Cruz: Media is sitting on bombshells about Donald Trump

[tailfins]

Consider that Trump may be the media's "bowling pin" candidate (set 'em up and knock 'em down). Can anyone explain why Trump wouldn't be a Presidential level version of Todd Akin or Richard Mourdock?

http://thehill.com/blogs/ballot-box/presidential-races/271975-cruz-media-is-sitting-on-bombshells-about-donald-trump



Republican presidential candidate Sen. Ted Cruz (http://thehill.com/people/ted-cruz) (Texas) said on Sunday that the media is sitting on explosive negative information about front-runner Donald Trump (http://thehill.com/people/donald-trump) with plans to run it later in the year to tear the candidate apart.

"I think an awful lot of reporters — I can't tell you how many media outlets I hear, you know, have this great exposé on Donald, on different aspects of his business dealings or his past, but they said, 'You know what? We're going to hold it to June or July,'" Cruz said on CBS's "Face The Nation" Sunday.

"We're not going to run it now."

[jimnyc]

My first question off the bat is - how does Cruz know this?

[jimnyc]

And why not put those folks on the spot now, and force their hand and divulge this information? If true, sounds like something that may be important to the American people.

[Kathianne]

There's going to be a lot like this; some relevant, most likely not:

http://www.debatepolicy.com/showthread.php?54235-Going-To-Be-A-Long-Summer

[jimnyc]

So the media that is in the tank for Trump and ignores the others - they are holding onto pressing information that could affect how the American folks vote - but they're going to wait until later to release this? Are these reputable news organizations? I can understand another candidate doing something as such, like Hillary perhaps.

[Kathianne]

So the media that is in the tank for Trump and ignores the others - they are holding onto pressing information that could affect how the American folks vote - but they're going to wait until later to release this? Are these reputable news organizations? I can understand another candidate doing something as such, like Hillary perhaps.

Or a liberal MSM. Not too mention right wing media that are all into ratings and advertising.

[jimnyc]

Or a liberal MSM. Not too mention right wing media that are all into ratings and advertising.

Perhaps. But odd that if someone, or an entire agency, knows of such information - goes out of their way to even tell Cruz - but won't release what it is they supposedly have, even though it's apparently several bombshells. I just find it odd.

[Abbey Marie]

Perhaps. But odd that if someone, or an entire agency, knows of such information - goes out of their way to even tell Cruz - but won't release what it is they supposedly have, even though it's apparently several bombshells. I just find it odd.

I have no idea if there is anything there. The rumor mill is in high gear. But here's a thought on your question: I think it is far more damaging to release such things once we have a nominee. If they do it now, and Trump fails to get the nomination, they will just have to deal with Cruz. Let Trump get the nod, then release the damaging info, and Republicans have no one.

[tailfins]

So the media that is in the tank for Trump and ignores the others - they are holding onto pressing information that could affect how the American folks vote - but they're going to wait until later to release this? Are these reputable news organizations? I can understand another candidate doing something as such, like Hillary perhaps.

Reputable news organizations went out of style with tailfins :cool:. Edward R. Murrow died more than 50 years ago, both physically and culturally. The media sure looks like it's in the tank for Trump winning the GOP nomination, but not the general election. Just look at the coverage statistics.

[Kathianne]

I have no idea if there is anything there. The rumor mill is in high gear. But here's a thought on your question: I think it is far more damaging to release such things once we have a nominee. If they do it now, and Trump fails to get the nomination, they will just have to deal with Cruz. Let Trump get the nod, then release the damaging info, and Republicans have no one.

Interesting that Cruz brought this up, stories are now breaking. I think there's something to be said for calling the media out, why didn't they do this back last summer and fall? Well they're in the tank for Hillary or any Democrat, without question.

Here's some discussion of the one I put in 'the long summer,' one on China and visas, one on Trump University:

http://hotair.com/archives/2016/03/07/bombshells-cbs-bloomberg-yahoo-hit-trumps-business-dealings/

Note the writer also is criticizing the other candidates for not getting the info out to the press:


Bombshells? CBS, Bloomberg, Yahoo hit Trump’s business dealingsPOSTED AT 2:31 PM ON MARCH 7, 2016 BY ED MORRISSEY
Yesterday, Ted Cruz accused the media (http://hotair.com/archives/2016/03/07/cruz-media-deliberately-hiding-bombshells-about-trump-until-general-election/) of shielding the public from Donald Trump’s track record as a businessman. Cruz alleged that the media was waiting until after the nomination to perform its due diligence and drop “bombshells” on the GOP nominee, essentially using editorial discretion to pick the most vulnerable Republican to face off against Hillary Clinton. Today, however, both CBS News and Bloomberg focus on Trump’s controversial business practices, with CBS offering a more in-depth look at the allegations of fraud at Trump University after having accessed court documents in the civil case:

...

CBS isn’t the only news organization looking into Trump’s past. Yahoo’s Michael Isikoff reports (https://www.yahoo.com/politics/trump-challenged-over-ties-to-mob-linked-gambler-100050602.html)on alleged ties between Trump and a high-roller linked to organized crime back in the 1980s. Robert LiButti cost a Trump casino a $200,000 fine from New Jersey’s Casino Control Commission, not for mob ties but for the racist and sexist abuse LiButti heaped on Trump’s employees while management did nothing about it. Trump has consistently denied knowing LiButti, but LiButti’s daughter alleges that the two were close, and some covert recordings of LiButti seem to corroborate her:

...

These allegations go back more than a quarter-century, of course. However, a much more recent effort to get financing for a skyscraper used a pitch by Trump to investors from China, using the kind of visas against which Trump and his supporters often rail, according to Bloomberg (http://www.bloomberg.com/politics/articles/2016-03-07/trump-tower-financed-by-rich-chinese-who-invest-cash-for-visas):


...

Whether or not any of these are on the level, it’s worth noting the timing of these stories. Trump has been running for the nomination for almost a full year now, and almost all of these stories have been available for scrutiny the entire time. That’s not just an indictment of the media — it’s also an indictment of the other Republican candidates, who seemed afraid to take Trump head-on until only very recently. Suddenly both the media and the campaigns have taken an interest in Trump’s background despite the decades of controversy and notoriety of Trump’s public persona and dealings. Had the campaigns started digging these up in April of last year — or perhaps April of 2011, when Trump made his test run at the GOP nomination — the media would have at least been forced to cover them, even if reluctantly.


So what about these stories? The mob-ties allegations seems the most thin (although well sourced by Isikoff) and least serious of the three; the casino paid a fine for allowing a high roller to abuse and denigrate staff, but that had little to do with Trump himself, and any other connection to Trump other than a potential sale of a horse is at best speculative. Trump can explain away the recruitment of investors in China by arguing — correctly — that he’s just operating in the legal and financial environment created by the “establishment” in both parties. The Trump University story will probably do the most damage, especially if it becomes clear that Trump deliberately misrepresented his role in the organization. Being a superior deal-maker and winning non-stop is his big selling point, and the explanation provided in the court documents portray Trump as something akin to an absentee landlord — interested only in collecting the checks rather than providing value to consumers. That goes straight to his identity and strength in this race, which is why Trump gets most flustered when dealing with that particular line of attack.


Of course, if anything new comes up, that may change the calculations. That may be the reason why Trump is stalling on releasing his tax returns. If that’s the case, don’t expect him to release them at all, and that will tell us something about whether vulnerabilities exist that haven’t yet been aired.

[gabosaurus]

Cruz is an idiot. The media is NOT sitting on "bombshells." They have been firing "bombshells" at Trump on a daily basis.
Cruz needs to be wary of what's in his own closet.