Russia-gate? To understand the world of political affairs one must be able to both read and think...

(Subscriber material)
Subscribe to Matt Taibbi : https://taibbi.substack.com/

Rachel Maddow's Shocking New Low
With last night's loony response to the indictment of Igor Danchenko, the MSNBC anchor takes a bold leap off the credibility cliff

Matt Taibbi | Nov 5 | views 920 | comments 688 ||

"Yesterday, Special Counsel John Durham indicted Brookings Institute analyst Igor Danchenko, better known as the primary source for Christopher Steele, the ex-spy who compiled the now-infamous “Steele Dossier” on behalf of Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign in 2016. The case has implications for higher-ranking figures, but the indictment is most immediately devastating to the reputation of the many famous news personalities who hyped the Steele story. They almost all look terrible today, but the response by MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow was a thing beyond. Whatever the category below 'disgraced journalist' is, she entered it with gusto with last night’s performance.

"Much of the indictment concerns false statements Danchenko allegedly made to the FBI concerning his interactions with 'PR Executive-1,' described as a 'U.S.-based individual… who was a long-time participant in Democratic Party politics and was then an executive at a U.S. public relations firm.' New York Times reporter Charlie Savage received confirmation from the lawyer of a man named Charles Dolan that Dolan is, in fact, the executive:

(Twitter avatar for @charlie_savageCharlie Savage @charlie_savage
November 4th 2021
138 Retweets194 Likes)

"Russiagate is already a sizable boil on the face of American journalism, but the indictment of Danchenko has the potential to grow the profession’s embarrassment to fantastic dimensions. For instance, a key claim of the Steele dossier involved a 'well-developed conspiracy of cooperation' between Trump and Russia that supposedly went back years, and was managed on the Trump side by Paul Manafort and Carter Page. At one point, it was believed this claim was sourced to an anonymous phone call Danchenko thought came from the former president of the Russian-American Chamber of Commerce, Sergei Millian. Danchenko moreover reportedly told the FBI that he and the 'anonymous caller' made an appointment to meet in New York.

"The indictment, however, asserts that Danchenko never even spoke to Millian, repeatedly emailing him and getting no response.

" As for that trip to New York, hoo boy:

"From on about July 26, 2016 through July 28, 2016, DANCHENKO traveled to New York with a family member. On or about July 28, 2016, DANCHENKO visited, among other places, the Bronx Zoo with the family member. During this trip, DANCHENKO did not meet or communicate with Chamber President-I.

"It’s bad enough that the 'well-developed' conspiracy tale appears to have been sourced to a graduate of the Jayson Blair school of investigation, who was strolling in the Bronx Zoo during the time when he was supposedly landing the scoop of a lifetime (note that Steele himself reportedly believed the pee tape was sourced, “in part,” to Millian).

"Every reporter who touched that allegation should be ashamed, and Rachel is at the front of that huge crowd. (emphasis added) Among other things, she emphasized the importance of Steele’s 'broader assertions,' repeating the claim that the 'Russia regime has been cultivating, supporting and assisting Trump for at least five years,' going so far as to praise Steele for keeping his 'head down' and listening to his 'deep cover sources' like Danchenko.

"However, that’s not the most damning part. It turns out at least one assertion by Steele, a relatively minor observation in an August 2016 report that claimed a senior member of Trump’s inner circle was glad when Paul Manafort resigned as campaign manager, came directly from Dolan, via Danchenko.

"The indictment shows an email chain in which Danchenko tells Dolan he’s working on a 'project against Trump' and is looking for any “thought, rumor, allegation” that might be useful. Dolan replies, after Manafort’s resignation, that 'I had a drink with a GOP friend of mine' who told him 'a number of people wanted (Manafort) gone. It is a very sharp elbows crowd.'

...

... "Today, the US media has the lowest credibility—26 percent—among forty-six nations, according to a 2022 study by the Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism. In 2021, 83 percent of Americans saw 'fake news' as a 'problem,' and 56 percent—mostly Republicans and independents—agreed that the media were “truly the enemy of the American people,” according to Rasmussen Reports." ...
-- Jeff Gerth,

"The press versus the president, (part one) | The Columbia Journalism Review | 30 January 2023 | by Jeff Gerth

The CJR Editor's Note (excerpted) :

... "For the past year and a half, CJR has been examining the American media’s coverage of Trump and Russia in granular detail, and what it means as the country enters a new political cycle. Investigative reporter Jeff Gerth interviewed dozens of people at the center of the story—editors and reporters, Trump himself, and others in his orbit." ...