Trump Calls Out CNN's ‘Fraud’ Fake Iranian 'Victory' Statement — Says Criminal Investigation Underway

RedState 

President Trump is accusing CNN of publishing a fraudulent Iranian statement that falsely claimed Tehran had achieved a “great victory” and forced the United States to accept a 10-point plan during ceasefire negotiations over the Strait of Hormuz.

Trump labeled the CNN-reported statement an outright "fraud" that the network “well knows” originated from a low-credibility fake news site in Nigeria.

He demanded that the network immediately withdraw the item and issue a full apology for its “terrible reporting," adding that authorities are investigating whether a crime was committed in the course of issuing the statement.

"The alleged Statement put out by CNN World News is a FRAUD, as CNN well knows," he wrote in a Truth Social post Tuesday evening. "The false Statement was linked to a Fake News site (from Nigeria) and, of course, immediately picked up by CNN, and blared out as a 'legitimate' headline."

Trump noted the official statement put out by Iran, which he had previously posted.

"Authorities are looking to determine whether or not a crime was committed on the issuance of the Fake CNN World Statement, or was it a sick rogue player?" the president added. "CNN is being ordered to immediately withdraw this Statement with full apologies for their, as usual, terrible 'reporting.'"

Trump indicates that the investigation is real and spectacular, with results to be issued publicly in the near future.

Trump appears to be directly referencing a specific update in CNN’s live blog on the Iran conflict, titled “Iran claims victory, says it forced US to accept 10-point plan.”

That update was initially posted minutes before the President unloaded on Truth Social. In it, a statement attributed to Iran’s Supreme National Security Council claiming that Tehran had forced America's hand is published.

“The enemy, in its unfair, unlawful, and criminal war against the Iranian nation, has suffered an undeniable, historic, and crushing defeat,” the council statement reads. "Our hands remain on the trigger, and at the slightest mistake by the enemy, a full-force response will be delivered."

There is little pushback against the propaganda, except that CNN states it reached out to US officials for comment. Trump instead issued his own comments. 

CNN likely regrets inquiring into the matter, though it has yet to withdraw the statement or its reporting.

Democrats in Congress are already taking the regime's statement and running with it on social media.

Neither CNN nor Senator Murphy (D-CT) appears interested in the council's official statement, which confirms that Iran has accepted a two-week ceasefire in the war, will open the Strait of Hormuz during that time, and will negotiate with the United States further in Islamabad beginning Friday.

Is it possible that the council put out both statements? Certainly. One possibly being a propaganda message to keep their people convinced that they are dominating the war.

What does that say, however, that the network may have essentially transcribed and reported that element without fact-checking? Where is that Daniel Dale guy? They're blindly running with Iranian propaganda with almost no pushback.

Trump is also fighting the media on another front, seeking a leaker who compromised a sensitive U.S. rescue operation during the Iran conflict. The President vowed to hunt down and jail the individual responsible for revealing that a second American crew member from a downed F-15 fighter jet remained missing and wounded behind enemy lines.

The leak, first reported by Israel’s Channel 12 and quickly picked up by U.S. outlets including Axios and the Washington Post, came as the wounded second crew member was fighting for his life behind enemy lines. The information prompted a race between our military and the terrorist regime, only one of which had good intentions.

War can be messy, but it'd be incredibly generous to assume that the media doesn't know which side it's on here.