Tuesday, October 11, 2016

Donald Trump caught using Russian propaganda to attack Hillary Clinton.

Courtesy of Newsweek: 

The documents that WikiLeaks has unloaded recently have been emails out of the account of John Podesta, the chairman of Clinton’s election campaign. Almost as soon as the pilfered documents emerged, Sputnik was all over them and rapidly found (or probably already knew about before the WikiLeaks dump) a purportedly incriminating email from Blumenthal. 

The email was amazing—it linked Boogie Man Blumenthal, Podesta and the topic of conservative political fevered dreams, Benghazi. This, it seemed, was the smoking gun finally proving Clinton bore total responsibility for the terrorist attack on the American outpost in Libya in 2012. Sputnik even declared that the email might be the “October surprise” that could undermine Clinton’s campaign.

Here was the "smoking gun" according to Sputnik:  

In a major revelation from the second batch of WikiLeaks emails from Clinton Campaign Chairman John Podesta it was learned that Hillary's top confidante Sidney Blumenthal believed that the investigation into Benghazi was legitimate because it was "preventable" and the result of State Department negligence. 

In an email titled "The Truth" from Hillary's top confidante Sidney Blumenthal, the adviser writing to undisclosed recipients said that "one important point that has been universally acknowledged by nine previous reports about Benghazi: The attack was almost certainly preventable" in what may turn out to be the big October surprise from the WikiLeaks released of emails hacked from the account of Clinton Campaign Chair John Podesta. 

Then came the money quote: "Clinton was in charge of the State Department, and it failed to protect U.S. personnel at an American consulate in Libya. If the GOP wants to raise that as a talking point against her, it is legitimate," said Blumenthal, putting to rest the Democratic Party talking point that the investigation into Clinton's management of the State Department at the time of the attack was nothing more than a partisan witch hunt.

The problem with this "smoking gun" is that the words attributed to Sid Blumenthal were actually from a Newsweek article written by the same reporter that wrote the piece I am quoting from here.(And of course they were taken out of context.)

Which he sort of noticed.

As it turns out Sputnik finally recognized their mistake and took the article down.

So that's that, right?

Wrong. Because as it turns out somehow the article ended up in the hands of Donald J. Trump. You know, that guy who is turning American democracy into a joke and destroying the Republican party?

At a rally in Wilkes Barre, Pennsylvania, Trump spoke while holding a document in his hand. He told the assembled crowd that it was an email from Blumenthal, whom he called “sleazy Sidney.” 

“This just came out a little while ago,’’ Trump said. “I have to tell you this.” And then he read the words from my article. 

“He’s now admitting they could have done something about Benghazi,’’ Trump said, dropping the document to the floor. “This just came out a little while ago.” 

The crowd booed and chanted, “Lock her up!”

The author of the article quoted by Sputnik was more than slightly disturbed by all of this, to put it mildly:

This is not funny. It is terrifying. The Russians engage in a sloppy disinformation effort and, before the day is out, the Republican nominee for president is standing on a stage reciting the manufactured story as truth. How did this happen? Who in the Trump campaign was feeding him falsehoods straight from the Kremlin? (The Trump campaign did not respond to a request for comment).

The Russians have been obtaining American emails and now are presenting complete misrepresentations of them—falsifying them—in hopes of setting off a cascade of events that might change the outcome of the presidential election. The big question, of course, is why are the Russians working so hard to damage Clinton and, in the process, aid Donald Trump? 

Good question.

And one that any politician endorsing Donald Trump, or any American voting for him, should stop and ask themselves. 

57 comments:

  1. Anonymous11:12 AM

    The 2016 electoral map is rapidly slipping away from Donald Trump

    https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-fix/wp/2016/10/11/the-2016-electoral-map-is-rapidly-slipping-away-from-donald-trump/

    ReplyDelete
  2. Anonymous11:13 AM

    New Records Suggest Donald Trump Misled the Public About His Income

    He says he made $694 million last year, but UK documents undercut that claim.

    http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2016/10/new-documents-show-trump-misled-about-his-income

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous3:01 PM

      That is his Achilles heel. It's why he doesn't want any of his tax records, especially recent ones, released. It was the one taboo topic for his Comedy Central roast. You can pretty much make any derogatory slam against him you want, his hair, his dick, his hands, his orange-ness, anything. But if you dare to doubt his monetary worth, you are a dead man walking.

      I don't think he's a billionaire. Not when you subtract his liabilities from his assets. I'm not even sure he's much of a millionaire. He may owe so much that he is in essence penniless.

      One thing is for sure. His "brand", I.E. name, is now worthless.

      I think once he's dead and the will is finally probated it will show that he is essentially penniless and all of the creditors will line up to pick the bones of whatever is left.

      Melania (if she's still married to him) and Barron will have nothing.

      Anyone getting paid anything, like alimony or child support, will find it immediately cut off.

      So whoever is involved with Trump, get the money in cash and be sure you bank as much of it as possible. Because that gravy train is going to be off the rails sooner than you think.

      Delete
  3. Anonymous11:19 AM

    The religious right makes a deal with the devil

    https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/the-religious-right-makes-a-deal-with-the-devil/2016/10/11/d0783e44-8fd5-11e6-9c85-ac42097b8cc0_story.html

    Republicans fed the monster for far too long. Now he’s devouring them.

    Trump is already blaming Ryan for his own tanking poll numbers. And he has already signaled that other GOP lawmakers who are insufficiently loyal to him will also be in his cross-hairs.

    https://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/plum-line/wp/2016/10/11/republicans-fed-the-monster-for-far-too-long-now-hes-devouring-them

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous1:13 PM

      Why Donald Trump’s Campaign Could Prove to Be the Death of the Christian Right

      http://nymag.com/daily/intelligencer/2016/10/why-trump-could-speed-the-death-of-the-christian-right.html

      Delete
  4. Anonymous11:20 AM

    House Democrats believe Trump troubles give them real shot at retaking majority

    https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/powerpost/wp/2016/10/10/house-democrats-believe-trump-troubles-give-them-real-shot-at-retaking-majority/

    ReplyDelete
  5. Anonymous11:21 AM

    "The Russians have been obtaining American emails and now are presenting complete misrepresentations of them—falsifying them—"

    One cannot reach that conclusion from what Eichenwald presented. He took a giant leap of Russian hysteria. Even WaPo says:
    "Kurt Eichenwald's Newsweek report does not make the case it claims."

    Besides, Clinton and the campaign admitted the emails are real on Sunday.

    In addition, you recently centered an entire post about one of those emails: that Clinton et al were working behind the scenes to promote candidates they were confident they could beat.

    You don't get to have it both ways. You don't get to claim "Eek, the Russians doctored them!" for emails that are negative for Clinton and crow about others that you think make her look good.

    1000 more emails today and no one in the Clinton campaign is claiming they're fake.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Look I don't have time to hold your hand through all of these but for the record no one is saying that the emails are faked.

      What is being pointed out in both the Times AND Washington Post story is that Sputnik attributed words to Blumenthal that actually came from an earlier Newsweek article.

      That is what is being pointed out in my blog post.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous11:49 AM

      Try reading the post.

      Delete
    3. Anonymous12:06 PM

      11:21 AM Annnnnnd???? Are you still butthurt that Hillary Clinton is winning?

      Delete
    4. Anonymous12:09 PM

      TRUTH & FACTS from Newsweek:
      http://www.newsweek.com/2016/09/23/george-w-bush-white-house-lost-22-million-emails-497373.html

      Delete
    5. Anonymous1:41 PM

      @12:09, Thank you for that link. What pisses me off is that this has not been reported at all in the MSM (that I have heard). And didn't Mitt Romney and Huckabee get rid of their computers/emails at the end of their time as governors? Why doesn't Hillary or her surrogates bring this up every time her emails come up? I don't get it.

      Every time I see the R's in the news and they are asked about their BS, they always immediately pivot to what the D's have done wrong. Why don't D's they fight back in the same way?

      Same with the Benghazi situation, why doesn't anyone bring up how many
      people died under the GWB administration with zero investigations?

      It's so frustrating!!

      Delete
  6. Anonymous11:21 AM

    Conway loses her integrity and eviscerates GOP’s appeal to women

    ...Trump is in a class by himself in alienating women — by the tens of millions. And she has been by his side and on TV spinning, excusing and rationalizing it all. Women will turn out and vote Democratic this year in droves, some for the first time in their lives because the Republican Party has welcomed with open arms someone as depraved as Trump. It’s a fitting capstone to her career: Helped make the GOP the most misogynistic party ever.

    https://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/right-turn/wp/2016/10/11/conway-loses-her-integrity-and-ends-gops-appeal-to-women/

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous4:04 PM

      My Mother has voted Republican for 65 years.

      She'll be voting for Hillary this year. Even she acknowledges Trump is just too abhorrent.

      My Dad is non-partisan but I know he'll be voting for Hillary because he voted for her in 2008. Which surprised me quite a bit.

      Delete
  7. Anonymous11:31 AM

    By the way, love 'em or hate 'em, Wikileaks has no history of releasing false information.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous12:03 PM

      @11:31 AM Just known for releasing bits and pieces.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous12:29 PM

      The rapist controls the narrative in the same way you claim to hate from the MSM.

      Delete
    3. Anonymous12:40 PM

      Lies of omission, dear. Same thing as telling a big fat one.
      They cherry pick sections of things to present what they want to present and that is the truth. Kind of like those fake xtians and their bible...

      Delete
    4. Anonymous12:45 PM

      Wikileaks wasn't insane before. Wikileaks is nursing a major grudge against Hillary Clinton and has nothing better to think about.

      That's where a big ego gets you.

      Just say no to sex with strangers.

      Delete
    5. Anonymous3:33 PM

      Remember sarry and her hang changing wiki. Keep up you idiots. You can't really rely on wiki.

      Delete
  8. Anonymous11:40 AM

    You're knowingly spreading a falsehood in hopes of try to affect an election.

    That makes you a propagandist, not an advocate for your candidate.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous11:49 AM

      Are you talking to trump? He's the one spreading falsehoods.

      Delete
  9. Anonymous12:00 PM


    Chris Christie: Leaked Trump Comments Not ‘Immaterial’ In Deciding Whether To Vote For Him

    But the New Jersey governor is standing by the GOP nominee — for now.


    http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/chris-christie-leaked-trump-comments-not-immaterial_us_57fce510e4b068ecb5e1a175?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous12:40 PM

      he might as well since they'll be fitting hi for an orange jump suit sooner than later.

      Delete
  10. Anonymous12:16 PM

    Gryphen and the IM regulars please sit down and set your drinks down before reading any further.
    Glenn Beck came out and said Hillary is the ethical and moral choice in this election!
    Hell tRump's even losing the GoPee crazies.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous12:30 PM

      Now I've seen everything!

      Delete
    2. Anonymous1:38 PM

      He also said that he will do anything to undermine her presidency. Not the Come To Jesus moment that people think it is.

      Delete
  11. Anonymous12:21 PM

    More Than 3,000 Sexual-Assault Survivors Call for Republican Leaders to Stop ‘Enabling’ Trump in Washington Post Ad

    http://nymag.com/thecut/2016/10/thousands-of-sexual-abuse-survivors-speak-out-against-trump.html

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous1:11 PM

      http://nymag.com/thecut/2016/10/republican-women-are-fed-up-with-the-gops-blatant-sexism.html

      Delete
  12. Anonymous12:38 PM

    Rule of thumb: never trust the Russians. You might have noticed that Putin has taken them right back to the Cold War. If you haven't, ask your parents about the Russians.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous4:08 PM

      They apparently shut down a French TV network as a test of they cyber attacking before they tried the DNC trick and hacking the Olympics.

      Delete
  13. Anonymous12:52 PM

    i saw thet with the paper at trump's rally. as usual, he then tossed the paper aside and let it fall to the stage floor. everything he does is so assholian.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous3:28 PM

      Haha new word here, assholian...haha

      Delete
  14. Anonymous1:16 PM

    Donald Trump Fortune-Telling Machine Has Popped Up in NYC

    http://nymag.com/daily/intelligencer/2016/10/donald-trump-fortune-telling-machine-has-popped-up-in-nyc.html

    ReplyDelete
  15. Anonymous1:18 PM

    Former Creative Director for Ivanka Trump Comes Forward About Company’s Terrible Maternity-Leave Policy
    “I’m not writing this because I think Ivanka is a bad person,” she continues. “I can see how it might be possible to go back to work after having a baby when you have a lot of help at home.”

    Kraxberger ends with a call for women to “rise and have a voice against [Trump] and all that he stands for.” Read her full post, below:

    http://nymag.com/thecut/2016/10/ivanka-trump-reportedly-had-no-maternity-leave-policy.html

    ReplyDelete
  16. Anonymous1:19 PM

    Independents and Women Bail on Trump, Giving Clinton a Double-Digit Lead

    http://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2016/10/prri-atlantic-poll-trump-plummets/503561/

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous4:11 PM

      http://www.huffingtonpost.com/ryan-holiday/heres-why-smart-people-be_b_12431962.html?

      Might be good to count your wolves before you declare them a pack.

      "Even after two disastrous debate appearances, overwhelming poll numbers and one of the worst campaign scandals in modern history, if you talk to many reasonable people you’ll still hear this whisper: I really think he might win.

      It’s the fear of an electoral surprise—that the pollsters are wrong, that faith in logical, rational voters is faith without evidence. Post-Brexit this sort of skepticism seems even more reasonable. In light of recent events—after all the predictions that were wrong before—how do we even know what everyday people even think these days?

      I’ll tell you this attitude is absurd and wrong."

      Delete
  17. Anonymous1:23 PM

    People will look back on this era in our history to see what was known about Donald Trump while Americans were deciding whether to choose him as president. Here’s a running chronicle from James Fallows on the evidence available to voters as they make their choice, and of how Trump has broken the norms that applied to previous major-party candidates.

    http://www.theatlantic.com/notes/2016/10/trump-time-capsule-136-shed-be-in-jail/503507/

    ReplyDelete
  18. Anonymous1:25 PM

    On the debate.

    https://twitter.com/JamesFallows/status/785286744451284992

    ReplyDelete
  19. Anonymous1:28 PM

    Donald Trump's Bitter Barrage Against Republicans

    ...According to the well-sourced Washington Post reporter Robert Costa, Trump is holed up at Trump Tower, watching cable news. One can imagine him getting ever more agitated at the flood of condemnations from Republicans. It has become an article of faith that Trump tends to tweet the most aggressive statements, from his Android phone, while tweets from other platforms represent staffers tweeting for him. As some reporters noticed, however, one of the two Ryan tweets came from an Android and the other from an iPhone. Are Trump’s aides ready to battle the GOP, too?

    The Twitter outburst drew new expressions of shock from even the most hardbitten political observers. Needless to say, a situation where a presidential nominee views his own party as a “shackle” and is praising his opponent does not bode well.

    ...At no time within recent memory has a candidate chosen to go to war with his own party, just four weeks ahead of Election Day.

    http://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2016/10/donald-trumps-bitter-barrage-against-republicans/503645/

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous1:47 PM

      Donald Trump knows he won't be president. He's now in full carnival-barking, network-launching, party-nuking mode—a scowling, pouting menace who threatened during a nationally televised debate to throw Hillary Clinton in jail and called her husband the most sexually abusive man in political history.

      That’s ripe.

      The Republican presidential nominee entered the second presidential debate with his campaign imploding over an audiotape obtained by the Washington Post that captures Trump bragging about committing sexual assault.

      http://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2016/10/donald-trumps-implosion/503504/#article-comments

      Delete
    2. Anonymous4:16 PM

      Consider his character.

      He's been plotting his revenge since he was publicly humiliated in 2011. Correspondent's Dinner. That's where everything says it all started.

      So he's been plotting for 5 years, and things were looking pretty good. He got the nomination, which he may not have expected and it was easier than he expected.

      Then all hell broke loose and his little fantasy began to crumble when reality set in.

      He never took into account that he bit off more than he could chew and that he couldn't control everything.

      Just listen to his last bit: If more tapes are released about his potty mouth he's going to go after Hillary even more.

      Uh, what?

      Why not threaten to hold your breath until you turn blue? Stamp your feet while you're at it.

      Of course, what we'd most like to see is for him just to take his ball(s) and go home.

      Delete
  20. Anonymous1:32 PM

    To sum up, the GOP nominee’s campaign manager declared on national television that multiple prominent Republicans––some who oppose Trump, and others, apparently, who support him––perpetrated sexual assaults, and she knows their names.

    That is without precedent.

    ...“Trump has managed to sabotage every argument and fail every justification offered for him: He’ll win New York and California, he’ll self-fund, he’ll hire the best people, he’ll run the best campaign, he’ll demolish Hillary in the debates.” And now, if he spends the last month of the election lashing out at all who seek distance from him in hopes of winning swing seats? “Stand with him, he’s a winner becomes nonsensical, because he’s not winning and shows no sign of being able to,” he writes. “And there’s no point in standing by the guy because he’ll allegedly appoint better judges if he’s attacking the Republican senators he needs to confirm those better judges.”

    http://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2016/10/trump-needs-threats-to-stop-republicans-from-abandoning-him/503579/

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous4:37 PM

      So he has basically stooped to level of "All the other guys are doing it."

      I think Kellyanne is going to be leaving the campaign very soon.

      I hope she got paid up front in cash.

      Delete
  21. Anonymous1:51 PM

    So Putin muddied up the info flow here in America. So anything said that is anti-Hillary is straight from the Kremlin. Anything at this point. That's how I am going to treat it. No damned Russian dictator will run this country. I am not into guns and violence, and I am kinda old but damn I would fight.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous2:16 PM

      I agree! Anything in these emails are suspect. Now how do get the MSM to quit quoting from them?

      Delete
    2. Anonymous3:21 PM

      Read Gryphen at 11:42 above. He admits the falsified email claim is untrue.

      Delete
    3. Anonymous3:21 PM

      Didn't you hear Clinton admit they're real on Sunday?

      Delete
    4. Anonymous3:25 PM

      Me too. No kremlin will get in our us. My god that orange anus.

      Delete
    5. Anonymous5:01 PM

      May be Putin is looking for someone? cough

      Delete
  22. Anonymous3:13 PM

    tRump owes Russian investors yuuuuggge bucks and is trying to buy his way out of that debt with giving Putin control of the USA.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous7:42 PM

      Sounds like Training Day! Maybe when Trump loses he'll be on his way home and a car will pull up beside his and a woman in it will light up a cigarette and a few seconds later guns will tear holes through his car.

      Delete
  23. Anonymous3:19 PM

    To Gryphen @11:45:
    "What is being pointed out in both the Times AND Washington Post story is that Sputnik attributed words to Blumenthal that actually came from an earlier Newsweek article."

    Are you on drugs? The Times? WaPo? Don't try to gaslight me. This post doesn't cite to or contain anything from the Times or WaPo.

    Your post quotes from and cites only to today's Newsweek article by Kurt Eichenwald in which he exactly claims the Russians falsified the emails. A claim that was debunked by the Times, WaPo and others.

    Yet you ended your post with Eichenwald's falsification claim. So rather than clear up that it was in fact at most a misattribution, you left people with the idea the email was falsified. Since you admit you know that's not true, that absolutely makes you a propogandist.

    You can tell by the comments people wrongly think the email were falsified, not just misattributed. You should post an update clarifying. Maybe actually quote the Times and the Post.

    ReplyDelete
  24. Anonymous3:24 PM

    Oh and I am not watching the voice as I can't stand molly as much as donnie, both cat grabbers. Ick factors.

    ReplyDelete
  25. Anonymous4:05 PM

    Here is a link to TRMS's interview last night with Russia and anti-terrorism expert Malcolm Nance. In this clip you'll hear that Trump knowingly lied during the 2nd debate about the hacking. He and Hillary were informed during an intel briefing that it was the Russians, and yet Trump lied (and of course Hill couldn't correct things on classified info). Trump is playing games with highly sensitive Russia info and doesn't care at all that he's using it to make another American look bad. Notice what Nance says regarding how sure we are that it's the Russians who hacked: at least 90% certain. And he says we take out people when we have 75% "good" intel:

    http://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow/watch/trump-camp-coopted-by-russia-intel-expert-783210563634

    ReplyDelete
  26. Anonymous4:39 PM

    I really think it was that Boris guy from Bullwinkle, who handed it to Natasha, then Trump took one look at her and said "She's hot, I could bang that" Poor Ivanka ran to her room crying, she's been replaced by a fricking cartoon.... how does a real woman compete with that??? Especially that hot piece of ass (Trump's words to Howard Stern, not mine).

    So Trump fell for something he took as factual. What could Hillary do? She was here and Benghazi was a world away, not even stealth bombers could make it on time, but I suppose Trump has a plan that would work, bring back the concorde? How gullible can one asshole be? And his deplorables screamed "Kill Her"??? Really?

    ReplyDelete
  27. WA Skeptic7:27 PM

    The Pasty-faced Twatwaffle is "declaring war on the R's"--he reminds me of a rabid dog biting it's own flanks in it's dying frenzy.
    Keep talking, Donnie-baby.

    ReplyDelete

Don't feed the trolls!
It just goes directly to their thighs.