Ex-Washington Post Editor: ‘It Was Well Documented’ that Russia Interfered in the 2016 Election

Wallace: “I want to bring into our conversation Marty Baron. He’s the former executive editor of The Washington Post. Under his direction and leadership, The Washington Post won a Pulitzer Prize for its coverage of Russia’s interference in America’s elections. Marty, it’s an honor to have you here. I just want to read some of the headlines of the stories that were submitted for the Pulitzer that the Washington Post won. ‘National Security Adviser Mike Flynn discussed sanctions with Russian ambassador despite denials.’ ‘Pete Sessions’ — then the attorney general — ‘met with Russian envoy twice last year, encounters he later did not disclose.’ ‘Trump asked intelligence chiefs to push back against FBI collusion probe after Comey revealed its existence.’ ‘Doubting the intel, Trump pursues Putin and leaves a Russia threat unchecked.’ All those stories, groundbreaking at the time, sort of a ‘stop whatever we’re talking about’ when they broke, and still true and still very much animating everything Donald Trump does in that Oval Office, including to today when he said, ‘Vladimir Putin and I, we went through the hoax together.’ Still calling it a hoax. Why do you think this is the alternate reality that he can’t quit?”

BARON: “Well, because it serves his political interest to say that. I mean, the reality is that it was well documented that Russia intervened in the election. And, you know, I mean, he keeps saying that, you know, we suggested there was collusion and all of that, but those stories did not say that. There was a lot of communication that was taking place. Russia did intervene in the election to help Donald Trump. And, look, it’s to his advantage to say that this — None of this, None of this happened and that it meant absolutely nothing and that it was a hoax. So it’s just — it’s just his political advantage to dismiss the whole thing.”