Pediatricians call it “breath-holding spells.” It was when children hold their breath when upset until they experience syncope, or passing out. The media in Washington appears close to a collective faint over the recent filings of Special Counsel John Durham. While the media has largely buried or downplayed the disclosures by Durham on the origins of the Russian conspiracy claims, Durham keeps adding new details implicating top Democratic figures in what he describes as an ongoing investigation. You can only hold your breath so long and Durham shows no signs that he is done by a long shot.
The latest disclosures by Durham are difficult for many in the media to cover because they directly refute years of prior coverage. Many in the media lampooned Donald Trump for claiming that the FBI and the Clinton campaign spied on Trump Tower and his campaign. Yet, we later learned that the FBI did spy on the campaign. In 2020, the media largely ignored that finding.
That is when the first stage of syncope began: the “prodrome” with signs of media “discomfort, extreme fatigue, weakness, yawning, nausea, dizziness, and vertigo.”
Now, Durham has told a court that he has evidence that Clinton operatives “exploited” access to systems at the Trump Tower, Trump’s apartment building, and “the Executive Office of the President of the United States.” While Durham does not use the term “spying,” he states that the operation allegedly targeted the campaign and the Trump Tower as well as the Executive Office in acquiring Domain Name System (DNS) data that can reveal server contacts and searches.
We are now in the second syncopal phrase: loss of media consciousness.
There is no way to cover this story without many admitting that it facilitated a false narrative created by the Clinton campaign, including attacking those who suggested that the Clinton campaign would ever engage in such disreputable conduct.
The case itself remains a single false statement (much like some of the charges brought by Special Counsel Robert Mueller). It is not an easy case to prove. However, the details emerging in the case are filling in gaps on how the Clinton Campaign’s funded and directed the development of the now debunked narrative of a conspiracy between Russian and the Trump campaign. What is also notable in the filing is the extent to which the Clinton campaign used lawyers to carry out this work, including hiding its funding while denying connections to the work of figures like Christopher Steele.
The new information was revealed in a filing raising conflicts of interest in the law firm of Latham Watkins, which is representing indicted former Clinton lawyer Michael Sussmann. The firm has represented other Clinton related figures. It was a fitting objection in a case where a circle of Democratic lawyers and law firms have featured prominently as well as the liberal think tank, Brookings Institution. The cross pollination of these law firms is one of the least discussed elements in the scandal.
The Durham filings repeatedly return to the work of Perkins Coie, a firm with a long and deep connection to the Democratic Party. The Clinton campaign reportedly used a screen of lawyers to hide that it was behind the Russian conspiracy claims.
The key to many of these operations is someone referred to by Durham as “Campaign Lawyer-1,” who is widely believed to the then Perkins partner and Clinton Campaign General Counsel Marc Elias. Elias was called before the grand jury. It was Elias who made the key funding available to Fusion GPS, which in turn enlisted Steele to produce his now discredited dossier on Trump and his campaign. The firm listed the payouts as “legal fees.”
During the campaign, a few reporters did ask how the possible connection to the campaign, but Clinton campaign officials denied any involvement. It was only weeks after the election that journalists discovered that the Clinton campaign allegedly hid payments for the Steele dossier as “legal fees” among the $5.6 million paid to Perkins Coie. New York Times reporter Ken Vogel said at the time that Elias denied involvement in the anti-Trump dossier. When Vogel tried to report the story, he said, Elias “pushed back vigorously, saying ‘You (or your sources) are wrong.’” Times reporter Maggie Haberman declared, “Folks involved in funding this lied about it, and with sanctimony, for a year.” Elias also reportedly sat next to campaign chair John Podesta when he also reportedly denied the connection.
Sussmann was indicted for allegedly hiding his representation of the Clinton Campaign as he spread a different Russian collusion allegation involving the Trump Organization and Russia’s Alfa Bank. (Elias is also referenced in meetings on that operation). Sussmann filed a response this week and asked the Court to strike the entirety of the factual section of the Durham filing as unsubstantiated and sensational. (That could open the door for Durham in response to substantiate these claims even further).
Durham added details showing how Perkins Coie used its attorney-client relationships to further the Russian conspiracy operation for the campaign. He alleges that Elias and Sussmann enlisted an Internet executive, Rodney Joffe, to help build the foundation for the claims. Joffe alerted Sussmann about the Alfa Bank claims by July 2016, and “over the ensuing weeks, and as part of their lawyer-client relationship,” Sussmann and Joffe “engaged in efforts with Campaign Lawyer-1 .”
The use of lawyers to shield such work is nothing new in Washington. During the Nixon Administration, lawyers were used extensively to maintain slush funds and enable “dirty trick” operations.
What is striking about the Durham filings is the audacity of the Perkins Coie operation. While the funding was buried away, the lawyers were seemingly unconcerned about approving such efforts or personally reaching out to sympathetic government and media figures. They were, to some degree, justified in their sense of immunity.
Indeed, to this day, many refuse to cover extensive evidence of how the Clinton campaign manufactured this story that largely occupied the entire term of President Donald Trump. Before the Steele dossier was given to the FBI and the press, then-CIA Director John Brennan briefed former President Obama on Clinton’s alleged “plan” to tie candidate Trump to Russia as “a means of distracting the public from her use of a private email server.” That operation appears to have been launched through Elias and Perkins Coie.
After the 2020 election, Democratic members and legal experts demanded the disbarring of a host of Republican attorneys for their spreading disinformation of a widespread election fraud. These same figures, however, are entirely silent about the role of Clinton lawyers in secretly funding the debunked Russian collusion claims. There is no interest in whether, as alleged by reporters, figures like Elias lied about the involvement of the Clinton campaign.
Sussmann is now facing a trial on his allegedly false statement. Elias remains unindicted. With little sense of irony, he has established a law firm to deal with ethics and campaign disclosures.
Durham’s continued investigation may be pushing the media to the final stage called “postsyncope,” which involves “protracted confusion, disorientation, nausea, dizziness, and a general sense of poor health.” That has reflected in the flailing effort by some to deflect from the alarming disclosures. New York Times reporter Mike McIntire seemed to express alarm that the Durham story was “trending.” However, McIntire offered “a periodic reminder that Trump’s campaign chairman secretly met and shared info with a Russian intelligence agent.” The “info” was polling data on the campaign that Paul Manafort gave a person with Russian intelligence ties.
That, of course, has no relevance to the question of whether the Clinton Campaign spied on the Trump Tower, campaign, or the White House itself. The “periodic reminder” seemed to be to other media that they needed to continue to hold their breath and not recognize a major story. Such “protracted confusion” is natural, but it will not dissipate any time soon. Durham apparently is calling more people into the grand jury.
[Note: the original column said that Sussman “hired” Joffe. It was changed to “enlisted” because there is no confirmation that he was actually paid for this work. Joffe reportedly said that he was promised a top job in a Clinton Administration and he was previously a client at Perkins Coie.]
Why was it OK for NATO to help Libya, a non-NATO member that wasn’t even aspiring to become a member, but it’s not OK to help Ukraine, which IS aspiring to become a member of NATO. Why does this seems backwards?
Can we not care more about our border than a corrupt former soviet entity already ?. This wag the dog has gone on way too long.
Why presume stupidly that Russia is just as good and moral as the United States, when the pudding’s proof demonstrates otherwise, to those who choose not to turn blind eyes?
Who the hell cares? Any who the f*ck are you to baselessly dictate virtue to any nation?
Um . . . . if the last 5 years has shown us anything, it’s shown us that the U.S. Federal Government was 100% CORRUPT! It’s shown us how a previous Presidential Administration was heavily involved in “ruining” a Presidential candidate (Trump), and then a duly-elected President of the United States, Donald J.Trump! It showed us to what lengths this corrupt U.S. Government would go to in order to try to unseat a U.S. President, who was their “opponent.” The U.S. Government has not been “good and moral” for a very long time!
Why should evil nations get to do the same kinds of things that good nations can do? Is it a doulbe-standard when prison guards can have pistols, but prisoners cannot?
Why should it matter how the Russians feel about being threatened by NATO’s weapons when they support Putin’s dictatorial regime? How they feel about being threatened should matter like how Hitler’s supporters in Dresden felt about being bombed, or how the Emperor’s supporters in Hiroshima felt about being nuked.
Why do you think my comments are stupid?
For anyone who actually cares about the details of this case and the misrepresentation of those details by some on the right, here’s a useful thread on the DNS traffic that was discussed in Durham’s motion:
https://twitter.com/normative/status/1493966758981607427
Anonymous, this makes much more sense than the rampant insinuations and claims. I like how he describes those pushing such baseless claims as technical illiterate commentators. He’s not wrong on that.
Svelaz,
Most of the guests on Fox Prime time are either radio talk show hosts, Rightwing politicians or ordinary citizens taking about how they *feel.*
On MSNBC, they put on journalists who are bound by rules of ethics as well as Leftist commentators who are biased to be sure, but you never see a radio talk show host.
You see their hosts lying, masturbating, playing the race card, etc. Of course you like them, they are just like you.
Right. No one watches the Leftard MSNBC or any other of the communist controlled fake news media. And they don’t have any real “popular” (Right) talk show hosts that are willing to go on their show!
Hi Jeff,
You say; “On MSNBC… you never see a radio talk show host.”
Carlson regularly hosts Dan Bongino, an influential right wing radio host.
Why doesn’t Rachel Maddow at MSNBC do the same by hosting an influential left wing radio host?
Could it be that be there are no nationally recognized left wing radio talks show hosts, much less one that could be considered to be influential?
Ray says:
“Could it be that be there are no nationally recognized left wing radio talks show hosts, much less one that could be considered to be influential?”
Even so, I appreciate that MSNBC broadcasts accredited reporters as opposed to radio talk show shock jocks.
Dumbest comment I’ve ever read.
Thanks for your feedback. I’ll make a note of it.
BIG TALK, little gun.
Actually, I don’t feel I need a gun. In fact, I even keep my door unlocked at night!
BIG TALK, little, little gun.
Small talk too
So, when Russian ICBMs are targeting American cities, it’s none of our business because their ICBMs are on their own soil? Why do people keep making the same stupid points over and over again. In the blink of an eye, the troops on Russian soil can become just as deadly and dangerous as the ICBMs on Russian soil. People are so stupid, maybe they deserve be nuked. I’m tired of being subjected to their stupidity on a constant basis.
If you are tired of stupidity, perhaps you should stop making such obviously stupid comments…
In real life it’s NATO missiles are on Russia’s border and possibly more placed in Ukraine. Do you think Russian citizens feel safe about that?
I believe we can trust Mr. Turley to provide careful and honest reporting on the Durham investigation. The Washington ComPost has already commenced its propaganda campaign. After ignoring the reports for three days they turned it over to their pseudo fact checker Glenn Kessler who cherry picked the available information to exculpate the Clinton people. How disingenuous can one get?
and this seems separate from the OTHER revelaton of SPYING on drump—the one where adm mike rogers briefed him…drump thrn moved out of of TT to NJ…and rogers informed the FISC about possible illegal spying…which resulted in the spring 2017 by then chief FISC judge rosemary collyer documenting perhaps THOUSANDS of 4th amendment violations by o’bamas admin during just one 6 mo period—w the suspicion this illegal activity actually went back to 2012 [of course the medai NEVER covered this report by judge collyer..or the followup by judge boasberg!]
so…durham says these pings between russkies and executive office numbered in the MILLIONS…and were ongoing since 2014…and sussmans lawyers concur so….why isnt the media investigating OBAMA-RUSSIAN collusion?
History repeats itself. From Watergate to Russia hoax, Hillary is the common denominator…politics over truth.
US House Representative, Jerome Zeifman, Democrat, was chief counsel of the House Judiciary Committee during the Watergate inquiry where Hillary served at age 27
Without honor : crimes of Camelot and the impeachment of President Nixon
Author: Jerome M Zeifman
Publisher: New York : Thunder’s Mouth Press, 1996.
Summary:
Without Honor documents that the Judiciary Committee’s investigation of Watergate was a sham in which present First Lady Hillary Clinton, recent White House counsel Bernard Nussbaum, and others who served on the impeachment inquiry staff abdicated their responsibilities to conduct a thorough investigation. Instead, the sham inquiry was structured by its leaders – all of whom were high Justice Department officials during the Kennedy administration – to avoid disclosure of the crimes of Camelot.
https://www.worldcat.org/title/without-honor-crimes-of-camelot-and-the-impeachment-of-president-nixon/oclc/221944225
Speaking of news outlets ignoring a bombshell story, neither Carlson, Hannity nor Ingraham saw fit to mention the huge payout of the manufacturer of the gun which slaughtered the kids at Sandy Hook.
Since he is in favor of gun control. let’s hope that Turley will praise the ground-breaking settlement even though it will infuriate the tin soldiers here who will not be pleased that this accountability will have an inevitable chilling effect on the sale of their toys.
I studied the 27 page indictment of Sussman. I found it interesting that it took 27 pages to list only one count, ‘lying to the FBI about his involvement with the Clinton Campaign’ noting that Sussman is not a high level figure, I never heard of him before the indictment. Has anyone else heard of him? The rest of the indictment just listed his activities for the campaign, and I did not find any other allegations of illegality, just stuff that appear to satisfy the conspiracy theorist crowds on the right who are frothing at the mouth for such stuff, but when the rubber hits the road, I didn’t find anything illegal being committed, it looks to me more like oppo research. No actual ‘spying’ but the way it’s written, it will be easy for the right to twist it so that it appears so. In truth, the indictment could have been written in one paragraph, but, for 2 years of investigating, one paragraph wouldn’t look too good, eh? The indictment appears to be below FBI standards, and, to me, Durham appears to becoming a pathetic partisan figure who is desperate to have something, anything, to show for his 2 years of investigating. But, I welcome counter arguments.
Based on your rigorous research, can you answer one of the basic questions.
Do you recognize that something very bad happened and started at the top of the Clinton campaign, filtering through multiple law firms to hide wrongdoing?
Do you recognize how stupid your question is?
SM
Anonymous the Stupid, you have gone to a new low. You are now pretending to be someone else. I think you should be removed from the blog for doing that. If you wish to sign with initials use your own, ATS.
Anonymous, you’re ATS? “ If you wish to sign with initials use your own, ATS.”
Makes sense. Why don’t you just sign every one with ATS?
Once again, Meyer, you’re referring to more than one person as “ATS.” You frequently confuse people. You even confuse people when they’re using names and personal avatars.
You keep saying that, but the last time you said it, you misread one of the comments that was not directed to you even though you thought it was.
We understand how much you want to blame your Stupidity on your pretend friends, Sammy, Molly, Edison, green anonymous and others. Still, eventually, you have to accept responsibility for your own words to wear long pants.
I don’t have pretend friends.
I’m not Sammy.
I have a vague recollection of someone posting as Molly (but with a longer name), and I’m not that person either.
I don’t even know who “Edison” is.
I didn’t post the 1:38 PM comment.
You want to believe that all of your false claims are true, but all you’re doing is feeding your delusion.
We have proven these things over and over again. If you have a gripe or think you are being misinterpreted, get an alias with a unique icon. You won’t because what I say is valid, and you are a liar.
However, I’ll take your word that you didn’t try to impersonate another even though there is no way to prove that with an anonymous name. I’ll leave it to Darren to do as he sees fit. Despite taking your word on that post, it negatively affects your personality more than it does mine.
Everyone on this comment section seem to be into their left wing/right wing nonsense & fail to understand the part the British play in all of this!
Maybe you missed prior discussions.
But, I welcome counter arguments.
If 27 pages gets you hot and bothered, you likely are on cardiopulmonary life support pump. There exists literally thousands (280,000+) of scientific papers (and hence millions of paragraphs) published in 2 years on COVID. Yet we still do not know its precise molecular mechanism of action at the cellular level, its origins and why some people suffer severe disease while others (like me) just had the sniffles
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/sars-cov-2/
Pro-tip: mortality rates rise exponentially when on cardiopulmonary pump past 5 days.
Patricio,
I confess I did not read the indictment nor will I. I’ll wait for the trial to sort through these mere allegations.
What is evident to me is that the Rightwing will grasp at anything to produce a counter narrative to the Left’s discrediting of Trumpism. They do not want to be host cable shows in which they are responding to the narratives on the Left; they don’t want to be on the defense. Instead, the Right wants to be on the OFFENSIVE by creating their own narratives against the Left; now that’s entertaining TV for their Trumpist audiences!
It’s all about pandering to the audience because News is a business, after all, and News producers know very well how to grow and keep an audience – give them what they want- attack our ideological enemies!
…yes the DOJ under a DNC Att-General is overwatching GC Durham bringing light to political crime grand juries …for the benefit of popular news networks?
The ultimate perp was Lanza’s mother and the son didn’t make the purchase.
But, a settlement is a settlement.
Rest assured, the more the laws not enforced, the restrictions upon the law abiding, the more you’ll see no need for large manufacturers as it’ll all go underground. Back to true freedom.
“Those who lead disorderly lives tell those who are normal that it is they who deviate from nature. They think they are following nature themselves, as those who are on board ship think that people who are on shore moving away…when everyone is moving toward depravity, no one seems to be moving.” Blaise Pascal, 1662, Pensées
Elites look down their nose with smugness and self importance us mere citizens as though we cannot have a valuable thought of our own.
It is they who are pitiful, especially when they are caught with their hand in the cookie jar. For once, I would love to see someone in power admit their mistake, own up to it, ask forgiveness, and change their behavior to reflect remorse. I won’t hold my breath.
These past two years have been nothing less than bizarre. Just when you think it could not get worse, it does. I almost expect Rod Serling to appear and say, “You’ve entered the twilight zone.”
Demos-cracy loses viability at the twilight fringe. The Democrat’s year of the Water Closet sets novel standards in transnational espionage and collusion for clear and progressive insurrections against a sitting president, deplorables, and minorities. All’s fair in lust and abortion, I suppose.
Pardons, pardons, pardons. We all know how this ends. Joe Biden with pardon everyone to save this country!
What wisdom did Hillary glean from her time on the House Judiciary Committee’s investigation of Watergate?
♬Anything you can do I can do better.♬
I recommend ignoring the Nony Mice.
I responded to your 2:32 PM comment hours ago: https://jonathanturley.org/2022/02/15/media-vapors-how-special-counsel-john-durham-has-triggered-a-media-meltdown/comment-page-1/#comment-2159026
Once again: Do you have any interest whatsoever in discussing the evidence that’s already public? (You’ve been studiously avoiding that all day.)
This seems to have become detached from the comment it was posted in reply to. Please ignore it. I will repost it in the thread it was meant for.
Off-topic: You are better off with a jab:
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/feb/15/vaccination-reduces-chance-of-getting-long-covid-studies-find
[OT]. Headline:
“Sandy Hook families, Remington reach $73M settlement”
“Gunmaker Remington Arms Co. and the families of the victims from the 2012 Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting have reached a historic settlement, according to court documents.”
“The development follows a years-long lawsuit against the gun manufacturer, which created the rifle used by 20-year-old Adam Lanza during the school shooting, which left six teachers and 20 children dead.”
“Families of the victims who died during the deadly shooting in Newtown, Conn., alleged that the gun used during the shooting, an AR-15-style Bushmaster rifle, was marketed as a war weapon and claim that the gun manufacturer is partly responsible for the shooting.”
https://thehill.com/regulation/court-battles/594290-sandy-hook-families-remington-reach-historic-settlement-attorneys
Turley had largely dismissed the success of this lawsuit:
“An appeal from gun manufacturer Remington is also pending before the Supreme Court. The company seeks to overturn a decision that supports the right of families of victims in the Sandy Hook massacre to sue gun manufacturers. However, Congress passed the Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act of 2015, giving gun manufacturers immunity from most lawsuits. I opposed this law as unnecessary and unwise. Courts had already ruled against product liability and nuisance challenges to gun manufacturers without giving the industry immunity, yet Congress still passed the law under pressure from the National Rifle Association.”
“In response, various states have sought to develop exceptions to the blanket immunity. In the case pending before the Supreme Court, the Connecticut high court declared that people could sue the manufacturer of the assault rifle used by the killer under a state law on advertising. The plaintiffs relied on the company slogan, “Forces of opposition, bow down. You are single handedly outnumbered.” That would seem a particularly weak claim even without immunity. While it is a bit chilling, the company slogan is not an invitation to mow down children. As a result, this could prove a bad case creating even worse law for gun control advocates.”
https://jonathanturley.org/2019/08/09/screaming-into-the-void-why-gun-control-is-so-hard-to-enact/
The Supreme Court declined to take the case. Turley, however, will be delighted with outcome, and I expect we will hear his approval in an article covering the case even though his Fox buddies will likely not report the loss to its viewers. Before the case settled, Turley had commented:
“The point is not to abandon efforts to seek reforms. I have long supported gun controls.”
Keep up the good work!