Rep Pelosi says the media were ‘accomplices’ to Russia. Ensue outrage?

House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) accused the media of being “accomplices” to Russia's efforts to meddle in the 2016 election. “I think the press were accomplices in the undermining of our election by the Russians by not pointing out this stuff [the e-mails] is worthless,” Rep Pelosi said. “Because it comes from an undermining of our election, or at least reminding the public where this — these e-mails, the leaking of these e-mails came from.”

Some instantly saw a media double standard. The press was apoplectic when President Trump labeled it the “enemy of the American people,” after all. So now that Rep Pelosi was apparently charging it with a crime against American democracy and aiding an adversarial foreign power, why no outcry? One of the reasons for the disparate reactions is that Rep Pelosi's accusation doesn't require that the press willingly worked against the American people. Being an accomplice doesn't require you to collude or act deliberately; there is such thing as an “unwitting accomplice.” So when the press sees Rep Pelosi call it an accomplice, it registers more as a criticism of its choices rather than its loyalties — as Trump's “enemy” comment does.