Jake Tapper Gives Opioid Baron Sackler Clan the ‘Clarification’ They Asked For — With BRUTAL Takedown

Jake Tapper went full Jake Tapper Thursday afternoon in what was a delightfully informative and entertaining explanation of the Sackler family’s role in the opioid crisis that has gripped the nation over the past decade or so, all under the clever guise of making a clarification that the Sacklers demanded.

Tapper opened the segment by calling Wednesday a “big day in America’s hideous opioid epidemic.” He then reported how the CDC announced that the highest 12-month total yet of drug overdoses in the U.S., 96,000 dead Americans according to preliminary data, a 30% increase from the previous year. “The primary driver of this all was, of course, opioids,” noted before adding news that a federal judge “allowed work to continue on a very controversial bankruptcy and settlement plan for Purdue Pharma, the manufacturer of the opioid oxycontin.”

This was all pretext to bring up the Sackler Family, who are the Opioid barons who profited billions of dollars off of the opioid crisis, the subject matter of a new show on Hulu, called Dopesick. Tapper interviewed producers of the show on a previous episode, which raised the ire of the Sacklers — who insisted that Tapper clarify that they have not been charged with any malfeasance for their role in the very deadly opioid crisis.

Because Tapper is a responsible journalist and takes his role very seriously, he was eager to oblige. And so he then proceeded to make very clear to all viewers of The Lead, that the Sackler family has not faced any criminal charges so far. He then described their very specific role in the opioid crisis in a manner that the Sacklers probably didn’t…love.

“The Sackler family has not faced any criminal charges,” he said. “And the Sacklers are right. This is an important point for us to make clear for you to understand. The Sacklers have not been charged with any crimes.”

“That’s not to say that they won’t be or that they shouldn’t be,” he said. “The folks behind Dopesick think they should.”

Then he went in for the kill. “Remember the company that the Sacklers ran, Purdue Pharma, they pleaded guilty in federal court to multiple felonies, including conspiracy to defraud the United States. Prosecutors said, quote, Purdue admitted  that it marketed and sold the dangerous opioid products to health care providers even though it had reason to believe those providers were diverting them to abusers.” He continued, adding “Quote, the company lied to the drug enforcement administration about steps it had taken to prevent such diversion, fraudulently increasing the amount of its products it was permitted to sell. Purdue also paid kickbacks to providers to encourage them to prescribe even more of its products, unquote.”

“They, themselves, personally, the Sacklers, have not been charged with any crimes, it’s a fact that critics find outrageous,” Tapper concluded. “We hope this clears up any misunderstanding.”

Nope! Perfectly clear. Thanks for that Jake.

Watch above via CNN.

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