RINGSIDE POLITICS – JUNE 4, 2021

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Welcome to another edition of Ringside Politics with Jeff Crouere

Today’s Hot Topics:

1) Thousands of Dr. Anthony Fauci’s emails, collected and published by Buzzfeed and the Washington Post, have revealed a symbiotic relationship between the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases head and some members of the press.

When the coronavirus came into focus as an issue late last winter, a number of journalists wrote to Fauci, no doubt in an effort to gain access as it became increasingly clear that the disease would be a major story over the long term. Of course, there’s nothing wrong with media figures cultivating relationships and gaining the trust of sources — indeed that’s their job.

However, some journalists may have crossed the line into advocacy by offering assurances to Fauci.

Kyra Phillips of ABC News, for example, all but promised Fauci exclusively positive coverage. After assuring him that she had “respected” him “professionally and medically” for the better part of two decades, Phillips emphasized that she understood Fauci was in “a unique situation.”

2) The news team found 71-year-old Gabor Radnai wandering around their parking lot, crying and clutching a pile of paperwork.

“Why did you drive your papers here?” Anne McCloy, an anchor at CBS-6 Albany, asked Radnai.

“They can’t help me,” he said. “Maybe you can.”

When the coronavirus outbreak first hit, Radnai was working at a local ski resort. In March, after he lost his job, he applied for unemployment, but a letter from the state unemployment office said he needed to call them to complete his claim. He tried for months but couldn’t get through over the phone. So, in a last-ditch attempt to reach someone in authority, he drove an hour from his home to the CBS-6 station.

3) Piers Morgan still has more to say about Meghan Markle.

The former “Good Morning Britain” anchor sat down with journalist Karl Stefanovic to discuss his ongoing feud with the Duchess of Sussex.

The drama originated in 2015 when the 56-year-old began to communicate with the former American actress on Twitter after the two followed each other, Page Six reported. However, the seemingly budding friendship went south when the “Suits” star allegedly ghosted the British host after they went for drinks in London. Morgan has long claimed it was the same night she allegedly met her now-husband Prince Harry.

In an upcoming interview with Australia’s “60 Minutes” scheduled to air on Sunday, Morgan slammed the 39-year-old once more.

“I don’t believe a word she says,” said Morgan in a sneak peek of the sit-down released on Friday.

4) Former Ukrainian prosecutor Yuriy Lutsenko told former Obama State Department official George Kent he had been “pitched” by a Hunter Biden and Burisma-linked lobbying firm to give him “access” to “high levels” of the Clinton campaign in the weeks leading up to the 2016 presidential election, according to emails between former Obama State Department officials obtained by Fox News.

The lobbying firm, Blue Star Strategies, is reportedly under federal investigation for potential illegal lobbying. Politico first reported the investigation, which allegedly comes as the Justice Department is ramping up enforcement of foreign governments’ efforts to influence U.S. politics. Those efforts have been linked to work by Republicans, but the probe into Blue Star also puts firms and operatives connected to the Democratic Party under the microscope.

In an email released to Citizens United on Thursday as part of a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) filing, and obtained by Fox News, former deputy assistant secretary of state for Europe and Eastern Europe George Kent wrote to a number of Obama administration officials about a meeting he had with Ukrainian prosecutor Yuriy Lutsenko in September 2016 about Blue Star Strategies.

Today’s Guests:

1) John Milkovich, Attorney, Former LA State Senator

2) Chris Holton, Vice President of Outreach, Center for Security Policy

3) LA State Senator Sharon Hewitt

4) Matt Herriman, NRA’s Louisiana State Director

5) Mack Cormier, LA State Representative

6) Pollster Scott Rasmussen

7) Attorney David Dalia