Susan Collins just walked out of a committee room to a swarm of reporters, including myself, who began walking alongside her.
A corporate media reporter walking directly to her left asked the first question. One might expect any journalist lucky enough to get the first question would ask about the obvious: the corruption scandal Collins is now embroiled in following ProPublica’s groundbreaking reporting about the FBI’s investigation into her quid pro quo dealings with defense contractor Navatek.
Instead, the corporate media reporter asked her for her thoughts about U.S. tariffs on Canada. What? If Graham Platner were the senator from Maine at the center of such a corruption scandal, would corporate media ask him about anything else with a long hallway of runway to press on it? For months, they relentlessly asked senators who endorsed him, like Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders, whether they’d condemn him for his tattoos or posts on Reddit. I watched it happen day after day.
Standing on the other side of Collins, directly to her right, I attempted to ask whether she called the Navatek donor after Scott Reed asked for his number so the senator could thank him for his contribution to her super PAC. But before I could do so, she promptly finished up her answer on the Canadian tariff question and darted into a stairwell, where we are not permitted to film.
If you’re wondering how corporate media insulates the powerful and well-connected, this is a great example.
I assume everybody in the Capitol Hill press corps will be asking about this extraordinary corruption this week? One would have to be intentionally turning a blind eye not to.