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Antony Blinken and the ‘Made Men’ of the Biden Administration

Below is my column in The Hill on the recent disclosure that the organizer of the infamous “Russian Disinformation” letter on the Hunter Biden laptop was prompted by then Biden campaign adviser Antony Blinken. He is, of course, now our Secretary of State and he follows a pattern of the “made men” of the Biden Administration.

Here is the column:

Secretary of State Antony Blinken would really, really prefer to talk about grain in Ukraine this week. But many people are less interested in what Blinken is doing as secretary of state than in what he did to become secretary of state.

This week, Blinken was implicated in a political coverup that could well have made the difference in the 2020 election. According to the sworn testimony of former acting CIA Director Michael Morrell, Blinken – then a high-ranking Biden campaign official – was “the impetus” of the false claim that the Hunter Biden laptop story was really Russian disinformation. Morrell then organized dozens of ex-national security officials to sign the letter claiming that the Hunter laptop story had “all the classic earmarks of a Russian information operation.”

Morrell further admitted that the Biden campaign “helped to strategize about the public release of the statement.”

Finally, he admitted that one of his goals was not just to warn about Russian influence but “to help then-Vice President Biden in the debate and to assist him in winning the election.”

Help it did. Biden claimed in a presidential debate that the laptop story was “garbage” and part of a “Russian plan.” Biden used the letter to say “nobody believes” that the laptop is real.

In reality, the letter was part of a political plan with the direct involvement of his campaign, but Biden never revealed their involvement. Indeed, over years of controversy surrounding this debunked letter, no one in the Biden campaign or White House (including Blinken) revealed their involvement.

Of course, the letter was all the media needed. Discussion of the laptop was blocked on social media, and virtually every major media outlet dismissed the story before the election.

That was also all Biden needed to win a close election. The allegations that the Biden family had cashed in millions through influence peddling could have made the difference. It never happened, in part because of Blinken’s work.

Once in power, Blinken was given one of the top Cabinet positions. He was now one of the “made” men of the administration.

He was not alone. The 2016 election was marred by false allegations of Russian collusion with the Trump campaign. Unlike the influence peddling allegations made against Biden, the media ran with those stories for years. It later turned out that the funding and distribution of the infamous Steele dossier originated with the Clinton campaign. The campaign, however, reportedly lied in denying any such funding until after the election. It was later sanctioned for hiding the funding as legal expenses.

Those involved in spreading this false story were rewarded handsomely. For example, the second collusion story planted in the media by the campaign concerned the Russian Alfa Bank. The campaign used key Clinton aide Jake Sullivan, who went public with the entirely false claim of a secret back channel between Moscow and the Trump campaign.

Sullivan was also a “made” man who was later made Biden’s national security adviser. Others who were implicated in either the Steele dossier or Alfa Bank hoaxes also later found jobs in the administration. The Brookings Institution proved a virtual turnstile for these political operatives.

Many signatories on the Russian disinformation letter continue to flourish. MSNBC analyst Jeremy Bash signed the letter and was put on the president’s Intelligence Advisory Board. As with Sullivan, it did not seem to matter that Bash had gotten one of the most important intelligence stories of the election wrong.

Former CIA head James Clapper was referenced by Biden on the letter and was also a spreader of the Russian collusion claims. Despite those scandals and a claim of perjury, CNN gave him a media contract.

They are all “made” men in the Beltway, but they could not have succeeded without a “made” media.

These false stories planted by the Clinton and Biden campaigns succeeded only because the media played an active and eager role. In any other country, this pattern would fit the model of a state media and propaganda effort. However, there was no need for a central ministry when the media quickly reinforced these narratives. This is a state media by consent rather than coercion. The Biden campaign knew that reporters would have little interest or curiosity in how the letter came about or the involvement of campaign operatives.

If Republicans did not control the House of Representatives, the Morrell admission would never have occurred. The Democrats repeatedly blocked efforts to investigate this story and the influence peddling allegations. Even this week, some Democrats called it a “tabloid story.”

Given the career paths of figures such as Blinken and Sullivan, there is a concern that other officials may see the value in “earning their bones” as “made” men and women. There is now a senior IRS career official who is seeking to disclose what he claims was special treatment given to Hunter Biden in the criminal investigation.

While the 51 former intelligence figures were eager to raise Russian disinformation claims before the election, most have become silent. After all, the letter served its purpose, as Morrell indicated, “to assist [Biden] in winning the election.” After the false stories planted before the 2016 and 2020 elections, the question is what is in store for 2024?

Jonathan Turley is the Shapiro Professor of Public Interest Law at George Washington University. Follow him on Twitter @JonathanTurley.

175 thoughts on “Antony Blinken and the ‘Made Men’ of the Biden Administration”

    1. He should apply to Fox News since they are turning into a Progressive channel now.

  2. In Breaking Bad the cartel grandfather set his two young twin grandsons who became murdering enforcers down to tell them that nothing came before “the family”. Fast forward and Joe Biden says you don’t f***k with the Bidens. Another famous figure by name of Corleone voiced identical sentiments. It has all the fingerprints of mobster disinformation.

  3. A man by the name of James Comey once said that he did what he did because he didn’t want to effect an election. It was once understood that the FBI and the CIA were expected to remain neutral. Then came RussiaGate and the notorious 51 who signed a letter that Joe Biden used in a presidential debate. All this was done by the men that we are supposed to trust with our safety. Some dare call it treason because no other word in the dictionary describes it with more clarity.

    1. CNN came out winning by dumping Don Lemon: terrible rating, on and off air demagoguery

      BREAKING: Don Lemon out at CNN
      NY Times

      CNN said on Monday that it was parting ways with Mr. Lemon, a star anchor who was a fixture of the network’s prime-time lineup before enduring a short but controversial tenure as a morning show co-host.

      “CNN and Don have parted ways,” the network said in a statement on Monday. “Don will forever be a part of the CNN family, and we thank him for his contributions over the past 17 years. We wish him well and will be cheering him on in his future endeavors.”

      LOL. A shilling, black, old, prima dona queen..future endeavors? Grindr members will be thrilled to get her. NOT!

      / sarc

    1. The departure comes about a month after Abby Grossberg, a former top booker on Carlson’s program, sued the network and cited “vile sexist stereotypes” working for Tucker Carlson Tonight.

      It also comes as Fox is renegotiating its cable fees, putting it in a weaker position.

    2. On Friday night, he said “We’ll be back on Monday,” which suggests that it wasn’t his choice for that to have been his final show.

      1. He was fired. The Smartmatic lawsuit is coming up and it may be that more txts regarding his knowledge that Trump was BS’ing everyone.

        Or….Fox News is trying to save money for the next big settlement. Lying is expensive if you’re Fox News.

        1. CNN is already in she garbage with their ratings and layoffs up the ying yang, so Don Lemon’s firing was a no brainer. Tell her that tho’

        2. They can hire Don Lemon since their ratings are going down the toilet like CNN’s.

      2. Maxwell Tani reports that Tucker Carlson’s executive producer Justin Wells is also out at Fox News.

    3. Fox stock is crashing after announcing Tucker Carlson’s show is over.

      WaPo: “…it was Carlson’s comments about Fox management, as revealed in the Dominion case, that played a role in his departure from Fox, a person familiar with the company’s thinking told The Post.”

        1. Don’t buy it! As his handler decide, Biden will run. One door closes, another opens: Interesting to see if Susan Rice will go for VP.

        1. From your link:

          “I was informed this morning by my agent that I have been terminated by CNN. I am stunned. After 17 years at CNN I would have thought that someone in management would have had the decency to
          tell me directly. At no time was I ever given any indication that would not be able to continue to do the work I have loved at the network. It is clear that there are some larger issues at play.”

          hysterical!!! talk about karma!!!

  7. So we now know thatthe intelligent agencies tried to steal the 2016 election and in fact tried to actually undue it as it was succeeding. We also now know that the intelligence agencies did in fact steal the 2020 election and are still protecting their investment with lies, obfuscation, disinformation and censorship. Doesn’t this make you wonder about Watergate and even November 22, 1963?

    In 1973-74 I was in college and I was thrilled with Nixon going down because I WAS A YOUNG COLLEGE KID. It has only been in recent years that I am starting to think that it may have been another intelligence agencies coup. Deep Throat was in the FBI!!!!! JFK was assassinated in a really odd set of circumstances as well.

    I have never believed that the JFK affair was anything but a solo act and I also never doubted that Nixon was a crook and corrupt and therefore had to go, but seeing the amount of corruption that the media and the intelligence communities allow Biden and the Democrats to get away with sure does raise doubts.

    In 1969 Ted Kennedy swam away from a dying girl because he was driving drunk with a single aid…and nothing happened to him. 3 and 4 years later Nixon was tossed out of office.

    1. Hullbobby…Yeah, it sure seems like the Dems are WAY MORE SKILLED at skirting the law, and that is how they intend to keep in power…plus Biden giving the vote to illegal immigrants before the 2024 election. Watch for it. These guys will stop at nothing.

  8. JT as a an ardent, free-speech polemicist has painted himself in a corner on this issue. Briefly, does the 1st Amendment allow the freedom of elites who are not directly employed by the USG (candidates, retired officials, media and tech platform surrogates) the freedom to defraud the public to covertly advance a political goal? To tilt a Presidential election?

    What does “the consent of the government” amount to if the consent is obtained through trickery and deceit? What’s left of the Madisonian ideal?

    As we saw in the Dominion-Fox defamation settlement, corporate lawyers who were bloviating about the great expanse of the 1st Amendment decided at the last minute not to test that theory with a jury.

    But defamation deterrence comes with a giant loophole — what if nobody is being defamed by the whopper?
    Keep in mind that Morell and the 51 letter-signers all received training in PsyOps at Langley or Quantico. JT might know this — do such trainees in advanced infowarfare sign an Oath pledging to never employ PsyOps techniques to dupe the American public?

    1. “What does “the consent of the government” amount to if the consent is obtained through trickery and deceit?”

      Edward Bernays helped kill off “consent of the governed” a long time ago. Eisenhower played with the MIC and we the people got burned.

      Of course, there was the Lusitania and the Maine before it.

    2. pbinca, Turley never said anything about prosecuting this.

      He is just pointing out the mediaa role in pushing a false narrative.

  10. To Which Extend has then VP Biden (1/20/08 – 1/19/17) been Compromised by 3rd Parties Business Dealings and/or has he Personally Benefited from it? – A Replay

    With 29K performances at St.Martin’s Theatre in London, GB, seen by 10M people, Agatha Christie’s “The Mousetrap” is the longest run of any play. That we don’t get tangled like Phil Conners who became trapped in a time loop on “Groundhog Day”, I try to watch this endless saga from another perspective:

    Like Pike/Church in 1975, “Weaponization” Committee was established on 1/10/23 to investigate alleged abuses of federal authority. According to House GOP conference chair Elise Stefanik (R-NY), Hunter Biden will subpoena (DEM blocked it last year), if GOP retakes cotroll of Congress [1]. Such a testimony could bring us answers to at least two pending questions:

    I. Did Federal Employees Violate 18 .U.S. Code § 595 by Interfearing in ‘ 20 Presidential Election?
    FBI agents Timothy Thibault & Brian Auten improperly discredit negative Hunter Biden information as disinformation and caused investigative activity to cease.
    On 8/6/20, Nikki Floris & Bradley Benavides provided an unnecessary briefing on behalf of the FBI and Intelligence Community on matters purportedly related to senators’ Chuck Grassley (R-IA) & Ron Johnson (R-WI) investigation into Hunter Biden. The briefing led to a leak that falsely labeled the investigation as advancing Russian disinformation.

    II Did 50+ former Intels Violate 18 U.S. Code § 241 by Injuring President Trump?
    On 3/31/23, Douglass Mackey, (aka “Ricky Vaughn”) was convicted by a federal jury in Brooklyn, NY of the charge of Conspiracy Against Rights stemming from his scheme to deprive individuals of their constitutional right to vote. He conspired with other influencer to disseminate fraudulent messages that encouraged supporters of presidential candidate Hillary Clinton to “vote” via text message “Avoid the Line. Vote from Home,” “Text ‘Hillary’ to 59925,” and “Vote for Hillary and be a part of history.”

    It’s another dimension if former top intels like John Brennan, Jim Clapper, Mike Hayden, Leon Panetta, are engaged in partisan efforts to elect their candidate of choice by using their credibility in an improper way. And there was statement of Tony Bobulinski [2] on debate day…

    [1] https://nypost.com/2022/03/26/house-republicans-will-subpoena-hunter-biden/
    [2] https://www.c-span.org/video/?477307-1/tony-bobulinski-statement-hunter-biden

  11. If Hunter Biden’s laptop is a “tabloid story,” then I would argue that today’s Democrats represent the “tabloid party.”
    Hollywood and MEDIA gave them their legs, and they scattered across America, defacing historic figures and changing our history with fictional representations of famous heroes/figures or historic events (using the Hollywood defense of “artistic license”); censoring/blocking/destroying/discrediting anything contrary to that agenda; and creating a popcorn and showtime environment to attract viewers/readers and to promote mass communications as the reliable source of truth.
    Finally, to enhance and enlarge their viewing/reading audience, they have grossly over-represented all the minorities in America (racial, sexual). When I turn on the television, I am left with the impression/perception that America is primarily a nation of Blacks and trans/homosexuals, -creating a Big Tent coalition/alliance of disparate classes united to take over the Nation. Any one who dares not to toe the line expected of his/her minority class (think Ben Carson, Clarence Thomas, J.K Rowling, Judy Blume) is immediately ostracized/discredited/destroyed by media.

    If Trump promoted the “Big Lie,” then the Left is promoting the “Bigger Lie.”
    But I must ask, Why?
    I draw my own conclusions….

    1. (I of course have no idea whether Clarence Thomas has intentionally misrepresented his pecuniary interests. I DO have an idea why Thomas, as a conservative Black, is being singled out among ALL those in high positions who have “gotten away” with similar or identical discrepancies….)

    2. Lin,
      Well said.
      The Bigger Lie? That Jan6 was an insurrection.
      The Bigger Lie? 4 years of Russiagate.
      The Bigger Lie? Biden the most popular president ever.
      The Bigger Lie? The economy is strong as hell!
      The Bigger Lie? The southern border is secure!
      The Bigger Lie? Inflation is transitionary.

      1. The Bigger Lie (continued)? Covid can’t be spread if you wear a mask or got the vax
        The Bigger Lie (continued)? Natural immunity is not as effective as the vax
        The Bigger Lie (continued)? Kids are better off getting the vax
        The Bigger Lie (continued)? Carter Page was NOT a CIA asset
        The Bigger Lie (continued)? The Trump Organization was using Alfa Bank for illicit activities
        The Bigger Lie (continued)? Trump is so mentally incompetent that the 25th Amendment applies………

  12. Dems, lie, cheat, and steal, it’s just in their nature going all the way back to their Tammany Hall days. The problem is the repubs let them lie, cheat, and steal. Just like Elmer Fudd, one day the repubs are going to get that “rascally rabbit,” never.

  13. These National Government events look like the same blood in the water as the 1971 Texas Sharpstown scandal. It had a big bearing on how Texas became a red state. Don’t mess with Texas dovetails into Don’t mess with We The People.

  14. Turley sure loves beating dead horses. This whole “Hunter Biden scandal” has been a “scandal” for nearly 4years now. With nothing of substance to show or prove anything illegal has occurred. Even the Republican committee assigned to investigate has not been able to produce anything of substance or illegality. Turley has been peddling tabloid articles for MAGA nutties and their constant need to validate continuously changing conspiracy theories. Turley loves to dig into endless rabbit holes of conservative fantasies.

    1. “Turley sure loves . . . conservative fantasies.”

      Anyone notice the lie of omission in that screed?

    2. You ARE a dead horse. We have heard your same garbage over and over and over again. Learn some new tricks, eh?

  15. The disinformation by omission extends way beyond the Hunter Biden laptop. Do a search on “taibbi” at the WaPost site and sort the entries by date. See how many stories covered the Twitter Files and Taibbi’s testimony in front of Congress. If you guess the number of stories is zero prior to the search, congratulations on your accurate intuition.

    The number of important and relevant story lines that are suppressed by the WaPost because they are politically “inconvenient” is almost phantasmagorical. And you will never see Professor Turley and other insightful and well reasoned alternative voices be given space in the WaPost to express their views.

    The lack of an authentic 4th Estate that operates with genuine journalistic objectivity and integrity is a primary reason why the American governance model is busted beyond repair.

  16. The Biden Administration is the most corrupt in the history of America. These are all Obama holdovers that have moved up a few notches to execute his third term. Biden is just a useful idiot. Nothing will change unless these criminals are prosecuted. We are officially a Banana Republic. Sad state of affairs if these hacks get away with it, again.

  17. “Blinken was implicated in a political coverup that could well have made the difference in the 2020 election.”

    Such associations are never an accident.

    Biden has been a serial plagiarist since at least law school. It should come as no surprise that he surrounds himself with pathological manipulators and liars.

  18. Consider for a moment that these made men took out a president that was hostile towards them, to install one that is one of “the family.” Clearly they are not motivated by anything other than “family” security.

    We saw what they tried and failed to do in 2015-2020. They did just enough in the 2020 general election. They are now operating in plain sight. So everything is on the table for 2024. E V E R Y T H I N G.

  19. PT Barnum was wrong. You can fool all of the people all of the time — if they’re Democrats.

  20. “. . . the infamous “Russian Disinformation” letter . . .”

    Before some Leftist apologist demands: Point out a single lie in that letter:

    It is a propaganda piece intended to manipulate an election. therefore, every word is guilty until proven innocent — including the word “the.”

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