Danchenko, Steele, the FBI, the DNC: Stupid or Venal

Last week, after the indictment of Igor Danchenko, I was stunned to see the mainstream media saying the Steele dossier, now, after all these years, was Russian disinformation.

This week, that concept seems to have disappeared. I had wondered about the logic. Up until the Danchenko indictment, Putin was accused of controlling Trump for the purpose of defeating Hillary Clinton in 2016. Suddenly, last week, he was accused of fooling Steele and Hillary and the DNC into believing he was controlling Trump so he could show how stupid they were when the FBI eventually determined the dossier was false. Color me flabbergasted.

This week, the commentary seems to be strongly focused on how gullible or self-affirming the journalism on Steele has been for five years and how stubborn Rachel Maddow is even now, as she continues to assert that Steele was both unimportant and valid.

In the process of reading as much as I could, I found several articles worth recommending to all of you. The first one is a paper by Danchenko, Fiona Hill and another colleague at the Brookings Institution, titled "One Step Forward, Two Steps Back? The Realities of a Rising China and Implications for Russia's Energy Ambitions," published in 2010. It's interesting because it's dispassionate and informative about resources, pipelines, the pricing of oil and gas, and geography itself, with only a hint of nasty accusations that Putin imagines himself a superpower. Now, of course, that's all we get, that Putin is a maniac and a killer.

Here are several articles that might help sort out the implications of media complicity in the Steele caper.

Byron York's Daily Memo: When Adam Schiff loved the dossier

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/byron-yorks-daily-memo-when-adam...

Steele Dossier Was ‘Case Study’ in Journalistic Manipulation

https://nymag.com/intelligencer/2021/07/steele-dossier-was-case-study-in...

Dangerous Game: How the Wreckage of Russiagate Ignited a New Cold War | Astute News

https://astutenews.com/2020/07/dangerous-game-how-the-wreckage-of-russia...

The Steele Dossier Deceit | National Review

https://www.nationalreview.com/2021/11/the-dossier-deceit/

The Washington Post Begins Scrubbing and Deleting Prior Articles Using the Steele Dossier to Promote Trump-Russia Narrative - The Last Refuge

https://theconservativetreehouse.com/blog/2021/11/12/the-washington-post...

Dossier source was also spokesman for Russian firm falsely accused of computer hack - Washington Times

https://m.washingtontimes.com/news/2021/nov/7/dossier-source-was-also-sp...

DNI declassifies Brennan notes, CIA memo on Hillary Clinton 'stirring up' scandal between Trump, Russia | Fox News

https://www.foxnews.com/politics/dni-brennan-notes-cia-memo-clinton

Share
up
16 users have voted.

Comments

The Liberal Moonbat's picture

Up until the Danchenko indictment, Putin was accused of controlling Trump for the purpose of defeating Hillary Clinton in 2016. Suddenly, last week, he was accused of fooling Steele and Hillary and the DNC into believing he was controlling Trump so he could show how stupid they were when the FBI eventually determined the dossier was false.

This reads less like Orwell than like a Saturday-morning cartoon trying to spoof Orwell.

up
13 users have voted.

In the Land of the Blind, the One-Eyed Man is declared mentally ill for describing colors.

Yes Virginia, there is a Global Banking Conspiracy!

Cant Stop the Macedonian Signal's picture

@The Liberal Moonbat

up
1 user has voted.

"More for Gore or the son of a drug lord--None of the above, fuck it, cut the cord."
--Zack de la Rocha

"I tell you I'll have nothing to do with the place...The roof of that hall is made of bones."
-- Fiver

Will never admit they are propagandists. So, the crux of the ruskiegate konspiricy has collapsed.
Again. And indictments are processing thru the news reels. A big disconnect glares at those willing to read between the lines. Yes, the media mislead us with the false setto's or set-ups, and yes, it lasted about 4 years, and yes, the FBI, CIA, and justice used it as a cover for the Clinton crimes. What can we learn from this? None of the chief proponents of this dark spy story will ever have to admit to lying for nefarious purposes. It's just business as usual in a corrupt system.
Time for a commercial break.

up
10 users have voted.
zed2's picture

so sick of old and corrupt politicians who just don't get it. I know I am not surprised if they are crooks, nor could any more wasting of the country's time make a difference. I stayed home in 2016, and I am still happy about doing that. I would do it again, despite the horribleness of Bill Clinton's friend, the GOP cndidate,I feel like the situation was rigged in order to frustrate the country out of any thing we voted for.

I cant vote for certain people, if all the "choices" are those slimy people, that's not democracy! Those are the candidates to pass on. Neoliberal types are not Democrats. If the Democratic Party keeps on nominating non-Democratic candidates, they are going to lose me. And many others, including lots of very influential people.

up
10 users have voted.
zed2's picture

At around the same time or a bit later the same thing seems to have happened here.

up
9 users have voted.

I heard the same thing about the planting false information knowing it would be discovered and embarrass the media outlet. Remember the story that Laurence O'Donnell broke about Deutsche Bank and loans to Donald Trump:

MSNBC's O'Donnell said he 'shouldn't have reported' his on-air claim that Trump has loans with Deutsche Bank backed by 'Russian billionaires close to Vladimir Putin'

When it was exposed, it was explained in a number of sites that Russians knew the story was false and planted it so that O'Donnell would look bad.

But given how Russiagate has played, it was the typical case that nobody needed any proof for any accusation. Remember George Takai the guy who played Sulu on Star Trek? He hit the news cycle when some guy accused him of sexual harassment of some sort. Takai seriously claimed that he was trending on Twitter because Putin was trying to get him because Putin hates gays and wanted to harm the gay rights movement.

One thing I noticed in the early days of Russiagate that articles in the major outlets would start with a claim but then immediately proceed to state the claim has not been verified. As time went out, that caveat was buried deeper and deeper into the article. The wording of the article would change to reflect that the charge was basically proven.

up
4 users have voted.
Cant Stop the Macedonian Signal's picture

@MrWebster

after Takei decided to run for Congress. After 40 years, or something.

I have a hard time believing in those sorts of accusations, though I suppose it's possible somebody just couldn't stand the idea of their abuser holding a government office. I guess it's possible that that would be the last straw that would make somebody decide to open up after 40 years. But then, it's also possible that our political system runs on character assassinations, and that somebody somewhere decided Takei wasn't what they wanted in Congress. But that somebody is highly unlikely to be Vladimir Putin, who has become pretty much a punch line in American politics--for anybody with any sense.

Addendum: I should make it clear that *I* don't want Takei in Congress either. I just hate the ongoing politics-via-scandal-or-hatchet-jobs-if-you-can't-find-something-real-that's-nasty-enough.

up
1 user has voted.

"More for Gore or the son of a drug lord--None of the above, fuck it, cut the cord."
--Zack de la Rocha

"I tell you I'll have nothing to do with the place...The roof of that hall is made of bones."
-- Fiver

Cant Stop the Macedonian Signal's picture

@MrWebster

where he resorts to the Putin canard to avoid blame, is what makes it seem most likely that he actually did harass the guy.

up
1 user has voted.

"More for Gore or the son of a drug lord--None of the above, fuck it, cut the cord."
--Zack de la Rocha

"I tell you I'll have nothing to do with the place...The roof of that hall is made of bones."
-- Fiver

Cant Stop the Macedonian Signal's picture

@MrWebster

though, isn't it?

"But...but...they put out FALSE INFORMATION knowing we'd believe it and look bad!"

Well...aren't y'all the press? Aren't you supposed to be, I dunno, *careful* about verifying information before you publish it? Sounds like it's the sophisticated media manipulation technique of holding a mirror up to a fraud.

up
1 user has voted.

"More for Gore or the son of a drug lord--None of the above, fuck it, cut the cord."
--Zack de la Rocha

"I tell you I'll have nothing to do with the place...The roof of that hall is made of bones."
-- Fiver