NPR Claims Trump Has No Evidence of China Tampering Then Lists Trump's Evidence
President Donald Trump has been both praised and criticized for his attacks on the media. While some relish his use of the term “fake news,” others have claimed it is his way of stripping away freedom of the press.
However, sometimes things appear that may arguably give credence to his claims. One example is an NPR article that reports Trump had no evidence of his claim that China hacked former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s email server. The article then went on to cite his evidence.
The title of the piece reads, “Trump Says Without Evidence That China Hacked Clinton Email Server.” Their thesis stems from a tweet sent out by the president:
“Hillary Clinton’s Emails, many of which are Classified Information, got hacked by China. Next move better be by the FBI & DOJ or, after all of their other missteps (Comey, McCabe, Strzok, Page, Ohr, FISA, Dirty Dossier etc.), their credibility will be forever gone!” Trump wrote.
Hillary Clinton’s Emails, many of which are Classified Information, got hacked by China. Next move better be by the FBI & DOJ or, after all of their other missteps (Comey, McCabe, Strzok, Page, Ohr, FISA, Dirty Dossier etc.), their credibility will be forever gone!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 29, 2018
NPR then referenced an earlier tweet from Trump. In it he mentioned a report about the China hacking.
“Report just out: ‘China hacked Hillary Clinton’s private Email Server.’ Are they sure it wasn’t Russia (just kidding!)? What are the odds that the FBI and DOJ are right on top of this? Actually, a very big story. Much classified information!” he tweeted.
Report just out: “China hacked Hillary Clinton’s private Email Server.” Are they sure it wasn’t Russia (just kidding!)? What are the odds that the FBI and DOJ are right on top of this? Actually, a very big story. Much classified information!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 29, 2018
In their article, NPR went on to explain what was in the report, which in fact backs up what Trump claimed about China: “According to the report, the company served as a front group for the Chinese government. Computer code embedded in Clinton’s email server, located at her house in upstate New York, copied ‘nearly all of her emails and forwarded them to the Chinese company,’ the website says.”
The website NPR referenced is The Daily Caller, which issued the report regarding China hacking Clinton’s emails. The article cited two anonymous individuals as their sources for the information.
Quoting one of the sources, a former intelligence officer, The Daily Caller wrote that the “anomaly” on Clinton’s server had been found in 2015. “When [the ICIG] did a very deep dive, they found in the actual metadata — the data which is at the header and footer of all the emails — that a copy, a ‘courtesy copy,’ was being sent to a third party and that third party was a known Chinese public company that was involved in collecting intelligence for China.”
He refused to name the Chinese company involved, due to fear of getting into “a lot of trouble,” but did provide additional information about the situation. “The [the ICIG] believe that there was some level of phishing. But once they got into the server something was embedded. The Chinese are notorious for embedding little surprises like this.”
While Trump has referenced this information in his “China did it” tweet, many on social media noted that he has previously blasted the use of anonymous sources.
“Anonymous Sources are really starting to BURN the media.” @FoxNews The fact is that many anonymous sources don’t even exist. They are fiction made up by the Fake News reporters. Look at the lie that Fake CNN is now in. They got caught red handed! Enemy of the People!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 29, 2018
When you see “anonymous source,” stop reading the story, it is fiction!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 29, 2018
Prior mentions of Trump going after anonymous sources include Fox Business Network’s Charles Gasparino, who noted that Trump actually acted as one of his anonymous sources in previous years:
Just heard @POTUS at this rally complaining about the use of anonymous sources. For the record he was one of mine over the years.
— Charles Gasparino (@CGasparino) July 5, 2018
In February 2017, the StarTribune wrote that at the Conservative Political Action Conference, Trump told attendees that “unethical reporters ‘make up stories and make up sources. They shouldn’t be allowed to use sources unless they use somebody’s name. Let their name be put out there.'”
For some this may be a “gotcha” moment against Trump. For others it may be a matter of which news outlet is using the anonymous sources, having more trust for some over others.
Regardless, time may yet tell where the truth lies regarding the Clinton email hacking issue. Additionally, the American public will make up their own minds as to who to believe, seemingly no matter what the media or the president claim.
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