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Post by Admin on Nov 6, 2019 18:32:34 GMT
Standing beside an approving Donald Trump at a rally in Kentucky on Monday night, Republican Sen. Rand Paul demanded the media unmask the whistleblower whose report about the president’s alleged abuse of power dealing with Ukraine sparked impeachment proceedings. Shortly after Sen. Paul tweeted out an article that speculated in considerable detail about the identity of the whistleblower—with a photograph, a name, and details about the purported political history of a CIA professional—Russian state media followed suit. As if on cue, the Kremlin-controlled heavy hitters—TASS, RT, Rossiya-1—disseminated the same information. But unlike Rand Paul, one of the Russian state media outlets didn’t seem to find the source—Real Clear Investigations—to be particularly impressive, and claimed falsely that the material was published originally by The Washington Post. This was the most egregious, but certainly not the only example of Kremlin-funded media cheerleading for Trump’s fight against impeachment as proceedings against him unfold with growing speed. As a chorus of talking heads on Fox News have picked up on Trump’s talking points, which is predictable—they’ve also been echoed across the pond, albeit with a tinge of irony. “Have you lost your minds that you want to remove our Donald Ivanovych?” asked Vladimir Soloviev, the host of the television show Evening with Vladimir Soloviev.
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Post by Admin on Nov 7, 2019 6:24:06 GMT
In recent days, President Trump and his allies have amplified their calls for the whistleblower who sparked the impeachment inquiry to be identified, presenting the question of whether it would be a crime for the president to unmask the anonymous whistleblower. According to four former top federal government officials who worked in intelligence and national security, the answer is no. "If Trump thinks he knows the name, he can come out and say it, and he's probably as protected as anyone is," said Robert Litt, former general counsel for the Office of the Director of National Intelligence under President Barack Obama. Litt and several other legal experts who talked to NPR said Trump uttering or tweeting the name could in theory trigger an article of impeachment for retaliating against a whistleblower, but it would not run afoul of any federal criminal statutes.
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Post by Admin on Nov 7, 2019 18:19:48 GMT
The foreign press has been giving extensive coverage to the impeachment inquiry against President Donald Trump that is being conducted by Democratic leaders in the U.S. House of Representatives, and much of that non-U.S. coverage has been favorable to the inquiry. But many Russian media have a very different perspective. In Russia, journalist Julia Davis reports in the Daily Beast, some “Kremlin-controlled state media” think the inquiry is a terrible idea and are hoping Trump won’t be removed from office. In Russian media, Davis notes, Trump is often mocked and ridiculed. But that doesn’t mean they want to see him impeached or removed from the White House. In fact, they like seeing him in the White House because they believe that what is bad for the United States is terrific for Russia. “Russian experts, government officials and prominent talking heads often deride the American president for his Twitter clangor, haphazard approach to foreign policy, clownish lack of decorum, and unfiltered stream of verbalized consciousness,” Davis explains. “But all the reasons they believe Trump ‘isn’t a very good president’ for America are precisely their reasons for thinking he is so great for Russia.” Davis quotes Vladimir Soloviev, host of the Russian talk show Evening with Vladimir Soloviev, as saying — with biting sarcasm — “Have you lost your minds that you want to remove our Donald Ivanovych?” Davis quotes another prominent Russian media figure, Karen Shakhnazarov, as saying, “They say Trump is making Russia great. That’s basically accurate. The chaos brought by Trump into the American system of government is weakening the United States. America is getting weaker, and now, Russia is taking its place in the Middle East…. So when they say that Trump is weakening the United States — yes, he is. And that’s why we love him…. The more problems they have, the better it is for us.” In the U.S., Sen. Rand Paul has been widely criticized by U.S.-based journalists for suggesting that they find out who the Ukraine whistleblower is and reveal that person’s identity — a suggestion Paul made on Monday when he appeared with Trump at a MAGA rally in Kentucky. But in Russia, according to Davis, some Kremlin-controlled media really liked Paul’s suggestion a lot and “promptly jumped on” it.
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Post by Admin on Nov 8, 2019 18:19:07 GMT
Some right-wing news outlets and conservative circles in Washington—including Donald Trump Jr.—are actively trying to spread the identity of the alleged impeachment whistleblower, while major news outlets decline to publish the name amid concerns for the whistleblower’s safety.
Donald Trump Jr., the president’s son, tweeted a link on Wednesday to a Breitbart article that named the alleged whistleblower, immediately drawing criticism that he was putting the whistleblower in danger (Trump Jr.’s tweet also included the name of the alleged whistleblower).
Right-wing outlets, including Rush Limbaugh on his radio show, have been circulating the name of the alleged whistleblower since last week, citing an October 30 Real Clear Investigations report that included a name and photo of the alleged whistleblower. Executives at Fox News, though, have instructed hosts not to name the whistleblower, CNN reported.
With the exception of Real Clear Investigations, major news outlets (including Forbes) have published scant details about the whistleblower, according to Washington Post media writer Paul Farhi, because of “several factors: concerns that revealing the name could jeopardize the whistleblower’s safety; legal questions about whether the whistleblower’s identity is protected by federal law; and potential adverse public reaction to such a disclosure.”
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Post by Admin on Nov 10, 2019 23:54:11 GMT
Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) discusses Tuesday's elections in his state, calling it a "red wave" despite Gov. Matt Bevin's (R) loss.
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