The New York Times has some breaking news Monday afternoon, reporting that President Trump “pressed” the Australian government to help Attorney General William Barr investigate the origins of the whole Russian collusion hoax.

breaking — NYT: Trump Pressed Australian Leader to Help Barr Investigate Mueller Inquiry’s Originshttps://t.co/x2U5JIOmEJ — Jake Tapper (@jaketapper) September 30, 2019

Note that we put the word “pressed” in quotes because a spokesman for Australia’s government has responded, saying the Australian prime minister was always read to assist and cooperate in the investigation. No quid pro quo then?

#breaking from federal government spokesperson: "The Australian Government has always been ready to assist and cooperate with efforts that help shed further light on the matters under investigation. The PM confirmed this readiness once again in conversation with the President." — Andrew Greene (@AndrewBGreene) September 30, 2019

Australia played a central role in the origins of the Mueller investigation. Why is it bad to ask for their cooperation in getting to the bottom of it? https://t.co/9b6sfTV1aE — David Marcus (@BlueBoxDave) September 30, 2019

So it really is a nothing burger Amazing. Man the Dems are really screwing themselves. https://t.co/0oBciIZLV1 — Comfortably Smug (@ComfortablySmug) September 30, 2019

Even Douthat saying it's a nothing burger Man this story lasted about 11 minutes. Tune in tomorrow when NYT breaks news that Trump didn't recycle a Diet Coke can and Dems will use that to impeach https://t.co/MkZwxipWVi — Comfortably Smug (@ComfortablySmug) September 30, 2019

Australian PM just put the NYT "BOMBSHELL" in a body bag: "The Australian Govt has always been ready to assist & cooperate with efforts that help shed further light on the matters under investigation. The PM confirmed this readiness once again in conversation with the President" — Benny (@bennyjohnson) September 30, 2019

?WOW ? Hey @nytimes, Look what I found after 27 seconds of searching the internet: Trump telling everyone on earth that he is asking AG Barr to look at UK, Australia & Ukraine for the Russia Hoax. Hey normal people, Please RT this so all the DNC propaganda journos see it: pic.twitter.com/DPeZF5m83R — Benny (@bennyjohnson) September 30, 2019

But it’s a cover up!!!!! — JP (@ishouldnobetter) September 30, 2019

He’s really bad at clandestine collusion — AmoricanMade ?? (@ryderhrd) September 30, 2019

President @realDonaldTrump literally told the media and the country exactly what he was doing but somehow the Democrats and their media pets are trying to convince us that he’d colluding and covering things up. Totally ridiculous. Worst coverup colluder of all time. ? https://t.co/TlEunFqHKv — Robby Starbuck (@robbystarbuck) September 30, 2019

Guys, this isn’t about kneecapping Joe Biden in 2020 — it’s investigating the Russian collusion hoax of 2016.

Yeah. There is a legitimate ongoing investigation and it is normal to ask for cooperation with our DoJ. Obviously specifics are important, but those treating this as equivalent to the Ukraine request are going to lose credibility very quickly. https://t.co/jMO5B3ghtQ — (((AG))) (@AG_Conservative) September 30, 2019

The libs are discovering 4 months old news. Barr said he's launching this investigation 4 months ago, it's currently led by US attorney John Durham. — Vaiv (@Vaiv71738794) September 30, 2019

Trump colluded with our Australian enemies! Treason! Impeach! — Professor Eobard Thawne (@RubenSnakeCobra) September 30, 2019

sorry anything that libs don't like is an impeachable offense under the Meanie Orange President act of 2017 — KG, 5th Generation Frontier Closure Survivor (@TheGhostOfKG) September 30, 2019

LMAO NY Times is a joke. They’re on par with The Onion at this point — ROB (@Berrettaman28) September 30, 2019

NYT gonna NYT — Phillip Lacio (@realPhilLacio) September 30, 2019

The panic you’re seeing over Attorney General Barr engaging other countries as part of his investigation into events before & after 2016 tells you 2 things: 1. Barr isn’t going anywhere and they know he’s gonna drop damning stuff

2. They hope to undermine the impact with this BS — Robby Starbuck (@robbystarbuck) September 30, 2019

They were hoping to force Barr to recuse in all things Ukraine… which would mean 2016 coup, etc. But @POTUS released the phone call and their gambit was shredded. We're now at step two for the underpants- gnomes ( Democrats ). — Uncle Max ?? (@Uncle3Max) September 30, 2019

* * *

Update:

The Associated Press is on it too.

NEW: DOJ official said Trump initiated the calls at Barr’s request. The recent call with Australia was one of a “number of times” the president made similar calls for the AG as part of probe into the origins of the special counsel’s Russia investigation https://t.co/eCgiIYrXDm — Jonathan Lemire (@JonLemire) September 30, 2019

Good on Barr for investigating how the soft-coup got started. https://t.co/Gs5I6280P1 — Rob Eno (@Robeno) September 30, 2019

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