Unbelievable .. Washington Post STANDS BY its reporting and says Pulitzer board concluded Trump-Russia stories were NOT 'discredited' - as calls grow for awards to be swiped after Durham report

 

A Radical Left-wing Trump-bashing newspaper has refused to return its 2018 Pulitzer Prize over the now-debunked theory that the ex-president conspired with Russia.

The Washington Post and New York Times picked up the most-vaunted award in American journalism for its 'deeply sourced, relentlessly reported coverage.' That turned out to be a unmitigated lie!

But the DC-based outlet, which is bankrolled by Democrat-donating Amazon billionaire Jeff Bezos, insists it will not give up its National Reporting honor. 

'The Post stands by its reporting,' a Washington Post spokeswoman brazenly said.

She cited a 2022 review by the Pulitzer board that said no elements of those stories 'were discredited by facts that emerged subsequent to the conferral of the prizes.'

The calls follow an investigation by Special Counsel John Durham that trashed the the FBI's probe into allegations of collusion between Trump and Russia.

'Neither US law enforcement nor the Intelligence Community appears to have possessed any actual evidence of collusion in their holdings at the commencement of the Crossfire Hurricane investigation,' the report said.

But Erik Wemple, the Washington Post's media critic, has repeatedly slammed liberal outlets that ran stories based on a dossier by ex-British spy Christopher Steele.

The journalist's columns hit out at the 'flimsiness' of Steele's allegations that claimed there was a long-running conspiracy between Trump and the Kremlin.

Wemple's main targets were the left-leaning news networks CNN and MSNBC that breathlessly reported bogus allegations of Trump's lewd behavior in a Moscow hotel.

Many of the Post's stories focused on Trump campaign staffers, including ex-National Security Adviser Michael Flynn, making contact with Russian officials. 

The New York Times failed to respond to this outlet's queries as to whether the newspaper stood by all of its so-called 'Russiagate' reporting.

DailyMail.com understands that many of those outlets that broke those exclusives were working closely together on the story.

'If Americans saw how this sausage was made, they would be appalled,' said one source familiar with how the media reported the collusion claims.

It comes as Republican lawmakers demand both newspapers return the prizes over what they have branded a 'witchhunt.'

 Trump loyalist Lindsey Graham, a Congressman representing South Carolina, told Fox News that both publications should hand back the honors.  

'I think the Pulitzer Prize given to the Washington Post and New York Times should be taken back,' he told the U.S. news network. 

'The entire episode was politically-motivated crap. That is not something you should get a Pulitzer Prize for,' the 67-year-old added.

Senator Ted Cruz of Texas slammed the self-styled papers of record 'for breathlessly spreading these "Russia, Russia, Russia" lies.'