Lordy, There Are (Apprentice) Tapes?

I’ll admit I long ago forgot about this. We learned in follow up to the Access Hollywood tape that almost derailed Trump’s 2016 campaign some journalists started following up on rumors there were tons of tapes of outtakes from Trump’s Reality TV shows that were even more damning. Back in those days news outlets weren’t afraid of Trump. NBC’s Mark Burnett who was a pal of Trump’s stonewalled. Then there was a fire at NBC’s complex in Los Angeles that among other things destroyed some of their archives. Correct me if I’m wrong but a narrative was floated that those tapes were part of what was lost. I thought b.s. but thought it likely that Burnett spirited them away and destroyed them.  Now we learn perhaps not.

Billy Bush who yucked it up with Trump about celebrities and what they could get away with, forcing kisses on and groping women and even just going ahead and grabbing pussies just dropped a tantalizing bombshell. Now, it’s possible that given the fact that unlike Trump his career was derailed (not to mention having to atone with his wife and daughter) he’s looking for some headlines and payback. Perhaps even has a book in the works about the journey he started on during that bus ride with Trump.  Still this article from Raw Story is worth checking out.

Apparently Bush has partially rebuilt his career. Enough so that he was a guest Thursday on the Jim Acosta Show. Bush detailed the saga of the Access Hollywood tape and how the whole thing became public. Then he delivered a bombshell saying there WAS a whole lot more still locked away. As in lots of unseen video:

“When [the Access Hollywood tape] came out, it was because a contestant in a Miss Universe pageant had said ‘Donald Trump has said terrible things about me,’ and he said ‘I never talk like that at all,’ and then NBC sent out to all their divisions ‘look through your tapes,’” Bush said. “Now, the ones they wanted belonged to Mark Burnett and are in a vault somewhere in Idaho, and those are all the outtakes from The Apprentice set.”

Raw Story discusses the relationship between Burnett and Trump. As I said I long ago gave up on ever seeing what Burnett was hiding because he would have destroyed that stuff to protect his pal. But the linked article says Burnett claims he and Trump kind of parted ways. Not with any animosity, just a going of separate ways. Burnett claimed to have not supported Trump’s 2016 candidacy and as I said it’s been ages since any talk of Burnett having at least once upon a time having a vault full of outtakes’ from Trumps TV show have been in the news.

On the other hand the article notes that Trump named Burnett as a Special Envoy to the United Kingdom. I don’t know about you but while reading the article I instantly agreed that IF the two had drifted apart for whatever reason they rekindled their bromance. And that as Raw Story suggests these days is hesitant to cross Trump. I can’t help but wonder if somewhere along the line Burnett got a legal order to preserve and Trump material including those outtakes in his possession. If so, and something like this leads to (after the 2026 midterms) a subpoena to turn them over any claim by him they are “lost” or “accidently” were damaged/destroyed would result in an Obstruction of Justice Charge.

Remember when Trump and Comey had their falling out and Trumpty threatened Comey with the possibility of tapes existing of the two of them talking? Comey famously replied ‘Lordy I hope there’s tapes’ because HE was telling the truth about Trump’s attempt to coerce him.  He called Trump’s bluff and Trump (of course) backed down. No doubt that’s part of why now, with unfettered power Trump has demanded Comey get hauled up on criminal charges.

Here we are talking about someone else who took a hit while Trump skated away pretty much without consequence. The thing is, Billy Bush might have been a pariah for a while but he had plenty of friends and contacts at NBC and in the entertainment industry in general. I’m not saying it’s likely and I explained why earlier we should take this with a grain of salt. However I think it’s at least credible and hope it gets checked out.  I’m starting to think there’s a good chance those tapes DO still exist. There are reasons Burnett might have wanted to hang on to them.

Legal ones. for starters. I’m sure his lawyers told him to lock them away somewhere safe and helped him stonewall any attempt to have them made public.  And, as I said there might be some court order (under seal and later buried for good – hiding stuff like that away was right up Bill Barr’s alley) he might have been ordered by a judge. Or maybe like The Enquirer’s David Pecker with his infamous safe full of dirt on various celebs Burnett wanted an ‘insurance policy’ with Trump.

It doesn’t really matter. The point is that as I said while we should take Billy Bush’s claim with a grain or two of salt it’s credible. And having this all explode in the news again is something Trump definitely doesn’t want or need.  Let’s hope there are still some journalists (and editors) with spines and he’ll start getting hit with questions about it. And, since it turns out Trump can’t censor comedians hosting late-night talk shows after all it starts getting mentioned in monologues. Trump HATES being mocked, and truth based satire on a story he thought was over and done with will drive him batshit insane.

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