After even Sally Yates conceded that she wouldn’t have signed off on his surveillance if she had all the facts, I thought a trip down memory lane was in order.
You’ll recall that, once upon a time, we were told that Carter Page was actively colluding with the Russians because the FISA court and the FBI told us so.
All of those assertions have fallen to pieces, so I’m assuming we can get a follow up from @SpeakerPelosi?
Maybe @RepAdamSchiff, the chief architect of the Russian collusion fable, can provide us with an update?
Do you still believe that “the FBI acted lawfully and appropriately” even after the head of DOJ at the time said the opposite today under oath?
Any follow up about that memo, Congressman? Are you sure that the “FBI didn’t lie” and that it is a “false claim” to say that the “FISA process was abused”? Because former director Yates certainly doesn’t.
Really waiting with baited breath on @tedlieu because he was a clerk, you see.
@RepSwalwell is hot on the trail of stupid yet again.
And it wasn’t just the lower House. I have a feeling @SenJeffMerkley would like this one back.
And we’ve got bipartisan bullshit! Here’s @marcorubio who may wish he had this take back.
And our intellectual and moral betters in the media weighed in. Here’s @CillizzaCNN and @CNN, who may want to update what the “most important takeaway from the FISA release” is.
@MSNBC brought on myriad experts to explain why everything that has happened in the last two years related to FISA and Carter Page wouldn’t happen.
And it wouldn’t be a left-wing conspiracy theory if @JoyAnnReid wasn’t onboard.
And it wouldn’t be a Russian related conspiracy if @DavidCornDC weren’t involved.
I am as surprised as you are that @jonathanchait, who alleged that Trump has been a Russian asset since 1987, wanted in on this one, too.
Of course, the usual galaxy brain twitter power users weighed in, including Twitter’s most consistently wrong foulmouth @therickwilson.
He’s got me blocked so I hope someone can share this with him.
You’ve got to be almost impressed with @therickwilson’s propensity for predictive failure.
It wouldn’t be a thread if @JRubinBlogger didn’t find her way onto it.
Ditto for @SethAbramson, who also manages to shoehorn in the fabled Steele Dossier, which bears the distinction of having been even more fabricated than the FISA application against Page.
Speaking of, I would like to nominate this tweet by @funder for the Louvre.
I remain mistified at the testimony of my elders that, once upon a time, @tribelaw was taken seriously.
From the “the walls are closing in!” school of thought comes these tweets by @Amy_Siskind, who no longer seems so enamored with or interested in the story of Carter Page.
Curious.
Any follow up to the assertion that “there is still no reason to believe the FISA application for Carter Page was improper” @EvanMcMullin?
The people are wondering.
@JuddLegum, care to follow up on the notion that “there is no evidence anything was misused in the FISA court” related to Page?
Or, @NicolleDWallace, perhaps the reason @realDonaldTrump was at war with the FISA courts was that - stay with me here - they deserved the war?
The lesson here (as ever, with the Russian collusion narrative) is that maybe, just maybe, it’s worth a touch of caution, incredulity or reflection before jumping to the worst of conclusions, or taking a secretive, ill-intentioned process at face value.
Maybe next time.
I’ve done a few threads & I’ve got a few more coming but one thing is clear:
The ability of elected officials/those on the left & in the media to push a radical conspiracy theory, then have that conspiracy implode without any consequences or apologies, should terrify you.
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If you missed Trump’s address to Congress last night, I wouldn’t rely on media stories to explain it.
Rather than report on a speech viewers found “inspiring,” the corporate press played PR for Democrats.
Wanna know why trust in the press is underwater? Look. ⤵️
A @CBSNews poll of viewers found “A large majority of viewers approve” of Trump’s message, overwhelmingly describing it as “inspiring,” rather than “divisive.”
The speech was certainly partisan - and viewers skewed right.
But the press’s own view appears to slant their takes.
What leads me to claim that? Well, just look at how @CBSNews decided to report on the speech.
They tweeted out that “there was a horribly tense feeling,” and it was “filled with drama.”
Why focus on how their reporter felt, rather than viewers?
Having worked on the Hill I get the ubiquity of Politico Pro and its cost.
But I think it takes an enormous suspension of disbelief to call it a conspiracy theory to look askance at the millions of dollars the Biden admin paid the paper that ran this hatchet job on his opponent.
Which, to be clear, is exactly what outlets like @CNN are doing.
@CNN This from @axios seems particularly unreasonable.
It isn’t a “fake theory” to say that Politico is “funded by the government.” It is, to the tune of $8 million. That isn’t in dispute.
Quick 🧵 revisiting corporate media claims on the Covid lab leak theory then (a “conspiracy theory,” “misinformation,” etc.) vs. now (“okay the CIA even admits it”).
Trump’s return to the Oval Office has me reflecting on some of the worst “journalism” during his first term.
Of that long list, one in particular jumps out: the corporate press hype around the Steele dossier.
Do you *really* remember how bad it was? Follow along. ⤵️
Before I dive in, would really encourage you to read my full piece at @Holden_Court, because there’s too much to fit in a thread.
That said, surely you remember the dossier, a bunch of dramatic claims about Trump that even @nytimes now calls “discredited” open.substack.com/pub/drewholden…
But before that, there was the hype: the hero worship of Christopher Steele, the spy who was going to save American from Trump, the Russian puppet.
I mean, @washingtonpost put “hero” right in the title.
The rest of the piece is worse. WaPo repeats the claims — that the Russians had kompromat on him for engaging with prostitutes! Maybe Trump was compromised — verbatim without mentioning in the first instance that there’s no evidence these claims are true! Look at the highlights.
An unthinkable breach of journalistic ethics. There was plenty more.