It happens frequently – weather reports promise bad activity in your area and then you awaken to clear skies and no activity. Meteorologists have little in the way of accountability, as they get to wave off their off-target predictions with explanations of an unforeseen atmospheric influence leading to their faulty forecast; somehow their inability to predict what threw off their prediction is excusable, and they go back to promising what will happen next. 

The mainstream press loves to behave in this same fashion, and we saw this play out last week with another prediction of inclement legalities when Stormy Daniels testified in the Donald Trump business accounting trial. The former porn star took the stand, and her gripping, weepy accounts of her time spent with the then-mogul and future politician had the press all atitter. That this case has itself become a laughingstock was already evident, but the very fact that she took the stand was just another risible layer to the proceedings. 

This is a case that normally would warrant, at most, a misdemeanor charge. But Alvin Bragg is following through on his campaign brag to punish Donald Trump, elevating his charges to a felonious case. The Department of Justice and the Federal Election Commission had previously looked over the accusations and waved them off, which was the first sign that this is all a sham.

The press wants you to think otherwise. The preamble to the Stormy appearance was full of promise that she would bring down Trump. This was laughable. She was already a compromised witness, had previously lost in court to the man, and what she could possibly reveal concerning the charges was negligible at best. That level of objectivity however was scant to be found in the media.

Then came her arrival. Of particular note was MSNBC’s Lawrence O’Donnell, who seemed creepily fixated on the witness, and he delivered an uncomfortable rendition that sounded like a mixture of a Harlequin Romance novel and a Penthouse Forum submission. On the stand Daniels gave her version of the tryst with Trump, going into some lurid details. The press lapped it up.

On MSNBC they performed a forensics study on the details Daniels provided. The claim that Trump did not wear a condom was explored deeply. There was rampant speculation that Daniels could have become impregnated from the dalliance - this, after appearing in over 200 adult films. It was then brought up that she hails from a state with restrictive abortion access.

Tonight on Alex Wagner Tonight, MSNBC, Lawrence O'Donnell made the point that when 60 year old Trump had sex with 27 year old Stormy Daniels WITHOUT A CONDOM there was a high possibility she could gotten pregnant. Trump would have made her get an abortion.

— Mark Bechtel (@markymark757) May 8, 2024

This is the kind of content important to MSNBC viewers, we can guess, but what possible relevance does any of that have to a case about election law violations? Also revealed in cross-examinations was Daniels claiming that she is a medium, also stating that she performed a type of exorcism on her boyfriend who had been possessed. This is a detail few news outlets reported on, apparently aware of how this cast her as a witness.

In the attempt to recast her testimony, legal expert Lisa Rubin tried to dismiss this aspect by noting the way Trump’s defense worked to discredit Daniels by highlighting her career, and featuring her claims of being able to communicate with the dead. The implication was Trump’s legal team was acting crudely, implying this line of questioning was distasteful when it could accurately be described another way – “doing their job”.

"This was very much what I call a 'nuts and sluts' defense."

WATCH: @lawofruby breaks down the feeling inside the courtroom during the rest of Stormy Daniels' testimony and the strategy the defense chose to use against her. pic.twitter.com/YwI0JtSlw9

— MSNBC (@MSNBC) May 9, 2024

Rubin then went on at length to describe just how vital and compelling the Stormy testimony had been, stressing the importance of her describing how she had been pressured and had fallen prey to a powerful man exerting his influence to have his way with her. If all of this was so readily apparent we would not need Rubin to go on at length to explain all of this in urgent fashion, but she realized there was another deep flaw in this claim by Daniels.

Bill Maher came out following the Stormy court appearance to completely dispute her contentions. He explained how he interviewed the actress in 2018, and when he gave her the chance to take the victimhood path, she sternly refused.

Daniels: "I have no idea. It is not a me too case. I wasn't assaulted. I wasn't raped. I wasn't attacked or raped, or coerced or blackmailed. They tried to shove me in to the #MeToo box to further their agenda. And first of all, I didn't want any part of that because it's not the truth, and I'm not a victim in that regard."

That is not only 180 degrees in opposition to her testimony, but on the stand, her account of the affair dropped many of the buzzwords and phrases heard from the movement. 

Then this weekend we saw something across the various news shows that compile the active stories and drive the narrative for the coming week: That is to say, we did not see much. For all of the hype and the coverage at the time of the Stormy Daniels testimony last week, there was very little heard from the news outlets and pundits about her appearance.

A journalism "tell" - look for what stories DON'T get covered.

On CBS' marquee Sunday show "Face the Nation," the NYC Trump trial didn't get mentioned at all. On CNN, only a passing reference. NBC relegated it to the final panel segment.

Doesn't bode well for the prosecution.

— Steve Krakauer (@SteveKrak) May 13, 2024

This is all you need to know about how poorly this came off. If there was anything legitimately valid to scorch Trump with regarding her appearance, it would have been blasted and broadcast. For the press to shrink away like this means that not only was there no valid content in Daniels’ testimony, but they realized how bad it looked. Highlighting it would only detract from the prosecution’s case further. 

Things aren't getting any better this week as the thoroughly discredited Michael Cohen takes the stand. It basically promises to become even worse for their case.