On July 17, 1996, 22 years ago today, a missile or missiles blew TWA Flight 800 out of the sky off the south coast of Long Island. The plane out of JFK was on its way to Paris. All 230 souls on board, 53 of them TWA employees, died in the crash.

This is not conjecture. This is fact. As I told the audience of TWA veterans with whom I spoke during my 2016 Book-TV presentation at the TWA Museum in Kansas City, “If I were coming here to spread some conspiracy theory, I would be dishonoring their memory [the 53] and insulting you.”

The audience members, several of whom worked on the investigation, had no doubt I was telling them the truth, at least as well as we know it. I would invite those who do have doubts to watch the Book-TV presentation.

A question I was asked that evening, a question I have been asked more frequently since President Trump’s election, is whether either the president or Congress will reopen the investigation. After watching the Peter Strzok hearing last Thursday, I am more inclined than ever to answer that question in the negative. Although I remain hopeful the truth about TWA 800 will one day surface, the hearing reminded me of the many obstacles the truth faces. TWA 800: The Crash, th... Jack Cashill Best Price: $9.71 Buy New $11.93 (as of 06:50 EST - Details)

The most formidable obstacle is the media, particularly the New York Times. The saying goes that a scandal becomes a scandal only when the Times calls it a “scandal” on the front page. Given this definition, Barack Obama and his media acolytes can pass a lie-detector test when they speak of Obama’s “scandal-free” presidency.

From the moment Strzok entered the committee hearing room, one could sense his confidence that the Times and other media, as well as the Democrats on the committee, would represent his interests. He was right.

From the Times’ perspective, if there was a scandal, it was the cruel “grilling of the FBI agent.” One Times headline – under the wishful rubric “Trump’s Russian Connection” – read simply, “Shouting and Personal Attacks at Strzok Hearing.” This is the same Peter Strzok whom Trump accurately called “a disgrace to our country.”

In the case of Peter Strzok, the Times was primarily defending the Democratic Party and the larger progressive agenda. Only indirectly was the Times protecting its own reputation. In the case of TWA 800, the Times has much more at stake.

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