These comments are totally irresponsible. Not just because they disregard objective truth, but because they fuel the perception that there is no objective truth to begin with.
Democracy depends on the notion that there are knowable facts, and that the public can understand them and put them to use in making decisions of self-government. That's what information operations put in their cross-hairs.
In other words, info ops -- like the one our intelligence community tells us Russia is perpetuating AT THIS MOMENT -- are not just about spreading un-truths, but devaluing the notion of truth itself.
Importantly, one tactic that foreign info operators find useful is relying on authentic domestic voices to carry their message forward.
By doing so, they trigger our protections on expression, making it difficult to respond, and turning our great strength into a vulnerability.
By doing so, they trigger our protections on expression, making it difficult to respond, and turning our great strength into a vulnerability.
We should not fall into that trap.
