Anderson Cooper Knocks Hannity For Taking Part In ‘Smear Campaign’ Against Mueller and Comey

CNN’s Anderson Cooper called out Fox’s Sean Hannity Thursday for taking part in what he’s called “a coordinated smear campaign” against Special Counsel Robert Mueller and former FBI Director James Comey.

“When you’re not interested in facts you can blame folks for anything, but they might do a better job of checking their dates and getting their story straight,” Cooper said, singling out Hannity as the target for his message.

Hannity has promoted false claims on air that Comey allowed the Boston Marathon bombing to occur, and that Mueller helped to protect the city’s infamous crime boss Whitey Bulger. Despite the fact that Comey was not part of the FBI during the bombing and Mueller was never named in the Bulger case, Hannity has spread the disinformation.

“Mueller was involved in the case,” he said, using the words “Mueller crime family” in reference to the special counsel.

In an effort to further deflate Hannity’s claims, Cooper brought author Shelly Murphy on the air to comment, since she has written about the case. “The Boston Marathon bombings happened before Comey became director of the FBI, so to try to connect Comey to the marathon bombings is just simply not true,” she told Cooper.

Cooper called the Fox arguments “just plain false,” “weird” and a “bale of B.S.”

Watch the clip above, via CNN.

[Image via screengrab]

Follow Amy Russo on Twitter: @amymrusso

New: The Mediaite One-Sheet "Newsletter of Newsletters"
Your daily summary and analysis of what the many, many media newsletters are saying and reporting. Subscribe now!