an exposé of Pierre’s Intercept by the excellent Whitney Webb

(the ‘Bana’ psyop holding a bellincat T-shirt)

In my ‘All the Manufactured News That’s Fit to Believe™’, wd, Oct. 3, 2018; Café version, C99% version, I’d mentioned that the Intercept had done at least four four smears of Julian Assange, glorified the White Helmets psyop, and had featured this Tweet by Sharmine Narwani: “When @TheIntercept sounds exactly like the NY Times: Resident Syrian-nun-basher Jeremy Scahill interviews “leftist” Noam Chomsky who calls #Syria‘s jihadi-busting govt a “murderous regime” & thinks US troops should remain illegally in the sovereign state”  with this link to the Intercept.  I hadn’t checked the dates as to whether or not some were after WikiLeaks had published the CIA Vaults 7 and 8, come to think of it.  But certainly after those publications was when WikiLeaks was thrown off the anonymyzing donations funneled through the Freedom of the Press Foundation that Julian, Michael Ratner, and a couple others had started.

(I’d asked) How often have we seen reports from the UK that use Bellingcat as their only source?  the BBC, for certain (zounds, quite a list on just the first page of hits), the Daily Mail, the New Yorker, according to Bellingcrap’s Aric Toler: “(The New Yorker profiled one of our trainings in London. The Tbilisi workshop is a three-day training ran in Russian, free to all participants)”  (I’d updated the list with the Guardian in comments.

And laughing at the WaPo spawned PropOrNot list, provided the updated Prop list, and had jested: Whew; close call: the Intercept ain’t on it!  Now we know why.  But oopsie, I hadn’t noticed earlier the Related Projects on the right sidebar, including Bellingcat and Digital Forensics Research Lab.

From Whitney Webb at mintpressnews.com, Oct. 8, 2018:‘Omidyar’s Intercept Teams Up with War-Propaganda Firm Bellingcat’

Despite promoting itself as an “independent” and open-source investigation site, Bellingcat has received a significant portion of its funding from Google, which is also one of the most powerful U.S. military contractors and whose rise to prominence was directly aided by the CIA’

Given that Mintpress News content is all Creative Commons, I’m going to paste in the Webb’s entire piece, especially as it’s loaded with hyperlinks.

NEW YORK — The Intercept, along with its parent company First Look Media, recently hosted a workshop for pro-war, Google-funded organization Bellingcat in New York. The workshop, which cost $2,500 per person to attend and lasted five days, aimed to instruct participants in how to perform investigations using “open source” tools — with Bellingcat’s past, controversial investigations for use as case studies. The exact details of what occurred during the workshop have not been made public and Bellingcat founder Eliot Higgins declined to elaborate on the workshop when pressed on social media.

The decision on the part of The Intercept is particularly troubling given that the publication has long been associated with the track records of its founding members, such as Jeremy Scahill and Glenn Greenwald, who have long been promoted as important “progressive” and “anti-war” voices in the U.S. media landscape.

Greenwald publicly distanced himself from the decision to host the workshop, stating on Twitter that he was not involved in making that decision and that — if he had been — it was not one “that I would have made.” However, he stopped short of condemning the decision.

Bellingcat’s open support for foreign military intervention and tendency to promote NATO/U.S. war propaganda are unsurprising when one considers how the group is funded and the groups with which it regularly collaborates.

For instance, Bellingcat regularly works with the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP), which – according to the late journalist Robert Parry – “engages in ‘investigative journalism’ that usually goes after governments that have fallen into disfavor with the United States and then are singled out for accusations of corruption.” OCCRP is notably funded by USAID and the controversial George Soros-funded Open Society Foundations.

In addition, Bellingcat’s founder Eliot Higgins is employed by the Atlantic Council, which is partially funded by the U.S. State Department, NATO and U.S. weapons manufacturers. It should come as little surprise then that the results of Bellingcat’s “findings” often fit neatly with narratives promoted by NATO and the U.S. government despite their poor track record in terms of accuracy.

Bellingcat’s funding is even more telling than its professional associations. Indeed, despite promoting itself as an “independent” and open-source investigation site, Bellingcat has received a significant portion of its funding from Google, which is also one of the most powerful U.S. military contractors and whose rise to prominence was directly aided by the CIA.

Google has also been actively promoting regime change in countries like Syria, a policy that Bellingcat also promotes. As one example, leaked emails between Jared Cohen, former director of Google Ideas (now Jigsaw), and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton revealed that Google developed software aimed at assisting al-Qaeda and other Syrian opposition groups in boosting their ranks. Furthermore, Cohen was once described by Stratfor intelligence analysts as a “loose cannon” for his deep involvement in Middle Eastern regime-change efforts.

Under President Donald Trump, Google’s connections to the U.S. government have become even more powerful, as the current Trump-appointed Director of National Intelligence once worked as a corporate lobbyist for Google.

Synergy in the service of empire

Given the clear alliances between Bellingcat and the military-industrial complex, The Intercept’s decision to host a Bellingcat workshop in its New York offices may seem surprising. However, The Intercept has long promoted Bellingcat in its written work and its parent company has actually been associated with Bellingcat since 2015.

Indeed, Google-owned YouTube announced in 2015 the formation of the “First Draft coalition,” which nominally sought to bring “together a group of thought leaders and pioneers in social media journalism to create educational resources on how to verify eyewitness media.” That coalition united Bellingcat with the now-defunct Reported.ly – another venture of The Intercept’s parent company, First Look Media.

In the years since, The Intercept has repeatedly promoted Bellingcat in its articles, having called the Atlantic Council-connected, Google-funded group “a reputable U.K.-based organization devoted to analyzing images coming out of conflict zones.” Furthermore, prior to the recent workshop in late September between The Intercept and Bellingcat, both jointly participated in another workshop hosted in London earlier this year in April.

$250 million well spent? imagine if the Intercept actually had a team of people trying to poke holes in UK/US narratives about Russia instead of their own paid journalists promoting Bellingcat pic.twitter.com/QJyTXf4fp0

— Robbie Martin (@FluorescentGrey) October 3, 2018

Omidyar’s connections

In addition, the Intercept’s main funder – eBay billionaire Pierre Omidyar – shares innumerable connections to the U.S. government and has helped fund regime-change operations abroad in the past, suggesting a likely reason behind the publication’s willingness to associate itself with Bellingcat.

For instance, Omidyar made more visits to the Obama White House between 2009 and 2013 than Google’s Eric Schmidt, Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg or Amazon’s Jeff Bezos. He also donated $30 million to the Clinton global initiative and directly co-invested with the State Department — funding groups, some of them overtly fascist, that worked to overthrow Ukraine’s democratically elected government in 2014.

Even after Obama left office, Omidyar has continued to fund USAID, particularly its overseas program aimed at “advancing U.S. national security interests” abroad. Omidyar’s Ulupono Initiative also cosponsors one of the Pentagon’s most important contractor expos, a direct link between Omidyar initiatives and the U.S. military-industrial complex.

Such promotion of the regime-change wars has been reflected in reporting done at The Intercept, particularly in regards to Syria. Indeed, Intercept writers covering Syria frequently promote Syrian “rebels” and the opposition while also promoting pro-regime-change talking points.

Another former Intercept contributor and now Intercept “fact checker,” Mariam Elba, wrote a poorly researched article that sought to link the Syrian government to U.S. white nationalists, claiming that the Syrian government sought to “homogenize” the country despite its support for religious and ethnic minorities in stark contrast to the Syrian opposition. Notably, Elba recently praised the Intercept/Bellingcat workshop, which she had attended.

If that weren’t enough, last year the paper hired Maryam Saleh, a journalist who has called Shia Muslims “dogs” and has taken to Twitter in the past to downplay the role of the U.S. coalition in airstrikes in Syria. Saleh also has ties to the U.S.-financed propaganda group Kafranbel Media Center, which also has close relations with the terrorist group Ahrar al-Sham.

Furthermore, MintPress noted last year that The Intercept had withheld a key document from the Edward Snowden cache proving the Syrian opposition was taking marching orders from the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. The Intercept published that document only after the U.S. State Department itself began to report more honestly on the nature of these so-called “rebels,” even though The Intercept had had that document in its possession since 2013.”

[one holy crow portion from her MintPress link above:]

“However, the Intercept article regarding the document is unusual for several reasons. First, the report inaccurately claims that the attack launched at the Saudis’ behest did not result in any confirmed casualties. Second, it states that the 2011 uprising in Syria was an organic, “peaceful” movement that led the Syrian government to wage “an open war against their own people” — a narrative that has since been debunked.

Yet, the largest oversight of all is the article’s failure to mention the U.S.’ role in funding the Free Syrian Army, as well as the CIA’s well-documented role in training the FSA and pumping tons of weapons into Syria in order to foment and exacerbate the conflict in its early days. In light of the NSA document’s revelation that the U.S. had been given advance notice of the planned FSA attack – on a civilian target, no less – Washington’s decision to let it proceed clearly suggests that the U.S. was involved in and well aware of the Saudi directives to the FSA. However, the Intercept piece chooses not to mention this crucial context.”

Even “anti-interventionist” Intercept journalists like Jeremy Scahill and Glenn Greenwald have come under fire this past year for allegedly promoting inaccurate statements that supported pro-regime-change narratives in Syria, particularly in regards to an alleged chemical weapons attack in Douma. That attack is now widely believed to have been staged by the White Helmets.

Thus, while The Intercept has long publicly promoted itself as an anti-interventionist and progressive media outlet, it is becoming clearer that – largely thanks to its ties to Omidyar – it is increasingly an organization that has more in common with Bellingcat, a group that launders NATO and U.S. propaganda and disguises it as “independent” and “investigative journalism.”

Author’s Note | John Helsby contributed research, particularly in regards to social media, to this report.

(More in comments on PropOrNot and the recent vast Facebook purge.)

(cross-posted from Café Babylon)

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ggersh's picture

@wendy davis but thought this would be of interest

https://www.siliconinvestor.com/readmsg.aspx?msgid=31836693

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I never knew that the term "Never Again" only pertained to
those born Jewish

"Antisemite used to be someone who didn't like Jews
now it's someone who Jews don't like"

Heard from Margaret Kimberley

wendy davis's picture

@ggersh

the site wants me to kill my adblocker. but from what i was able to see: is the source reliable? and back to the intercept? if you respond, i'll know it's new. dagnabbit, when i leave this tab open for too long, i no longer can tell what's new w/o going thru all the comments. just happened to hit yours by coincidence. thanks, ggersh.

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ggersh's picture

@wendy davis posts stuff all the time, sometimes
good sometimes not, the timing of Jareds visit
ans such seems to tie in perfectly to said
activities, Khas a CIA rep works at the post
but in the end it just might be about money
cuz thats trumps main concern, milk the prez
so everyone and anyone it taking advantage of
trumps intellect to do whatever it is they
want to do with no consequences whatsoever, iows
everyones gone rogue????

Or I'm just plain way into CTs that always turn out
to be true....ROFL

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I never knew that the term "Never Again" only pertained to
those born Jewish

"Antisemite used to be someone who didn't like Jews
now it's someone who Jews don't like"

Heard from Margaret Kimberley

wendy davis's picture

@ggersh

to consortium news, was it pale-colored? but thanks for that. but could you briefly give me the cliffs notes on the intercept piece? if not, i'll try to look at it later, although i hate to give them the clicks, and my day is chock full of obligations. as in: how does the angry arab's piece act as a counter-argument?

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ggersh's picture

@wendy davis good buddies, w/Kush giving MBS
the lowdown on who's after him, and Kush has
a longing for reading (tpb) prez's am brief for
info while not being cleared to do so. Me thinks
MBS has given both Kush and trump boatloads of
$$$$$ for both access and protection, maybe they
are taking $$$$ from the Bushes? Never seen trump
or Kush kiss the prince, unlike dubya.

Here's the link ya it's not your fave, written by
these guys Alex Emmons, Ryan Grim, Clayton Swisher

https://theintercept.com/2018/03/21/jared-kushner-saudi-crown-prince-moh...

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I never knew that the term "Never Again" only pertained to
those born Jewish

"Antisemite used to be someone who didn't like Jews
now it's someone who Jews don't like"

Heard from Margaret Kimberley

wendy davis's picture

@ggersh

still sorta in the dark, and aaaaackk busy in RL. i will say though that this story won't die, no matter who jamal khashoggi was (barely a dissident, says the angry arab) but whether or not i believe bernhard at MoA has much of a sense of humor, he seems to have been havin' some fun with the crazy stories that both the sauds (MbS?) and erdgogan might buy into as...a political solution (and brennan as the deep state as well). what a drama!

on edit: ryan grim made me laugh out lou, given he was huffpo 'journalist'; think mr. webster's 'sell it like huffpo'. jeebus.

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wendy davis's picture

@ggersh

ya had to go and make me read it myownself?!? i need a shower. christ, so much utterly like this:

"What exactly Kushner and the Saudi royal talked about in Riyadh may be known only to them, but after the meeting, Crown Prince Mohammed told confidants that Kushner had discussed the names of Saudis disloyal to the crown prince, according to three sources who have been in contact with members of the Saudi and Emirati royal families since the crackdown. Kushner, through his attorney’s spokesperson, denies having done so."

the comments called bullshit as well, and said they were highly moderated. one asked why not investigate biden's son's chinese investsments, and more lie that. on the gas board in ukraine, etc. but to say the truth, they myriad princes names get tangle up in my brain. at least the angry arab said what he knew/believed to be the truth, while b compares the various stories, and augurs the future 'deals' down the rabbit hole after consulting his glowing orb. just kidding, but it read like the new york grimes to me. why the hell would any of those sources they named give enuff of a crap about the intercept to issue them comments?

but srsly, read some of the comment food fights. took three top-notch investigative journalists to write that up, lol. 'sources close to ___ told the intercept. it made me laff as well that it only had 126 comments. remember when there used to be 500 or so?

so if the angry arab's was a counter-story, and that one was from march...pretty long time lag. let's see...er...um...a yotta months?

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Looks like areas that are sticking points are being "fixed" such as being more supportive of Russigate and accepting regime change in Syria all in order to make them look legit. Risen it appears was explicitly brought in to counter Greenwald's skepticism over Russiagate. Mackey pumps out propaganda straight out of State department memos, and Madhi Hasan would be comfortable at any George Cloney party.

The issue over the Snowden documents is has gottent a point that it now seems by withholding information TI is simply giving cover to the status quo. It was the same when the NYTimes refused to publish information before the 2004 election that would have been extrememly detrimental to Bush. Hey, we need the truth.

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wendy davis's picture

@MrWebster

you mean by 'to be sold off'? and risen: wasn't he countering the veterans for sanity, binney et.al.? sorry for the vast holes in my memory.

as to the snowden doc in general though, the whitney webb piece i'd mentioned earlier and whether to bring it to this thread or not, i won't. what i think i will do is kinda copy the initial bit, and let y'all help crowd-source investigate it to see if you see what i see or not.

simple translation: perhaps the smoke that comes out of ears is unwarranted. and that'd be nice to know. ; )

but seriously, i'd thought my contempt for he 'interept' (aptly named as it turns out) juke joint couldn't get much higher. fool.

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@wendy davis Or other similar outlets that were sold for lots of money to big media companies.

Risen at The Intercept was countering Greenwald. Risen has taken the position that the Russiagate hysteria is true. This is one article.

Is Donald Trump a Traitor
https://theintercept.com/2018/02/16/trump-russia-election-hacking-invest...

Greenwald has argued that traitor has a particular legal definition and should be used that way. Of course, traitor is now used as a political slander when Rand Paul was called a traitor for wanting diplomacy with Russia over a number of critical issues.

I think from statements made by Greenwald that he does not have any control over The Intercept except that he seems get automatic publication for any of his articles.

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wendy davis's picture

@MrWebster

before i found the magic word: russian hackers. yes, the VIPS concluded with a few subsequent nuanced alterations that those entities were leaked, not hacked. sorry, couldn't fish it. so if he did the russians on facebook sowing chaos by ads schtick, i missed it. i loved the dickens outta (hoom, hoom drum roll): the nsa doc leaked to the intercept in 2017, and it only took four of those journalists to write it up. no wonder they beg for money; that quarter of a billion only went so far! ; ) me, i think they have a hundred on their staff by now, and that's so to...contain the news. did "pierre" create the intercept to privatize the snowden docs as b and others say? might be just so, i think.

yes greenwald wants us to believe that he has no part in editing the place, not does "pierre"; i don't believe it for a minute. i'll offer that i've witnessed him lie far too often, and obfuscate even more often. and he never investigated his financier pierre's past? how very investigative of him.

selling it off like huffpo's a hoot though. it may as well be the daily beast; so similar.

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Pluto's Republic's picture

@MrWebster

Risen has taken the position that the Russiagate hysteria is true. This is one article.

....Reality Winner will be spending several years of her life behind bars.

They're rubbing up against the hot intelligence guys like the sluts they are, over at the Intercept.

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____________________

The political system is what it is because the People are who they are. — Plato
wendy davis's picture

longer:

Ecuador to partially restore Julian Assange’s access to communications and visitors’, James Cogan 15 October 2018, wsws.org

“To the extent that it alleviates the isolation and psychological stress that has been inflicted on Assange, the conditional restoration of his right to communicate and receive visitors is a welcome development. It does not, however, end the danger he faces or his effective imprisonment inside the small embassy building, where he has been confined without direct access to sunlight since he sought political asylum with Ecuador on June 19, 2012.
At this stage, there is no indication that Ecuador’s actions are bound up with any shift by the American government and police agencies away from their near eight-year campaign to arrest and prosecute Assange. He still faces the threat of extradition to the US on fabricated charges of espionage, stemming from the 2010 publication by WikiLeaks of documents that exposed numerous American war crimes and anti-democratic diplomatic intrigues.” (the rest is here.)

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wendy davis's picture

@wendy davis

'LEAKED: Here Are the Demands Ecuador Has Given Julian Assange in Order to End His Isolation’, by Cassandra Fairbanks October 15, 2018, thegatewaypundit.com

to say that the list is draconian would be an understatement. a staggering invasion of privacy not only for him, but to every visitor as well. take his cat away if they deem it's not being cleaned up after? jeezum crow, what fukkery.

'MEDICAL

The document says that Assange must submit to the quarterly evaluations with medical specialists at his own expense.

The results of any examinations will be kept private.

“In case of a medical emergency or at the express request of mr. Assange, the Head of the Mission will authorize your transfer, as soon as possible, to receive care from physicians outside the Embassy,” the document says."

The UK has repeatedly denied Assange safe passage to a hospital after doctors who examined him called for him to be allowed to go and be treated for his deteriorating health. If he was to be transported to a hospital, it is extremely likely he would be arrested.

(would john bolton be driving the ambulance?)

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travelerxxx's picture

@wendy davis

(would john bolton be driving the ambulance?)

Seems to me that the evil John Bolton is driving quite a few things these days, and everything he's driving seems to be heading straight toward a cliff.

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wendy davis's picture

@travelerxxx

and i reckon he'd drive the ambulance straight to the airport w/ a lear jet standing by: destination deecee. gitmo. a star chamber anywhere.

thanks for being the only person who'd seemingly noticed this horror.

but sure, his bellicose neocon mustached mouth is one for the history books.

peace be with you when you can manage it.

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