Bernstein praises press coverage of Trump as ‘one of the great reporting jobs in history’

Watergate journalist Carl Bernstein in a Sunday interview called press coverage of the Trump administration “one of the great reporting jobs in history” as the media comes under attack for its coverage of special counsel Robert Mueller’s probe.

Bernstein defended the press in response to a question about the coverage of Mueller’s probe.

{mosads}“I think we’ve done — the media, the press — has done one of the great reporting jobs in history, especially of covering a presidency by … most news organizations,” he said.

He also blamed distortions on Trump and his allies.

“Let’s look at where the disinformation and mistakes and lying have come from. It hasn’t come from the press. It’s come from the president of the United States and those around him,” Bernstein, a CNN contributor, told “Reliable Sources.”

Bernstein made the appearance hours before Attorney General William Barr sent Congress conclusions of Mueller’s report. Mueller did not find evidence of a conspiracy between Moscow and the Trump campaign in the 2016 election, and he did not reach a finding on obstruction of justice. Barr and Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein determined, based on a review of Mueller’s findings, that there should be no obstruction charge.

Bernstein said that even if there were not such a finding, there was plenty of fire.

“First of all I think there has been plenty of fire regardless of whether or not there’s a finding, of whether or not Donald Trump is guilty of a crime and remember, under the Justice Department guidelines he cannot be found guilty while in office. So that’s why we need these underlying facts,” he said.

“There has been such fabulous reporting by, especially The New York Times, Washington Post, The Wall Street Journal. In cable [news] there has been great reporter reporting,” he also added.

The White House has ripped the media over its coverage of Mueller and some conservatives, including Trump ally David Bossie, criticized Bernstein’s comments as they circulated on Twitter.

Carl Bernstein is a disgrace and should apologize. Mueller Draft Report Says Trump ‘Helped Putin Destabilize the United States’, Watergate Journalist Says https://t.co/uWbAbkXowM

— David Bossie (@David_Bossie) March 25, 2019

For how many years have Ds assured us the evidence pointed to collusion? For how many years have Ds, including Hillary, along with pundits (Carl Bernstein) said we’re in a constitutional crisis? Our nation needed patience and facts, but these people gave us hysteria & hyperbole.

— Ari Fleischer (@AriFleischer) March 24, 2019

OK, GENIUS. Then name one, just one part of the Russia collusion narrative the media got right. I’m waiting … https://t.co/ygBnBtPVZZ

— Tara Servatius (@TaraServatius) March 24, 2019

An analysis released Monday and published by Axios found that more than 530,000 web articles focusing on Russia, Trump and Mueller have been published since the special counsel’s investigation launched in May 2017.

According to the news outlet, data compiled by social media analytics company NewsWhip also found that the articles generated 245 million interactions, including likes, comments and shares on social media giants Twitter and Facebook.