Luke Harding with the Guardian has a new story up this morning alleging that leaked documents from the Kremlin in 206 “appear to show #Russia’s plot to put a ‘mentally unstable’ Donald Trump into the White House”:
Exclusive: Leaked Putin papers appear to show #Russia’s plot to put a “mentally unstable” Donald Trump into the White House – my story with @julianborger in Washington and @dansabbagh in London https://t.co/rfgD3IfAll
— Luke Harding (@lukeharding1968) July 15, 2021
And it’s already being spun as 100% factually:
Wow. @guardian obtains a Kremlin document showing Putin signed off on a covert plan to help elect Trump in 2016 because Trump was “unstable” and a Trump presidency would divide, weaken, and harm the US. Mission accomplished! https://t.co/MKIUVf4seL
— David Corn (@DavidCornDC) July 15, 2021
They don’t remember getting burned the last time?
“Vladimir Putin personally authorised a secret spy agency operation to support a ‘mentally unstable’ Donald Trump in the 2016 US presidential election… according to what are assessed to be leaked Kremlin documents.” https://t.co/Nwifz2cJo2
— The Lincoln Project (@ProjectLincoln) July 15, 2021
Apparently not:
BREAKING: Kremlin tells gullible Americans journalists that Kremlin has kompromat. https://t.co/18zk2hUCdZ
— Max (@MaxNordau) July 15, 2021
Anyway, there are many reasons to be cautious about this latest alleged leak:
Might I suggest being just a bit skeptical here. The alleged leaked Kremlin docs make undisprovable broad claims about kompromat on Trump, but the specifics on that alleged kompromat (which could at least be investigated for their veracity) remain hidden.https://t.co/0DpNSHPpgH pic.twitter.com/ueZ5KrFutz
— Jerry Dunleavy (@JerryDunleavy) July 15, 2021
Yet, “after all this time, people are just uncritically sharing stuff like this without pausing for even a second to consider even the possibility that it might be Russian disinformation”:
After all this time, people are just uncritically sharing stuff like this without pausing for even a second to consider even the possibility that it might be Russian disinformation.
— Jerry Dunleavy (@JerryDunleavy) July 15, 2021
But not everyone. . .
Johns Hopkins professor Thomas Rid is urging caution:
This Guardian story is likely to make big waves. I would remain somewhat cautious for now, however. For a "leak" of this magnitude, we need at least some details on the chain of custody. Also note the Guardian's own hedging ("papers appear to show") https://t.co/U3rq2Ac8S6
— Thomas Rid (@RidT) July 15, 2021
There *is* a lot of hedging going on:
This paragraph makes me particularly skeptical.
1—"are understood to have been" sounds like UK intelligence might not be the source;
2—"seem to represent" makes me wonder how much the Guardian even knows about the source;
3—"leak from within the Kremlin" means risk of forgery. pic.twitter.com/lVsRsSrpvA— Thomas Rid (@RidT) July 15, 2021
And:
Other reasons to be very cautious:
—timing: seems too early for such of top-level meeting
—participants: very sensitive meeting not locked down
—UK gov: no quote, not even anonymous
—Guardian doesn't even mention risk of op or forgery
—and: that strange reference to "kompromat" pic.twitter.com/C9mP9KuRXS— Thomas Rid (@RidT) July 15, 2021
Glenn Greenwald points out in this must-read thread that the author, Luke Harding, is also the who has “published many false stories, championed the Steele Dossier, and claimed Trump was long a Russian agent”:
The part of the media that feigns anger at misinformation is uncritically promoting a story today by Luke Harding that Russia was blackmailing Trump — the same Harding who has published many false stories, championed the Steele Dossier and claimed Trump was long a Russian agent. pic.twitter.com/6gL7XT59cz
— Glenn Greenwald (@ggreenwald) July 15, 2021
It was Harding who published was one of the most sensationalized stories of the Trump era: that Manafort repeatedly met Assange in the Ecuadorian Embassy. It was utterly fabricated. Everyone knows it's bullshit, never happened. Yet the Guardian has never corrected or retracted it pic.twitter.com/v86Xzr7hHt
— Glenn Greenwald (@ggreenwald) July 15, 2021
Now suddenly, Harding claims he obtained leaked, highly sensitive Kremlin documents that just so happen to prove all the lies he's been peddling for years, that not even Mueller's huge team found. Because it advances liberals' interests, journalists are uncritically spreading it. pic.twitter.com/0Cu11x7uL1
— Glenn Greenwald (@ggreenwald) July 15, 2021
I will once use this shabby behavior to against highlight 2 points:
1) The contempt and loss of trust people harbor for the corporate media is completely justified and well-earned.
2) These outlets are by far the most prolific and destructive disseminators of disinformation.
— Glenn Greenwald (@ggreenwald) July 15, 2021
So many journalists who claim to be angry about disinformation and fake news never object that the Guardian — to this very day — keeps this Harding story that everyone knows is a fabrication on its site, and never retracted or even corrected it. That's because they're frauds. pic.twitter.com/KpYMjLF8eO
— Glenn Greenwald (@ggreenwald) July 15, 2021
I'm watching now as one journalist after the next spreads this Luke Harding story. They have no idea if the documents are real. They know he is one of the west's most dishonest, reckless reporters. They don't care. The story helps their political agenda. That's all that matters.
— Glenn Greenwald (@ggreenwald) July 15, 2021
The corporate media deserve this. Don't feel shy or ashamed to express your contempt for them. They've earned it. They have completely corrupted journalism and spread lies casually and frequently. No skepticism about what they say is too much:https://t.co/lxvSjiUFvy
— Glenn Greenwald (@ggreenwald) July 15, 2021
Countless liberal corporate outlets spread this CIA lie weeks before the election — acting as CIA stenographers because they were that desperate to manipulate the outcome of the election. Why would you trust them ever again?https://t.co/HMzyBOssPt pic.twitter.com/pMhsSvFVeW
— Glenn Greenwald (@ggreenwald) July 15, 2021
Just, wow. We’ll go on record right now that this turns out to be complete BS.
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