Grassley blasts 'media hysteria' over Trump-Russia

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Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-IA) on Thursday lambasted “media hysteria” linking President Trump with Russian meddling in the 2016 presidential election.

“Countless media articles falsely claimed the President was under investigation for colluding with Russia,” he said on the Senate floor.

“And, unfortunately, a number of our Democrat colleagues in the House and Senate played right along,” the Senate Judiciary Committee chairman added.

“Over and over again, the media published selective leaks. They published classified half-truths. All this was used to make false allegations sinister conduct by the President. And a lot of people believed it.”

Grassley additionally blamed former FBI Director James Comey for not clarifying whether Trump was under investigation for potential collusion with Russia.

“Because Mr. Comey refused to tell the public that the FBI was not investigating the President, conspiracy theories and wild speculation have run rampant about the election, the President, and Russia,” he said.

“These conspiracy theories and wild speculation have played right into Russia’s aim of undermining faith in our democratic system. Those national security concerns should have taken precedence.”

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