CNN continued to pivot right during its coverage of Trump-appointed special counsel John Durham’s report on the FBI’s Trump-Russia probe. Many in right-wing media were ecstatic about this coverage, amplifying it across multiple social media platforms and using it as evidence to support their unsubstantiated argument that the probe was a “witch hunt.”

For four years, right-wing media hyped Durham’s investigation of the FBI’s investigation into former President Donald Trump and his relationship with Russia. But when the Durham report was released on May 15, it became clear that the findings fell markedly short of right-wing media’s expectations: It did not produce bombshell revelations nor a litany of crimes. Instead, the report noted that the FBI’s Trump-Russia investigation relied on “raw, unanalyzed, and uncorroborated intelligence” and argued that the investigation was politically biased. But much of the report was not new and was already made public by the Department of Justice in 2019.

University of Michigan law professor Barb McQuade explained that the findings of the Durham report were simple: The FBI should have opened a preliminary, not a full, investigation. And as Just Security’s Ryan Goodman noted, the initial investigation “would have surely moved to a full investigation.”

CNN’s framing of the Durham report was exceptionally misleading, ignored expert opinion, and aligned with Trump talking points. Instead of explaining that Durham found that a preliminary investigation was warranted, CNN journalists emphatically (and incorrectly) claimed that the “FBI should never have launched its investigation into connections between Trump's campaign and Russia.” CNN.com also parroted this false talking point.

Host Jake Tapper was potentially the worst offender of CNN’s inaccurate coverage. On the May 15 edition of his show, Tapper claimed that “to a degree, it [the report] does exonerate Donald Trump.” But this isn’t true; the report does not “exonerate” Trump (similar to how Muller’s report didn’t exonerate Trump). As MSNBC’s Steve Benen wrote, “By any fair measure, this is the most inconsequential special counsel investigation in the modern history of American law enforcement.”

Tapper’s commentary was wielded by right-wing media to support their unsubstantiated argument that the FBI’s investigation into Trump was a baseless witch hunt:

• FoxNews.com, The Gateway Pundit, Townhall, RedState, the Washington Examiner, and The Daily Caller published articles amplifying Tapper’s commentary and shared them on their respective Twitter accounts.

• Turning Point USA’s Benny Johnson and Charlie Kirk, right-wing influencers Ian Miles Cheong and Alex Bruesewitz, and RNC Research tweeted video of Tapper’s misleading coverage. Alongside the video, Kirk wrote, “The report EXONERATES Donald Trump once and for all. … There MUST be consequences,” while Brusewitz said, “To a degree, Jake?! It completely exonerates Trump.” 
• QAnon adherents were also quick to latch onto Tapper’s misleading analysis. Sharing a video of Tapper, Shadygrooove tweeted, “Even Jake Tapper must admit that the Russian collusion story was a ‘lie.’” KanekoaTheGreat accompanied the video with a long-winded caption that ended with: “The President of the United States was falsely accused of being a foreign agent of Russia and framed for treason by the FBI, the Justice Department, and the American media, and no one will be held accountable.” 
• QAnon influencers also amplified a video of Tapper’s commentary on Telegram. ULTRA Pepe Lives Matter wrote, “You now have CNN telling the normies that the Durham Report is devastating to the FBI and does exonerate Trump. This is a slam dunk when it comes to narrative warfare,” while MJTruth said, “Wow CNN Jake Tapper says the report is devastating to the FBI & exonerates Trump. Did the white hats capture CNN?” 
• Pro-Trump, QAnon-loving pundit Bill Mitchell tweeted: “BREAKING NEWS: Jake Tapper looked like he ate a bad pistachio when he had to admit that the entire #Russiagate Affair was a political witchhunt.”
• The Daily Mail published an article titled “Jake Tapper's humiliating volte-face: CNN host eats humble pie as he's forced to admit John Durham's report into flawed and biased FBI DOES 'to a degree' exonerate Trump (but that's not what he always said!)”
• Fox & Friends personalities praised Tapper’s commentary. After airing a video of Tapper, co-host Brian Kilmeade said, “Did you ever think you’d hear that on CNN? It does exonerate Donald Trump! Sure. The last person you’d think to do that!”

Later in the evening, some of Tapper’s colleagues on the May 15 edition of CNN Tonight provided an accurate assessment of the Durham report. Host Alisyn Camerota said Durham “didn't actually conclude that they should never have launched it — they shouldn’t have done a full investigation. There's different gradations in investigations,” to which CNN congressional correspondent Jessica Dean responded, “There is nuance to it, right? And that can be complicated. Nuance can be hard for people.”