{"id":2465659,"date":"2025-07-23T12:07:02","date_gmt":"2025-07-23T16:07:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/gop-senator-says-duped-or-complicit-reporters-should-return-russiagate-reporting-awards\/"},"modified":"2025-07-23T12:09:11","modified_gmt":"2025-07-23T16:09:11","slug":"gop-senator-says-duped-or-complicit-reporters-should-return-russiagate-reporting-awards","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/gop-senator-says-duped-or-complicit-reporters-should-return-russiagate-reporting-awards\/","title":{"rendered":"GOP Senator Says &#8216;Duped or Complicit&#8217; Reporters Should Return Russiagate Reporting Awards"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">24<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fgop-senator-says-duped-or-complicit-reporters-should-return-russiagate-reporting-awards%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2465659&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>A Republican senator, Ron Johnson of Wisconsin, is calling for accountability from the media following new revelations about the origins of the Russia collusion narrative involving the 2016 U.S. election. Johnson criticized reporters who promoted the debunked story that Russia aided Donald Trump&#8217;s victory and demanded thay return their Pulitzer Prizes, arguing the press either was misled or complicit in spreading false information that caused prolonged political turmoil. This response follows disclosures from Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard,who released declassified documents showing that former President Barack Obama and senior officials deliberately <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/larry-johnson-the-cia-has-become-the-kgb\/\" title=\"Larry Johnson: The CIA Has Become the KGB\">politicized intelligence<\/a> in december 2016 too undermine then-President-elect Trump.Gabbard described this effort as a &#8220;treasonous conspiracy&#8221; designed to delegitimize Trump&#8217;s win and called for investigations and prosecutions of those involved. The media outlets awarded Pulitzer Prizes for their reporting on Russian interference are now being pressured to return their honors. Former President Trump also accused Obama of treason, claiming he orchestrated a scheme to sabotage Trump&#8217;s presidency.  <\/p>\n<p class=\"readmore\">\n    <button onclick=\"showReadMore()\" id=\"readmorebtn\">Read more&#8230;<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<hr id=\"line\">\n<span id=\"more\"><\/p>\n<p><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><\/p>\n<section> \t\t\t\t<script>console.log(\"ad slot (AC1)\")<\/script><script>console.log(\"ad slot (IC1)\")<\/script><script>console.log(\"ad slot (IC2)\")<\/script><script>console.log(\"ad slot (IC3)\")<\/script><script>console.log(\"ad slot (IC4)\")<\/script><\/p>\n<p>A Republican senator is demanding accountability from the press after new revelations about the origins of the Russia collusion narrative.<\/p>\n<p>Sen. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/watch-sen-ron-johnson-blasts-cia-fbi-secret-service-missing-hunter-biden-records\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Ron Johnson<\/a> of Wisconsin said reporters who pushed the debunked story that Donald Trump&rsquo;s 2016 election victory was aided by Russia should return their Pulitzer Prizes, <a href=\"https:\/\/thehill.com\/policy\/defense\/5414984-sen-johnson-media-russia-election-interference\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">The Hill<\/a> reported.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;I want the press to be honest. I want Pulitzer Prizes to be returned,&rdquo; Johnson said Tuesday on NewsNation&rsquo;s &ldquo;The Hill.&rdquo; &ldquo;They were either duped or complicit in pushing that false narrative that put America in political turmoil for years.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>Johnson was responding to explosive revelations from Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard.<\/p>\n<p>According to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dni.gov\/index.php\/newsroom\/press-releases\/press-releases-2025\/4086-pr-15-25\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">a news release<\/a> from Gabbard&rsquo;s office on Friday, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/declassified-documents-prove-fbi-knowingly-and-willfully-lied-to-fisa-court-to-spy-on-trump-campaign-video\/\" title=\"Declassified ...s Prove FBI Knowingly and Willfully Lied to FISA Court to Spy on Trump Campaign (Video)\">declassified documents show<\/a> that former President Barack Obama and senior officials intentionally politicized intelligence in December 2016.<\/p>\n<p> <script type=\"text\/javascript\"> \t\t\tif ( getCookie( \"ff_subbed\" ) ) { \t\t\t\tdocument.getElementById(\"stnvideo\").remove() \t\t\t} else { \t\t\t\tdocument.addEventListener(\"DOMContentLoaded\", function() { \t\t\t\t\tfunction loadScript(src) { \t\t\t\t\t\tconst script=document.createElement(\"script\"); \t\t\t\t\t\tscript.src=src; \t\t\t\t\t\tscript.async=true; \t\t\t\t\t\tdocument.body.appendChild(script); \t\t\t\t\t} \t\t\t\t\tfunction findPreviousParagraph(selector, x) { \t\t\t\t\t\tconst targetElement=document.querySelector(selector); \t\t\t\t\t\tif (!targetElement) { \t\t\t\t\t\t\tconsole.warn(\"Target element not found.\"); \t\t\t\t\t\t\treturn null; \t\t\t\t\t\t}  \t\t\t\t\t\t\/\/ Get all <\/p>\n<p> elements in order as they appear in the document \t\t\t\t\t\tlet paragraphs=Array.from(document.querySelectorAll(\"p\"));  \t\t\t\t\t\t\/\/ Find the index of the last <\/p>\n<p> before the target element \t\t\t\t\t\tlet targetIndex=paragraphs.findIndex(p=> p.compareDocumentPosition(targetElement) & Node.DOCUMENT_POSITION_PRECEDING);  \t\t\t\t\t\tif (targetIndex===-1 || targetIndex <x) { \t\t\t\t\t\t\tconsole.warn(\"Not enough paragraphs before the target element.\"); \t\t\t\t\t\t\treturn null; \t\t\t\t\t\t}  \t\t\t\t\t\treturn paragraphs[targetIndex - x]; \t\t\t\t\t}  \t\t\t\t\t\/\/ Set up IntersectionObserver \t\t\t\t\tfunction observeElement(element) { \t\t\t\t\t\tif (!element) return;  \t\t\t\t\t\tconst observer=new IntersectionObserver( \t\t\t\t\t\t\t(entries)=> { \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tentries.forEach(entry=> { \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tif (entry.isIntersecting) { \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tconsole.log(\"Paragraph is now visible:\", entry.target.textContent.trim()); \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tloadScript(\"https:\/\/embed.sendtonews.com\/player3\/embedcode.js?fk=s28Az7AY\"); \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tobserver.disconnect(); \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t} \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t}); \t\t\t\t\t\t\t}, \t\t\t\t\t\t\t{ threshold: 0.5 } \/\/ Adjust threshold as needed \t\t\t\t\t\t);  \t\t\t\t\t\tobserver.observe(element); \t\t\t\t\t}  \t\t\t\t\t\/\/ Find the 1st paragraph before #stnvideo and observe it \t\t\t\t\tlet paragraphToObserve=findPreviousParagraph(\"#stnvideo\", 2); \t\t\t\t\tobserveElement(paragraphToObserve); \t\t\t\t}); \t\t\t} \t\t<\/script> <\/p>\n<p>The goal, Gabbard said, was to delegitimize then-President-elect Trump and lay the groundwork for what she called &ldquo;a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/4-in-5-americans-see-two-tiered-justice-system-poll\/\" title=\"4 In 5 Americans See Two-Tiered Justice System: Poll\">years-long coup<\/a>.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/gabbard-evidence-indict-prosecute-responsible-coup-russia-hoax\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Gabbard<\/a> cited internal intelligence community assessments prior to the election that stated Russia was &ldquo;probably not trying&rdquo; to &ldquo;influence the election by using cyber means.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>Despite that, on Dec. 9, 2016, Obama convened a high-level meeting with <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/tom-cotton-biden-bringing-suspected-bomb-makers-and-terrorists-to-u-s\/\" title=\"Tom Cotton: Biden Bringing &#039;Suspected Bomb-Makers and Terrorists&#039; to U.S.\">top national security officials<\/a>, including then-DNI James Clapper and then-CIA Director John Brennan.<\/p>\n<p>Following that meeting, Clapper&rsquo;s assistant sent a directive to intelligence agencies to draft a new assessment on &ldquo;tools Moscow used&rdquo; to interfere with the election, &ldquo;per the President&rsquo;s request.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;The facts reveal this new assessment was based on information that was known by those involved to be manufactured,&rdquo; Gabbard&rsquo;s statement said.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;This was politicized intelligence,&rdquo; she added, noting it was &ldquo;used as the basis for countless smears seeking to delegitimize President Trump&rsquo;s victory.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>Gabbard called the operation a &ldquo;treasonous conspiracy&rdquo; and vowed that every official involved &ldquo;must be investigated and prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>In 2018, the Pulitzer Prize Board <a href=\"https:\/\/www.pulitzer.org\/winners\/staffs-new-york-times-and-washington-post\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">awarded<\/a> its national reporting prize jointly to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/priebus-fbi-dep-director\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">The New York Times<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/washington-post-just-linked-trump-russia-likes-hamburgers-no-joke\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">The Washington Post<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Reporters at the far-left outlets were praised for their &ldquo;deeply sourced, relentlessly reported coverage&rdquo; of &ldquo;Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election and its connections to the Trump campaign.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>Johnson wants those awards returned.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;It&rsquo;s continuing to go on,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;All based on a Hillary Clinton dirty trick, the Steele Dossier that those guys knew was a dirty trick.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>Tuesday, Trump accused Obama of &ldquo;treason&rdquo; for being behind a scheme to kneecap his first term.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;Based on what I read, and I read pretty much what you read, it would be President Obama. He started it,&rdquo; Trump <a href=\"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/trump-says-documents-show-obama-committed-treason-not-question\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">told<\/a> reporters.<\/p>\n<p>He added, &ldquo;This was treason. This was every word you could think of. They tried to steal the election. They tried to obfuscate the election.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<div style=\"position: relative;\">\n<div class=\"ff-fancy-header-container\"> \t\t\t \t<\/div>\n<div class=\"entry-submit-correction inner-content\">\n<div class=\"correction-form\">\n<form style=\"display: none;\">\n<div class=\"sc-name-field\"> \t\t\t\t\t\t<label>* Name<\/label> \t\t\t\t\t\t<br \/> \t\t\t\t\t\t<input type=\"text\" name=\"name\" required> \t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n<div class=\"sc--field\"> \t\t\t\t\t\t<label>* <\/label> \t\t\t\t\t\t<br \/> \t\t\t\t\t\t<input type=\"text\" name=\"\" required> \t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n<p> \t\t\t\t\t<label>* Message<\/label> \t\t\t\t\t<br \/> \t\t\t\t\t<textarea name=\"message\" required><\/textarea> \t\t\t\t\t \t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n<div class=\"required-message\" style=\"display: none; padding-bottom: 15px;\">* All fields are required.<\/div>\n<p> \t\t\t\t\t<input type=\"submit\" value=\"Submit\" onclick=\"event.preventDefault(); firefly_sc();\"> \t\t\t\t\t \t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n<div class=\"firefly-sc-confirm\" style=\"display: none;\">Success!<\/div>\n<\/p><\/form>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p> \t\t<script> \t\t\tfunction firefly_sc() { \t\t\t\tif( typeof window.captchaPublicKey==typeof undefined ){ \t\t\t\t\tconsole.error('window.captchaPublicKey is not defined'); \t\t\t\t} \t\t\t\tgrecaptcha.execute( window.captchaPublicKey, { action: 'submit_correction' } ).then( function( token ) { \t\t\t\t\tvar opts={ \t\t\t\t\t\taction:    'firefly_sc_submit', \t\t\t\t\t\tname:      document.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction [name=\"name\"]' ).value, \t\t\t\t\t\t:     document.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction [name=\"\"]' ).value, \t\t\t\t\t\tmessage:   document.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction [name=\"message\"]' ).value, \t\t\t\t\t\tpost_id:   firefly_post_id, \t\t\t\t\t\tcap_token: token \t\t\t\t\t}  \t\t\t\t\tvar inputs=[ 'name', '', 'message' ];  \t\t\t\t\tfor( var i=0; i <inputs.length; i++ ) if( ! ( opts[inputs[i]]=document.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction [name=\"' + inputs[i] + '\"]' ).value ) ) { \t\t\t\t\t\tdocument.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction .required-message' ).style.display='block'; \t\t\t\t\t\treturn; \t\t\t\t\t}  \t\t\t\t\tdocument.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction input[type=\"submit\"]' ).style.display='none'; \t\t\t\t\tdocument.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction .firefly-sc-submitting-img' ).src=firefly_loading_gif_url; \t\t\t\t\tdocument.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction .firefly-sc-submitting-img' ).style.display='inline-block';  \t\t\t\t\tconsole.log( 'ma subbing' );  \t\t\t\t\tif( firefly_post_id ) opts['post_id']=firefly_post_id;  \t\t\t\t\t\/* Send the data using post with element id name and name2*\/ \t\t\t\t\tvar posting=jQuery.post( firefly_ajax_url, opts );  \t\t\t\t\t\/* Alerts the results *\/ \t\t\t\t\tposting.done( function( response ) { \t\t\t\t\t\tif( response.success ) { \t\t\t\t\t\t\tconsole.log( response.data ); \t\t\t\t\t\t\tdocument.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction .firefly-sc-submitting-img' ).style.display='none'; \t\t\t\t\t\t\tdocument.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction .firefly-sc-confirm' ).style.display='block';  \t\t\t\t\t\t\tdataLayer.push( { 'event': 'submit-correction' } ); \t\t\t\t\t\t} \t\t\t\t\t}); \t\t\t\t}); \t\t\t} \t\t<\/script> \t     \t\t\t\t\t\t     \t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n<p style=\"border: 1px solid #f5f5f5; padding: 16px;\">Advertise with The Western Journal and reach millions of highly engaged readers, while supporting our work. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/advertise-us\/?wj_source=article\">Advertise Today<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p><script>console.log(\"ad slot (BA1)\")<\/script> \t\t<\/p>\n<div class=\"ff-fancy-header-container\"> \t\t\t \t<\/div>\n<\/section>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A Republican senator is calling for the media to be held accountable following new disclosures about the origins of the Russia collusion story. Senator Ron Johnson from Wisconsin stated that journalists who promoted the disproven claim that Russia helped Donald Trump win the 2016 election should give back their Pulitzer Prizes, according to The Hill. &#8220;I want honesty from the press. I want those Pulitzer Prizes returned,&#8221; Johnson said on NewsNation&#8217;s &#8220;The Hill.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2465660,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/Ron-Johnson.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[33651],"tags":[6203,59725,33295,16740,4012],"class_list":["post-2465659","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-the-western-journal","tag-gop","tag-journalism-awards","tag-media-criticism","tag-russiagate","tag-senator"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/Ron-Johnson.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2465659","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2465659"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2465659\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2465663,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2465659\/revisions\/2465663"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2465660"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2465659"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2465659"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2465659"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}