Corporate media wildly misinterpret Trump's tweets on ethics change — to his favor

After House Republicans voted to gut the independent Office of Congressional Ethics, which investigates ethics and criminal complaints against lawmakers, President-elect Donald Trump tweeted:

With all that Congress has to work on, do they really have to make the weakening of the Independent Ethics Watchdog, as unfair as it

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 3, 2017

……..may be, their number one act and priority. Focus on tax reform, healthcare and so many other things of far greater importance! #DTS

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 3, 2017

Though it was spread across two tweets, Trump’s statement is clear: He agrees the Office of Congressional Ethics is “unfair,” and thus does not condemn House Republicans for severely limiting its authority. His concern is only the timing of this breathtaking subversion.

There are things that are more important, he argues. But he does not say that the weakening of the OCE was itself wrong.

But you would not know that if you read the coverage from virtually every major political news outlet.

BREAKING: In tweet, President-elect Donald Trump questions House Republicans' weakening of independent ethics watchdog.

— The Associated Press (@AP) January 3, 2017

Trump objects to move by House Republicans to eviscerate independent Office of Congressional Ethics. https://t.co/FSbk6xkSH8

— The Associated Press (@AP) January 3, 2017

Trump rebuked the House GOP, saying there were more important things than “weakening" the independent ethics office https://t.co/TdkLnvIhr3

— NYT Politics (@nytpolitics) January 3, 2017

#BREAKING: Trump slaps GOP lawmakers for weakening ethics watchdog https://t.co/he7WBmJy2T pic.twitter.com/rxXlLHDawy

— The Hill (@thehill) January 3, 2017

#Breaking: @realDonaldTrump tweets disapproval of GOP move to gut Congressional ethics office https://t.co/wPMlHmNiQQ pic.twitter.com/OA0OnsSSHT

— POLITICO (@politico) January 3, 2017

Trump knocks the House GOP for voting in secret to gut the independent ethics watchdog. Foam the runway. pic.twitter.com/KUEpTuelHo

— Bradd Jaffy (@BraddJaffy) January 3, 2017

Trump criticizes House Republicans for effort to weaken independent ethics watchdog https://t.co/Z5G2OOdsWO pic.twitter.com/GySV9C5Hf1

— NBC News (@NBCNews) January 3, 2017

Pres.-elect Trump questions House Republicans' move to rein in independent ethics watchdog. "So many other things of far greater importance" pic.twitter.com/nALI145ZpG

— ABC News (@ABC) January 3, 2017

There were a few notable exceptions:

Important note— Trump questioning *the timing* of the GOP's effort to weaken the Office of Congressional Ethics. Not the action itself. pic.twitter.com/OTr8VrEBss

— Kyle Griffin (@kylegriffin1) January 3, 2017

https://twitter.com/SopanDeb/status/816304374179840004

Trump is once again getting the headlines he wants, and not the headlines he deserves — that is, headlines which reflect anything resembling the truth.

The bitter irony is that this is coverage of a story about Congressional Republicans weakening ethics accountability just as the aggressively unethical Trump is about to be inaugurated. In one fell swoop, we see that Congress will not provide checks and balance on a Trump presidency, and neither will the press.

Which could not work out better for Trump, nor worse for us.