Will Bunch (Philadelphia Enquirer)

1. Today reminds me a lot of one of the most talked-about episodes during Woodward and Bernstein's historic reporting on Watergate, which is probably better remembered as a key plot point in the "All the President's Men" movie.
2. It concerned a mid-level Nixon functionary (and W + B source) named Hugh Sloan. In the fall of 1972, the duo wrote an explosive story that Sloan had testified before the Watergate grand jury and fingered high-level Nixon aides as controlling an illegal slush fund.
3. Their front-page story caused a brief stir, until Sloan's attorney came out publicly and said the story was inaccurate. Woodward and Bernstein (and their editors) were distraught. How they'd make such a mistake? Was the Watergate story overblown?
4. The reporters went back to Sloan and other sources and found that while there'd been a misunderstanding, the essence of the slush fund story was right. But Sloan hadn't testified about it to the grand jury. Why? Because no one asked.
5. Re: Cohen and Trump: What we know from Cohen's plea and related filings, and the narrow, carefully parsed statement from Mueller's office suggests the problem is with how the Buzzfeed reporters got to their conclusion, and not necessarily the essence of the piece.
6. Time will tell. There's a much bigger point to today's chaos. There's a real -- and important -- debate about the secretive and methodical pace of the Mueller investigation. The special counsel's go-slow mode is calibrated to prove the most facts, and get the most convictions
7. That's great, but while Mueller chugs along, America as we know it is falling apart. Congress, tasked with keeping the executive branch in check, has no idea what's going on after two years of GOP intentional ignorance. The media is racing to fill the void with scoops...
8... because that's what journalists do. Mueller's team had a chance to offer Buzzfeed's reporters guidance but instead fostered a day of chaos. That's not serving the public. Team Mueller are not gods. They make mistakes. Their approach should be questioned.
9. But more importantly, it's time for Congress, with a Democratic House, to start serving the public with a public, open process, moving at an urgent deliberative speed, that will determine whether Donald Trump is fit to serve out his term.
10. The obvious vehicle for that an immediate House impeachment inquiry with public hearings ASAP. What just happened today with the Buzzfeed flap makes that need even more urgent, not less so. The secret Mueller probe isn't helping us, the American people, get the government..
11. ...re-opened, or telling us whether the president of the United States is a Russian agent, a question we needed answered yesterday, not months from now. Only Congress and its impeachment vehicle can do that. So please get to work. Tomorrow if possible. -30-

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