassment. So of course CNN hired her: the place where conspiracists & ex-intel agents go.https://t.co/ydsWnB0iPv
— Glenn Greenwald (@ggreenwald) April 26, 2021
Even after the "Russia bounty" story was revealed to have little reliable evidence, she continued to defend it just last week – because she pushed it so hard. She's a complete national security & Russia fanatic who says anything: perfect for CNN:https://t.co/vAKtxAAZUo
— Glenn Greenwald (@ggreenwald) April 26, 2021
Any reporter still defending the false Russian bounties story at this point is just giving the game away. No one with a willingness to absorb and accept the truth would still entertain that absurd report, especially after even Joe Biden admitted there was no real basis for it.
But Bertrand is the type of reporter that will push a narrative until there’s nothing left of it. She’s also the type of reporter who seems to garner advancement by doing the bidding of certain special interests. That CNN would hire her is another mark against them, not that their reputation could get any lower.
Bertrand’s continued promotion says something broader about the industry, though. It says that there’s zero accountability for bad reporting. As long as a reporter is targeting the right people, they can have multiple anonymously-sourced stories blow up in their face and still keep on climbing the ladder. That’s not virtue; it’s corruption.
Of course, after Greenwald levied his criticism, he was immediately accused of misogyny because that’s the best the left can come up with.
SO, SO WEAK when people say you can't criticize professional women in their 30s on the merits because they're "young women." @ggreenwald's critics are showing their struggle to respond to his richly detailed reporting on the regurgitation and hackery from "Fusion Natasha." https://t.co/MMyDm6CjFs
— Mollie (@MZHemingway) April 27, 2021
Criticism of Bertrand has nothing to do with her sex and everything to do with her terrible reporting. Greenwald was well within his rights to point out her terrible track record. CNN’s only standard appears to be having no standards whatsoever.
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