Russia hoax
November 15, 2024 — Scott Johnson
According to the current tabulation posted by the Associated Press, Republican Dave McCormick defeated incumbent Democrat Bob Casey by more than 24,000 votes in Pennsylvania’s Senate contest. The AP called the race for McCormick last week. However, the margin falls just under 0.5 percent of the total and thus triggers a recount under Pennsylvania law. It shouldn’t be possible to pick up 24,000 votes in a recount and Casey could
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November 11, 2024 — Scott Johnson
David Samuels and David Garrow explored “The Obama factor” in the classic 2023 Tablet column/discussion. Commenting on Obama’s post-presidential residence in Washington, D.C., Samuels observed: [I]it was clear to any informed observer that the Obamas’ continuing presence in the nation’s capital was not purely a personal matter. To an extent that has never been meaningfully reported on, the Obamas served as both the symbolic and practical heads of the Democratic
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November 10, 2024 — Scott Johnson
Writing for The Scroll, Tablet‘s Substack, Park MacDougald has quickly established himself as one of my favorite columnists. On the day before the election Park drew attention to the January 17, 2017 transcript of “Remarks by the president in roundtable with progressive journalists.” At the time “the president” was still Barack Obama. Hans Mahncke and Jeff Carlson note that the transcript was dredged up in 2022 via the Freedom of
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August 7, 2024 — Steven Hayward
In case you missed your chance Monday to order my new collection of book reviews and cultural commentary After Further Review, there’s still time! But today I want to make another book announcement. Next month, Bombardier Books will be publishing Against the Corporate Media: Forty-Two Ways the Press Hates You, edited by our friend Michael Walsh. I am one of the 42 contributors, with a chapter on “The Russia Hoax
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April 7, 2024 — John Hinderaker
In the Wall Street Journal, Holman Jenkins reviews the dishonorable role that the intelligence community played in the 2016 and 2020 elections, and predicts more of the same. In 2016: A Democratic presidential campaign, representing the incumbent party, fabricated evidence that its Republican opponent and the eventual president-elect was a Russian agent, and the in-power party’s FBI legitimated the evidence in the eyes of the media so it would be
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March 27, 2024 — Scott Johnson
The public shaming of Ronna McDaniel by NBC/MSNBC’s partisan talent represents an almost unbelievable failure of self-knowledge. One wants to shout Look in the mirror, you fools! The mob in this case was led by Chuck Todd, who is himself a pathetic excuse of a journalist. Todd’s role in this episode rankles. He was among the many of his tribe who promoted the Steele Dossier and the Russia hoax during
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March 25, 2024 — John Hinderaker
The terrorist attack in Moscow that killed more than 130 apparently was the work of ISIS-K, one of several ISIS franchises. That is what our intelligence agencies say, and I have no reason to doubt it. The fact that ISIS was able to upload video footage apparently recorded by the terrorists would appear to confirm that ISIS was responsible. The London Times reports: A Russian disinformation campaign is attempting to
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February 19, 2024 — John Hinderaker
In 1962, there was a Senate race in South Dakota between Republican Joseph Bottum and Democrat George McGovern. The seat was open due to the death of Republican Francis Case. I was just a kid, but I remember that election well. Bottum was the favorite, but in the closing days of the race the Democrats spread a rumor that he was an alcoholic. That ploy may have been crude, but
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January 1, 2024 — Scott Johnson
In March 2023 Tablet published Jacob Siegel’s “A Guide to Understanding the Hoax of the Century.” Subhead accompanied by the profile of a blackbird’s head: “Thirteen ways of looking at disinformation.” (The subhead and graphic allude to the Wallace Stevens poem.) Siegel’s magnum opus runs to some 13,000 words. I meant to include Siegel’s column in my take on “The year in columns.” Indeed, I had devoted a separate post
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August 8, 2023 — Scott Johnson
Former FBI Special Agent Charles McGonigal helped kick off the Russia collusion hoax and appears to have been engaged in some serious projection. McGonigal was charged this past January in the Southern District of New York with committing federal crimes in exchange for “concealed payments” for illegal services provided to sanctioned Russian oligarch Oleg Deripaska. McGonigal was separately charged with taking $225,000 in cash from a naturalized citizen with business
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June 9, 2023 — Scott Johnson
Matt Taibbi posted his subscribers-only assessment of “Jim Comey’s hip new media tour” on May 31 at his Racket News site. On a day when the perversion of American law enforcement is the only story, Comey has earned another moment in the sun. Taibbi’s eloquent derision of Comey and his media hosts is now available in the video narrated by Jared Moore below. Quotable quote: “This stuff makes Central Television
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May 25, 2023 — John Hinderaker
Years after the claim was exposed as a clumsy fraud, most Democrats still believe that Donald Trump likely colluded with the Russians during the 2016 election. Rasmussen finds: The first question in the survey asked, “How likely is it that Donald Trump’s presidential campaign colluded with Russian agents during the 2016 election?” Forty-three percent (43%) believed it was likely, including 26% who thought it was Very Likely. Forty-seven percent (47%)
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May 18, 2023 — Scott Johnson
John Durham’s detailed report on the Russia hoax should destroy the (positive) reputation of the FBI. It is devastating. One has to go beyond the four corners of the report to assess the impact it should have on the (positive) reputation of the establishment press, though its positive reputation has been crumbling for decades. The press was of course an integral part of the Russia hoax all along the way.
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May 16, 2023 — Scott Johnson
The 306-page report issued by Special Counsel John Durham seems a bit muted to me. The Durham report renders judgment in his report’s executive summary: “Based on the review of Crossfire Hurricane and related intelligence activities, we conclude that the Department and the FBI failed to uphold their important mission of strict fidelity to the law in connection with certain events and activities described in this report.” You don’t say.
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May 15, 2023 — John Hinderaker
As Steve noted earlier this afternoon, John Durham released his long-awaited report today. The report is long, over 300 pages, and I have not had time to read it all. It is embedded below; you can read it and draw your own conclusions. While measured in tone, the report’s Executive Summary is harshly critical of the FBI. Much of what it details has already been in the public domain, but
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May 9, 2023 — Scott Johnson
In late March Tablet published Jacob Siegel’s “A Guide to Understanding the Hoax of the Century.” Subhead accompanied by the profile of a blackbird’s head: “Thirteen ways of looking at disinformation.” (The subhead and graphic allude to the Wallace Stevens poem). It’s a long-form essay that runs to some 13,000 words. The introduction is followed by a table of contents with links to the chapters: I. Russophobia Returns, Unexpectedly: The
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April 25, 2023 — Scott Johnson
If you’ve been following our coverage of the Twitter Files, or following the Twitter Files themselves on your own, you know that Hamilton 68 was an offshoot or tributary of the Russia hoax. Here is a contemporaneous 2017 Reuters story on the launch of the Hamilton 68 site. It may seem obscure, but Matt Taibbi has just posted the useful video companion below depicting MSNBC repeating Hamilton 68 lies 279
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