As far as I can tell, the Establishment is currently engaged in lively game of "throw the faithful servants under the bus" as it attempts to re-calibrate the birdemic narrative. The objective is simple - restore the public's faith in the System as a force for good.
How? By hanging a few System apparatchiks out to dry:
Any sudden media blitz that overtly criticizes, scrutinizes, re-evaluates, or condemns a System apparatchik should be treated with caution and suspicion. More often than not, all such media campaigns do is offer false beacons of hope.
When the System hangs one of its own out to dry, it does so primarily to maintain or rebuild the public's trust in the System itself.
When the System puts one of its own in a difficult or vulnerable situation, it is working to persuade the public that, despite everything, the System remains a force for good - that it is and will actively deal with its corrupt and reprehensible elements whenever and wherever it happens to find them.
These sorts of campaigns - broadcast far and wide and splashed across the System's ubiquitous media - are meant to instill a sense of justice being served. They are meant to comfort. They are meant to re-cajole complacency.
Don't be taken in. The System is evil irrespective of who it throws under the bus.