Below is my column in The Hill on the news that former FBI Director James Comey has been subpoenaed in Florida as part of the Russian collusion investigation. Yes, there was a Russian collusion conspiracy, but not the one that the media relentlessly pushed during the first Trump term.
Here is the column:
This week, we learned that the probe into the Russian conspiracy theory in Florida is moving forward with the disclosure that former FBI Director James Comey has been subpoenaed. What is different in this probe is that it is pursuing the real Russia conspiracy — the creation of a false narrative to kneecap the first Trump administration.
At issue is what could be the greatest political hit job in history. Of course, the growing evidence of this conspiracy continues to be buried by one of its key components: the media. Nevertheless, the “truth will out,” and it appears to be coming out in Florida.
Headed by Jason A. Reding Quiñones, the U.S. attorney for the Southern District of Florida, the investigation is building on information uncovered by House and Senate committees that was long buried by the Biden administration. That evidence appears to show a knowing effort to manufacture a Russian conspiracy hoax at the urging of Hillary Clinton’s 2016 presidential campaign.
Ironically, the Washington Post and the New York Times received Pulitzer Prizes for their reporting promoting this Russian conspiracy hoax. The media spent years in wall-to-wall coverage of disproven allegations, including many claims made in the debunked Steele Dossier that had been secretly funded by the Clinton campaign.
The true Pulitzer Prize-worthy story was staring the media in the face the whole time: a conspiracy to create a false conspiracy narrative to elect Clinton and later to derail the Trump administration. The latter effort succeeded with help from top intelligence figures.
New York Times reporter Ken Vogel said at the time that Clinton Campaign General Counsel Marc Elias had 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 later wrote that “Folks involved in funding this lied about it, and with sanctimony, for a year.”
The key period was shortly before the 2016 election. We now know that the campaign and its surrogates shopped the conspiracy to their contacts in the Justice Department and in the media. They found eager allies.
Shortly before the 2016 presidential election, Peter Strzok, a key figure in the investigation, texted FBI lawyer Lisa Page to assure her “that there’s no way [Trump] gets elected,” adding that they “can’t take that risk.” He added that they had it all in hand because “It’s like an insurance policy in the unlikely event you die before you’re 40.”
In fact, whether it was known to Strzok or not, there was an insurance policy in the works. In July 2016, then-CIA Director John Brennan briefed President Barack Obama on Hillary Clinton’s alleged “plan” to tie then-candidate Donald Trump to Russia as “a means of distracting the public from her use of a private email server.”
Brennan is believed to be a target of the current investigation, including possible perjury before Congress.
In reality, within days of that briefing on how Clinton would create this conspiracy theory, the investigation began, just as the Clinton campaign hoped it would.
Early on, the FBI was told by the CIA that its sources — and the Steele dossier — were unreliable. However, key FBI officials continued the surveillance and the investigation targeting the Trump campaign and key figures. One official later pleaded guilty to lying to the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act court to continue surveillance without an evidentiary basis.
At the end of 2016, a CIA assessment found that “Russian and criminal actors did not impact recent U.S. election results by conducting malicious cyber activities against election infrastructure.” That presidential daily brief was scheduled to be published on Dec. 9, 2016, but the office of James Clapper, Obama’s Director of National Intelligence, reportedly stopped the publication “based on some new guidance.”
Clapper later joined Obama, along with John Brennan, Susan Rice, John Kerry, Loretta Lynch, Andrew McCabe, and others, in a meeting that would ultimately inject the debunked theory directly into the media.
A new assessment was ordered that would detail the “tools Moscow used and actions it took to influence the 2016 election.” Brennan reportedly handpicked the analysts who would apparently flip the earlier assessments without any credible intelligence to justify doing so.
Brennan picked Susan Miller to head the effort, a person who admitted she was “not a Trump fan.” In later social media postings, Miller engaged in unhinged screeds like, “This is awful! Further proof that Trump is a dictator.” She also wrote, “Good grief. As if we needed proof that MAGA types are nazis…” She responded to one foreign poster by saying, “Yes….the Hitler analogy is not lost on a bunch of us … sadly.”
Back in 2016, the rewritten assessment was quickly leaked to an eagerly awaiting media. It was the perfect hit job carried out by top Obama administration officials at the very end of their time in power .
In testimony on May 23, 2017, Brennan claimed that the Steele dossier “wasn’t part of the corpus of intelligence information that we had. It was not in any way used as a basis for the intelligence community assessment that was done.”
Yet the declassified material appears to contradict that sworn statement. Brennan allegedly not only discussed the dossier but also insisted upon its inclusion in the new assessment Obama had requested.
Brennan and his handpicked team went to extraordinary lengths to revive the conspiracy theory that they knew was the original objective of the Clinton campaign.
Analysts complained that the reliance on the Steele Dossier “ran counter to fundamental tradecraft principles and ultimately undermined the credibility of a key judgment.” One CIA analyst told investigators that Brennan “refused to remove it, and when confronted with the dossier’s main flaws, [Brennan] responded, ‘Yes, but doesn’t it ring true?’”
Keep in mind that Obama ordered the new assessment at the very end of his term. There was a rush to complete the report before Trump took office after defeating Clinton. The effort seeded the Russian collusion hoax that would go on to consume much of Trump’s first term.
In other words, the scheme worked. But it required Brennan’s involvement, as well as that of others, including allegedly then-FBI Director James Comey. It also needed a fully invested media.
None of this will get anyone a Pulitzer, because the politics is wrong. However, it might just force the truth into the open. With Democrats promising to resume impeachments and investigations if they retake power in the midterms, it would be useful for the public to have a full understanding of what actually occurred last time.
It is time for the public to learn whether top Obama officials and the media pulled off the greatest political hoax in history.
Jonathan Turley is a law professor and the best-selling author of “Rage and the Republic: The Unfinished Story of the American Revolution.”
O T – Two days ago, JT wrote a post about the destructive fiscal policies of Chicago which seem likely to drive away wealthy taxpayers. As proof of his point, he may want to cite the experience of Massachusetts, which raised taxes on wealthy taxpayers and has discovered that the state has now lost $2.4B in taxable income. https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/personalfinance/massachusetts-loses-4-2b-in-income-after-millionaire-tax-as-wealthy-exodus-to-lower-tax-states-raises-tax-base-fears/ss-AA1Zddvx
Trump Sided With Putin Against U.S. Intelligence
In the aftermath of the 2016 election, it was widely reported that Russian trolls had made an all-out effort to influence the election on behalf of Trump.
Ironically, it was the Bernie Bros who were most influenced by the Russian trolls. The Bros kept constantly posting memes and and fake news articles intended for Trump supporters. That is, in fact, where the term ‘fake news’ came from. By constantly posting those fake news stories and false memes, the Bros functioned as a fifth column for Trump to damage Hillary’s campaign.
At the same time, Trump dirty trickster, Roger Stone, served as a middleman between the Trump campaign and Wikileaks. Stone, acting on Trump’s behalf, arranged for the constant drip-drip of DNC files by Wikileaks during that campaign season. And those DNC files had been hacked by Russian trolls. Trump even called on Vladimir Putin to release those hacked files in a very public, prime time speech.
That following spring, after Trump fired James Comey as FBI Director, for refusing to halt the Russian investigation, Trump was asked by the international media if U.S. intelligence on Russian election interference was correct. This all occurred onstage in Helsinki Finland where Trump had been meeting with Putin. Putin was standing right there as Trump answered the question.
Trump had the mendacity to say U.S. intelligence was incorrect and Russia had never interfered on his behalf. Yet Putin, in a follow-up question, cheerfully admitted that he had hoped Trump would be elected because he believed that Trump would better represent Russian interests as opposed to NATO’s.
So when Johnathan Turley tries to tell us that the ‘Russia hoax’ was all a mean plot by the Clinton campaign, Turley pressumes that none of us have ever followed this story outside rightwing media.
See the Helsinki moment on this link below.
https://youtu.be/mBtsNNXjBPw?si=-pHg47jck14YBuAS
Woke regrets Patton was a general. In reality, he was a big meany and he had no right to instill fear of him in nazis. (He slapped a U.S. soldier!)
Mr. Green Jeans was more than adequate!
Patton was a bully. He slapped a soldier who had suffered a nervous breakdown after surviving a traumatic battle involving heavy shelling. The man had what we now call PTSD. He didn’t just slap the man, he verbally berated him, called him a coward, told him he wasn’t worthy to be present in the sick ward with men who suffered physical injuries and commanded the doctors to return him to the front lines.
Nowadays we are sensitive to soldiers suffering from PTSD. You may call that “wokeness”, but doctors don’t agree. Everyone does not have the same capacity to handle the stress of battle, seeing fellow soldiers get hurt and killed, having bombs dropped nearby and being close to sudden death. Some of these soldiers were drafted, too. They didn’t choose to be exposed to the dangers of battlefield fighting.
“Putin was afraid of Hillary.”
you bet
shakin just at the mere mention of her name
ooops. i meant bill, that paragon of virtue, strength, truthfulness and the American Way
In all of this stupid debate, everyone forgets that Trump is a Russian asset. That is why Russia helped and still helps him.
LOL
Danny Boy is 9 years old!
Dear Prof Turley,
Obviously, ‘The Democrats’ are presently powerless, if not worthless&useless. What’s left of their surrogates in media are little more than a disorganized pig in a poke, leaving the reader to root-hog, or die, in the circle of [media] life.
Hearts, minds and all that jazz.
‘Russia, Russia, Russia’ was never logical to begin with. As if Putin/Russia could collude with Trump. It’s not clear to me Trump can be colluded with, or that Russia would want to try.. . Russia’s geopolitical positions are usually crystal clear.
Perhaps, the threat from the use of nuclear weapons in the Mid East and/or Ukraine will focus the nation, if not Trump’s attention.. . but I wouldn’t count on it.
Is it possible to negotiate, in good faith, with Trump? Can Trump be bargained with? Does Trump feel pain or pity or remorse? And, if you reached an agreement, would Trump honor it?
*these are the dark clouds floating across my clear, sky-blue mind.
Here is a list of Turley weasel words and phrases that attempt to set forth “facts”. These words and phrases prove he has NO evidence to back up the title of today’s MAGA hit piece, that he calls “The Real Russian Collusion Conspiracy”:
“is believed”
-“possible perjury”
-“could be”
-“evidence appears to show”
-“alleged plan”
-“reportedly”
-“appears to contradict”
-“allegedly”
Notice that the title of this piece does NOT contain any qualifiers. That’s why a piece like this is below someone claiming to be a law professor.
IT IS FUNNY. Tis only God’s grace that no one knocks out your teeth.
“One beautiful morning, Chicago!”
– Gov. JB Pritzker
https://twitter.com/i/status/1970855748054774167
“Venezuelan migrant arrested after Loyola Chicago student fatally shot near campus”
“Sheridan Gorman, 18, was shot in the head near Chicago’s lakefront”
– Fox News
OT. The Turing Test and we’re all familiar with it. I’m human not machine. Please identify yourselves, commenters.
Marco Rubio will be testifying in a trial of a Mr. Rivera, former congressman. It’s interesting because evidence shows code names. President Maduro was the bus driver and money was melons. Evidence presented also shows how money is laundered. Meanwhile Dick Durbin is traveling to Venezuela? Just corruption…
A. Human
You got me wondering if Biden could pass a Turing test.
Now Young!
That Depends….
I don’t know what he said. I don’t think he does either.
A. Human
CHATgpt4 passes. The way to trip it up is it can’t read visuals. >>/[]() can’t be rewritten by AI, I think, as example. It does have face recognition if the face conforms to a flattened size, so people look strange.
A. Human
The reason for CAPTcha is picture recognition- this is a picture of—–>
— oh 🚳
— 🚲 👢 📚
If you see nothing you may be a machine! 😂
Tell us what do you see?🖕🏻
Trump is claiming that the Iranians want to negotiate an end to the conflict
The Iranians emphatically deny that any contact has been made either directly or indirectly regarding negotiations.
So, who are we to believe ?
The reason that I believe Iran when they say they aren’t negotiating is because the last time they agreed to negotiate Trump murdered them when they showed up to negotiate.
That be the same Iranians who murdered some 20-30,000 of their own? And then denied it.
That be the same Iranians who put out a AI video of a US aircraft carrier getting hit by Iranian missiles and sinking?
If that is the case, I got some ocean front property to sell you in KS.
Also, the thugs who have lorded over Iranians are a minority. They don’t want to relinquish the iron grip they’ve had on the populace.
I pray they can gain their freedom from the IRGC.
I traveled through Iran, coincidentally fifty years ago. There were a combination of women wearing western clothes, traditional Burkes, and other moderate Mideast clothing. Tehran was a vibrant and very interesting place to visit with excellent food.
How does change the fact that Trump is lying ???
Do you know, with first hand knowledge, that is a fact?
Do you know with first hand knowledge that it is false?
Briefly, Iran has reported just over 3k were killed in the recent protests. 300 were police and most were civilians not involved in the protests.
Iran has denied any responsibility for launching missiles at the USS Abraham Lincoln, much less sinking it. .. although they clearly claim the right to do so.
*if you have ocean front property in KS .. . I’ll eat my hat.
Exactly which Iranian are you referring to as most of the known Iranians are dead and this one will likely be joining his predecessors soon I mean if he even actually exists.
Well, if all the Iranian leaders are dead, then that is absolutely unequivocal evidence that Trump is lying, unless the negotiations are bein conducted by seance.
Answer the question.
Exactly which Iranian are you referring to that issued a denial?
Could you provide his address?
The Speaker of the Iranian parliament, M.B. Ghalbaf denied that there have been any negotiations with Trump of Netanyahu.
Here is what he posted on X.
“No negotiations have been held with the US, and fake news is used to manipulate the financial and oil markets and escape the quagmire in which the US and Israel are trapped.”
https://x.com/mb_ghalibaf/status/2036108700524347420
Trump has not murdered anyone. Having the US military kill an enemy of the USA is not murder.
Trump bombed Iran because Israel wanted the US to use our weapons, military personnel and power to kill its enemies. Even Gabbard admitted that Israel’s goals were not the same as those of the United States.
Contrary to Trump’s lies, Iran was not ready to nuke us, and Trump has yet to come up with any valid reason for starting this war. He has no coherent plan to end this conflict and no exit strategy. He claims we already “won”, but is sending in thousands more marines. He says Iran is begging him to make a deal— something Iran denies.
The endless lying about everything is exhausting. The endless costs to the American taxpayers is staggering— costs of everything will go up. When it’s finally all over, we will not be safer, we will have even more people over there who hate us and travel overseas will not be safe or pleasant. Americans are not even welcome in Europe, much less in the Middle East. Why?
Greatest political hoax in American history ? . . . . OR, most blatant coup attempt in American history (that would fundamentally transform our constitutional republic) ?
Even more blatant then that actual attempted coup Trump spearheaded in 2020-2021?
The one that never happened outside your diseased imagination?
As opposed to this one by the Democrats, which we all saw happen in front of our eyes.
I’d say, it is likely that Russia was trying to have some contact in the 2016 Trump campaign. Just like the Clinton campaign, or the Obama campaigns, or the Romney, McCain, Gore, Bush, etc etc. campaigns, since the end of WW1. And just like the Chinese, Israel, the entire Middle East, Taiwan, UK, France, Germany, etc etc. would try also. Everyone wants to try and hedge bets that, regardless of outcome, their interests could be represented in the new administration.
Which brings the question, given that the Democrats do everything they can to deflect, but most especially blaming the other side: What did Russia want from the Clinton campaign so badly (or vice versa) that creating a narrative around it was their best bet for tanking the opposing campaign?
Everything we are seeing today, the rise of Antifa, the Transtifa, the Palestifa, the Irantifa, the Illegaltifa, the TDS epidemic, all spawned from initial attempts to tank the campaign, through the Steele Doozy, to 88 million and the “most secure election in history,” to today’s silent filibusters of everything the admin is trying to do, and are just increasingly desperate attempts to recreate the initial high of “orange man bad.”
Jeebus, Mr. Turley: “Time to learn”? We’ve learned, learned and learned, for years–those of us in the general public who were paying attention, anyway. It’s LONG PAST time for the others who can be persuaded with facts. But for clinton, elias, stzrok, page, et. al., there will never be a moment of admission to crimes they believe were committed for the greater good.
OT
“Good, I’m glad he’s dead.”
– President Donald J. Trump on the Passing of Robert Mueller
___________________________________________________________________
Did the Romanians mourn the passing of Vlad the Impaler?
Did the Persians mourn the passing of Khamenei? The Chinese the passing of Pol Pot? The French the beheading of the aristocracy?
Quotable quotes
Trump is possibly the most decisive president in my lifetime and that includes Nixon and Clinton. It seems the rules used on him are just different. I do not think for one whit that Democrats or those that hate Trump are going to care if this all turns out to be true.
Yet, the truth must come out regardless of where it travels. If this turns out to be a true conspiracy, the. people need to go to jail if for no other reason than there is attempt to subvert Democracy.
If this is not true, then it needs to come out to show Trump is nuts.
The truly sad part in all of this is the media is not interested in truth that makes Trump look sane. I can only imagine if this happened during Nixon time or Clinton’s time. Oh wait, it did happen and the press covered it intently and fairly.
Just remember, regardless of where one stands on Trump, it is the larger system that needs to be protected. In the end, it is not about one man or even a party, it is about protecting us all.
The Quiet Man,
Great comment and I agree.
The one thing I find concerning is we have seen to what extent some are willing to go to, to get or maintain power. Louis Learner using her power at the IRS to deny conservatives non-profit status. The Steel dossier. Strzok and his “insurance policy.” Democrats have even said what their plans are to ensure Republicans never win an election again. Our Republic needs protection from the very people who are determined to undermine it.
The can was kicked down the road to President Donald J. Trump.
Confirming the suspicions of many in the international community, on Monday Donald J. Trump revealed that intelligence played “no role” in his decision to go to war with Iran.
“People keep asking me about intelligence,” he told reporters on Air Force One. “I made this call with no intelligence whatsoever.”
“Quite frankly, every decision I’ve ever made in my life I’ve made without intelligence,” he boasted. “Intelligence is for losers.”
Trump added that “I don’t trust people who have intelligence, which is why I love Pete.”
He must love you just as much, then. Congrats on getting on Trump’s good side! Here’s your red hat.