In the wake of U.S. Attorney General William Barr’s Sunday letter, which clears President Donald Trump of obstruction of justice and asserts the Special Counsel’s office concluded there was no “collusion” between the 2016 Trump campaign and Russian operatives, Republicans are going on the offensive.

President Trump wants his investigators investigated, insisting there are “a lot of people out there that have done some very, very evil things, very bad things.”

But that’s not all his team wants. It wants to control the message.

Tim Murtaugh, the Trump 2020 campaign’s communications director, is seeking to shame broadcast and cable news networks into keeping some high-profile Trump critics off the air. He sent a memo to networks listing Democratic politicians who Murtaugh says “made outlandish, false claims” about the president “colluding” with Russia.

In the memo, Murtaugh writes:

“Moving forward, we ask that you employ basic journalistic standards when booking such guests to appear anywhere in your universe of productions. You should begin by asking the basic question: ‘Does this guest warrant further appearances in our programming, given the outrageous and unsupported claims made in the past?’”

The memo has been met with head-shaking by seasoned television journalists.

“In two decades as a news producer I’ve never seen anything like this,” Zev Shalev wrote on Twitter. “I’ve had skirmishes with spokespeople about stories they didn’t like but this is a directive to all producers on all networks with a very clear message: stop booking our critics. Or else?”

In two decades as a news produce I’ve never seen anything like this. I’ve had skirmishes with spokespeople about stories they didn’t like but this is a directive to all producers on all networks with a very clear message: stop booking our critics. Or else? @NarativLive https://t.co/IVUmQLmTJL — Zev Shalev (@ZevShalev) March 25, 2019

Below is the bulleted list of the Democrats Murtaugh would like to keep off the air. It is presented here exactly as written in the memo:

• Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-CT): “The evidence is pretty clear that there was collision [sic] between the Trump campaign and the Russians...” (MSNBC, “All In,” 10/17/18)

• Rep. Adam Schiff (D-CA): “I think there’s plenty of evidence of collusion or conspiracy in plain sight.” (“CBS This Morning,” 8/5/18)

• Rep. Jerrold Nadler (D-NY): “There was obviously a lot of collusion. The question is how high. Every day we – every day – every so often we get new information about involvement.” (CNN, “Erin Burnett OutFront,” 10/27/17)

• Rep. Eric Swalwell (D-CA): “In our investigation, we saw strong evidence of collusion.” (CNN, “Wolf,” 3/16/18)

• DNC Chairman Tom Perez: “And over the course of the last year we have seen, I think, a mountain of evidence of collusion between the campaign and the Russians to basically affect our democracy.” (NBC, “Meet the Press,” 4/22/18)

• Former CIA Director John Brennan: “I called his behavior treasonous, which is to betray one’s trust and to aiding [sic] and abet the enemy, and I stand very much by that claim.” (NBC, “Meet the Press,” 8/19/18).

The Democratic officials targeted by Murtaugh are rejecting the memo’s accusation that they made “outlandish, false claims.”

“The only person who has been caught lying about Russia is Donald Trump,” Swalwell wrote on Twitter.

The only person who has been caught lying about Russia is Donald Trump. If he thinks I’ve made a false statement, he can sue me. And I’ll beat him in court. https://t.co/x9UvPnTqkO — Rep. Eric Swalwell (@RepSwalwell) March 25, 2019

Blumenthal, meanwhile, appeared on CNN despite the memo. “I do not deeply respect and trust the Barr summary, which was designed to frame the message,” he said on air.

Barr, selected by Trump after Jeff Sessions resigned as attorney general late last year, took office in February. On Sunday he produced a four-page summary of a confidential report by Special Counsel Robert Mueller, who had submitted his work to the Department of Justice two days earlier.

Neither Congress nor the president has actually seen Mueller’s report. Congressional Democrats are pushing for the report’s release. On Monday, Republican Sen. Mitch McConnell, the majority leader, blocked a measure calling for the report to be made public.

House Democrats insist their various investigations into the president’s and his team’s conduct will continue, possibly including calling Mueller to testify publicly before Congress.

-- Douglas Perry

@douglasmperry

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