Trump is trying to make the Russia story about the 'leakers.' This Fox News clip explains why he'll fail.

Fox News explains why the "leakers" are never the story
(Image credit: Fox News/YouTube)

The FBI and at least two congressional committees are investigating any ties or possible collusion between President Trump's campaign and Russian intelligence services believed to have tried to help Trump win the election. Americans favor an independent investigation of these allegations 52 percent to 23 percent, according to an Associated Press/NORC poll released Saturday. On Sunday, Trump reiterated what he believes the real story is here:

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The president and his allies have been trying to make the story about how the press learned of damaging information about Trump's aides and Russia — a process story. But here's the thing: The leakers may be a story, but they are not the story. The "real story" is that the president of the Unites States and his associates are under active federal investigation for possibly helping a foreign power interfere in a U.S. presidential election. No amount of wishful thinking will make "leaking" the story. You can ask Hillary Clinton's campaign.

In late August, WikiLeaks chief Julian Assange hinted that he would be releasing election-changing information on Clinton. Nobody (except maybe Roger Stone) knew what Assange had — John Podesta's stolen private emails. Clinton allies noted Fox News used to hate WikiLeaks; Clinton critics on Fox News were giddy. Greg Gutfeld had reservations, and he had a panel of five people on his show to discuss whether what Assange was doing was okay. They were split, but comedian Jeff Dye made an inconvenient, newly relevant argument.

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When hackers release nude selfies of celebrities, "everybody felt that that's a violation," Gutfeld said, "but we're okay with Hillary because we don't like Hillary." Dye disagreed: "No, we're okay with it because it's much bigger information, like huge news." He gave an example of a woman finding out her boyfriend was cheating by searching his phone: "The guy will be like, 'That's an invasion of my privacy,' they're like, 'That's not really the point anymore.'"

"When something bigger comes out, you don't get to go, 'That's an invasion of my privacy,'" Dye said. "Now you've got to deal with the bigger thing that they've found."

Like it or not, "we live in a world where we think because nobody caught us, that it's okay," Dye said. "What you do in private is what you are as a human being. That's the real you."

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Peter Weber

Peter Weber is a senior editor at TheWeek.com, and has handled the editorial night shift since the website launched in 2008. A graduate of Northwestern University, Peter has worked at Facts on File and The New York Times Magazine. He speaks Spanish and Italian and plays bass and rhythm cello in an Austin rock band. Follow him on Twitter.