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30 Dec 20, 6 tweets, 3 min read
The Intercept has taken heat for mishandling the Reality Winner leak. In fairness, she would've gotten caught anyway. IMO, TI deserves far more criticism for mischaracterizing what the leak actually says, just to show liberals it can Russiagate. There, it's dishonest & shameless.
This artice is the latest example: theintercept.com/2020/12/30/rea…
Reality Winner is not a "whistleblower" -- what exactly did she expose? Nothing. The Intercept falsely claims her leak "was about Russian interference in U.S. elections" & detailed phishing attacks by Russian military intelligence", but it did nothing of the sort.
What the leak actually shows -- for anyone who bothered to read it -- is that an analyst working for NSA thinks -- based on "contextual information" -- that Russian actors tried a phishing attack on a voter software firm. They're not even sure it worked. ()
Because The Intercept's editor in chief screwed up by rushing out the story -- because she really wanted to Russiagate like other media club members -- TI has spent 3 years pretending that Reality Winner is a whistleblower who exposed seismic Russian interference. It's a scam.
An irony here is that TI's Jim Risen just decried those who indulge in "conspiracy theories" to lobby Trump to pardon Assange/Snowden. By lying about Reality Winner doc's contents, TI is doing just that. Oh, another irony: Jim Risen is a moronic Russiagate conspiracy theorist:

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More from @aaronjmate

Aaron Maté Profile picture
24 Dec 20
While people are denied relief & healthcare, & Trump pardons Blackwater murderers & tries to provoke war w/ Iran, it would be a real sign of growth if we could refrain from hyperventilating about Manafort, whose real crime in was not validating Russiagate conspiracy fan fiction.
Manafort's prosecution was politically motivated. As his judges noted, charges had zero "to do with the [2016] campaign or with Russian collusion" & were "wholly irrelevant" to collusion. He was indicted on tax/lobbying charges that Russiagate hacks pretended amounted to treason.
To keep the collusion innuendo alive, Mueller team introduced a vague claim that Manafort's associate, Konstanin Kilimnik, has Russian intel "ties." That claim, plus the later Senate Intel claim that he's a spy, will now be revived. It's also a farce: realclearinvestigations.com/articles/2020/…
Read 4 tweets
Aaron Maté Profile picture
21 Dec 20
If this guy is real, and he's not either trolling or compromised, then this is actual evidence that FSB poisoned Navalny. My skepticism would stand corrected. Because US-UK state-funded Bellingcat scam artists are involved, it was harder for me to believe.
cnn.com/2020/12/21/eur…
Why would FSB poison a marginal opposition figure, botch it so that he survives, & then get easily caught? Easier ways to kill someone if they want to. Perhaps it’s a Mafia-esque warning shot to people like Navalny they accuse of working w/ Western intel. Thuggish, but plausible.
If this guy is real, it's one more insanely implausible thing that would have to be true. Add to list below that a covert FSB officer involved in an assassination plot would be discussing it w/ an officer (with an invented name he hadn't heard before) over an unsecure phone line.
Read 4 tweets
Aaron Maté Profile picture
15 Dec 20
Crazy how so many Western media outlets treat @bellingcat as a reliable, independent source without mentioning that it receives ample funding from Western states & cutouts. A UK gov't agency even privately noted that BC is "somewhat discredited."
I had my own brush w/ Bellingcat's "somewhat discredited" approach recently: they published a hoax in a pathetic bid to attack an OPCW whistleblower, and then accused me of hiding damning evidence that in reality didn't exist. thegrayzone.com/2020/10/28/dra…
Here's @democracynow credulously reporting the Navalny story from "the online investigative website Bellingcat", without mentioning that Bellingcat is a NATO member state-funded outlet. BC's funders include the US gov't regime change cutout, the National Endowment for Democracy:
Read 10 tweets
Aaron Maté Profile picture
14 Dec 20
I think Reality Winner should be freed, but I want to be clear about something: she isn’t a whistleblower. She didn’t expose any wrongdoing. She leaked an evidence-free document that The Intercept, in a juvenile rush to prove that it could Russiagate, blew way out of proportion.
I explain the problems with TI's reporting of the Reality Winner leak in this thread:

Here's a one-paragraph summary:
If you want to see an Intercept reporter given the opportunity to explain what the Reality Winner leak actually says, but refusing to do so (because it shows nothing of substance), watch or read my 2018 interview with The Intercept's Jim Risen: therealnews.com/what-does-the-…
Read 6 tweets
Aaron Maté Profile picture
11 Dec 20
Days after @TheGrayzoneNews reported explosive new leaks on OPCW's Syria cover-up (thegrayzone.com/2020/12/07/opc…), OPCW Director General Fernando Arias is appearing before the UN Security Council.
Russia's UN ambassador has asked OPCW Director General Arias multiple questions, including whether he will finally meet with the Douma probe inspectors whose findings were suppressed, and let them air their concerns:
Russian UN Rep. also asks Arias about June 2018 attempt to doctor the OPCW Douma team's original report & replace it with a bogus version. He cites an OPCW email published by @TheGrayzoneNews admitting the censorship but claiming it wasn't done at "behest" of Arias' predecessor.
Read 8 tweets
Aaron Maté Profile picture
5 Dec 20
Updating this thread on OPCW scandal in advance of a new story this week. Recent developments:

My Nation article summarizing scandal: (thenation.com/article/world/…)
My UN testimony: (thegrayzone.com/2020/09/29/gra…)
Ex-OPCW chief's testimony, blocked by US-allies: (thegrayzone.com/2020/10/05/ex-…)
US & allies attack whistleblower, ex-OPCW chief at UN:
(thegrayzone.com/2020/10/07/opc…)

Ex-OPCW chief defends whistleblowers, reveals pre-Iraq spying:
(thegrayzone.com/2020/10/18/ex-…)

Chomsky speaks out for OPCW whistleblowers: (thegrayzone.com/2020/10/20/cho…)
Bellingcat caught in fake attack on OPCW whistleblower: (thegrayzone.com/2020/10/28/dra…)

BBC recycles Bellingcat hoax, dodges critical questions: (thegrayzone.com/2020/11/30/que…)

Stay tuned to @TheGrayzoneNews for a new exclusive soon.
Read 12 tweets

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