By Becket Adams

August 29, 2019 "Information Clearing House" -  Lawrence O’Donnell’s “apology” Wednesday evening for his idiotic Russia “scoop” was not really an apology at all.

The MSNBC host did the bare minimum to avoid legal consequences. Despite having no evidence for the conspiracy theory he propounded, he left open the door the possibility that Russian oligarchs with ties to Russian President Vladimir Putin co-signed loans given to President Trump by Deutsche Bank.

In other words, he is “sorry, not sorry” for spreading conspiracy theories tying the president of the United States to Putin.

"Last night on this show, I discussed information that wasn't ready for reporting. I repeated statements a single source told me about the president's finances and loan documents with Deutsche Bank saying 'if true'—as I discussed the information – was simply not good enough," he said. “I did not go through the rigorous verification and standards process here at MSNBC before repeating what I heard from my source. Had it gone through that process, I would not have been permitted to report it. I should not have said it on-air or posted it on Twitter. I was wrong to do so."

Had O'Donnell left it at just admitting that it was wrong for him to go live with such a thinly sourced story, his retraction and apology would have been fine. But he is too greedy and proud.