OPINION:
Media outlets that once spread innuendo about Russian President Vladimir Putin controlling President Trump have fallen oddly silent in the face of revelations that these stories were never true. Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard last week released the first batch of files outlining the grand deception.
“I’m asking you and the media to conduct honest journalism, and the American people to see for yourself in the documents we have released now, close to 200 pages,” Ms. Gabbard said at a White House press conference.
Media Research Center watchdogs say ABC and NBC ignored the scoop, while “CBS Evening News” tacked a dismissive mention onto the end of a piece about Jeffrey Epstein. CNN cut away from live coverage a few sentences into Ms. Gabbard’s announcement.
Perhaps a few broadcasters prefer to have the topic disappear because they were active participants. Appearing on Fox News’ “Sunday Morning Futures,” Devin Nunes, former chairman of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, recounted the series of provably false media narratives, such as the preelection assertions about Hunter Biden’s laptop being Russian disinformation, as evidence of coordination between the press and government officials.
“All of that is happening with basically the same two dozen people and media operatives that are all involved in perpetuating these hoaxes,” he said. “There’s plenty of conspiring going on.”
Almost a decade ago, Hillary Clinton’s campaign set events into motion by hiring Fusion GPS to create the Steele dossier, the unsubstantiated collection of tall tales that served as the basis for the FBI’s investigation of Mr. Trump. This also spawned Robert Mueller’s inquisition, which nearly charged Mr. Trump with the supposed crime of “obstructing” an investigation based on blarney.
Fusion GPS co-founder Peter Fritsch described his firm’s activities in an interview with the legal website Mondaq. “We basically carry out private investigations for clients and then seek to make our findings part of the public discussion, when appropriate,” he said.
Congressional detectives believed that making the findings “public” included financial incentives to guarantee that their inventions would show up in print and on the air. The intelligence committee issued a subpoena in 2017 seeking bank records involving dozens of payments Fusion GPS made to four unidentified journalists and “Media Company A.”
Fusion GPS denied the relevance of this compensation, insisting, “The records are protected by the First Amendment and confidentiality.” The recipients’ identities have remained under seal, but that could change.
On Sunday, CIA Director John Ratcliffe announced he would publish the as-yet-unseen annex to special counsel John Durham’s report on the Russia inquest, which, he says, confirms Russia didn’t favor Mr. Trump at all.
Misbehaving feds seeded the idea that Moscow intervened in our elections by making it seem as if official sources had confirmed dossier fabrications. Justice Department Inspector General Michael E. Horowitz explained in 2018 congressional testimony: “We have profound concerns about the volume and extent of unauthorized media contacts by FBI personnel that we have uncovered during our review.”
Erstwhile FBI counterintelligence chief Peter Strzok, for instance, texted his paramour on April 17, 2017, to let her know: “I want to talk to you about media leak strategy with DOJ before you go.”
Rogue FBI agents have reason to be nervous. Mr. Ratcliffe, a former U.S. attorney, says the statute of limitations for conspiracy-related charges hasn’t expired. That’s even worse news for any reporters who traded journalistic integrity for a few bucks or partisan advantage.
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