Neil Abrams on Spoutible

1/15

Russiagate, pt. 3:

Today, we examine how two prominent Russiagate-deniers, mtaibbi and aaronjmate, responded to revelations that Trump’s campaign chief colluded with a reputed Russian spy.

Folks, I cannot stress enough how dishonestly they conducted themselves. /n

01:08 PM - May 12, 2023

Neil Abrams

@NeilAbrams

2/15

Here’s a link to the piece. https://www.readthedetox.com/p/propaganda-and-collusion-in-the-trump-32b

readthedetox.com

Propaganda and Collusion in the Trump-Russia Affair, Part 3

The spy and the men who loved him

01:09 PM - May 12, 2023

Neil Abrams

@NeilAbrams

3/15

From the moment the first allegations surfaced of possible collusion between the Trump campaign and the Kremlin, Matt Taibbi and Aaron Maté staked their reputations on the idea that the whole collusion theory was unsubstantiated nonsense.

01:09 PM - May 12, 2023

Neil Abrams

@NeilAbrams

4/15

So the finding by a GOP-led Senate committee that Paul Manafort met with and passed sensitive information to alleged Russian spy Konstantin Kilimnik during the campaign left Taibbi and Maté scrambling. They had to put the story to bed, so they interviewed Kilimnik.

01:09 PM - May 12, 2023

Neil Abrams

@NeilAbrams

5/15

Kilimnik works as a consultant and image-maker for dictators and kleptocrats—a professional liar, in other words. Yet despite his documented history of mendacity, Taibbi and Maté went into their respective interviews ready to believe anything he told them.

01:10 PM - May 12, 2023

Neil Abrams

@NeilAbrams

6/15

In Part 2, I covered Kilimnik's history of lying, a history anyone must take into account before interviewing him.

Taibbi and Maté did not do that. Intentionally.

https://www.readthedetox.com/p/propaganda-and-collusion-in-the-trump-806?utm_source=profile&utm_medi...

readthedetox.com

Propaganda and Collusion in the Trump-Russia Affair, Part 2

How two ostensible skeptics got willingly played by a high-priced liar.

01:13 PM - May 12, 2023

Neil Abrams

@NeilAbrams

7/15

The result was a couple of journalistic travesties. Taibbi and Maté style themselves as master-skeptics who question the mainstream narrative. Yet, in attempting to disprove the claim that Kilimnik is a spy, they put on a clinic in motivated reasoning and intentional naïveté.

01:13 PM - May 12, 2023

Neil Abrams

@NeilAbrams

8/15

Taibbi and Maté readily seize upon any evidence, however tenuous, which seemingly undermines the theory that Kilimnik works for Russian intelligence.

But any evidence that supports the allegation? They pretend it doesn’t exist. The fact is, there’s a *ton* of such evidence.

01:14 PM - May 12, 2023

Neil Abrams

@NeilAbrams

9/15

The case Taibbi and Maté make for disputing Kilimnik’s status as a Russian spy is…thin, to put it mildly. But the evidence he *is* a spy—evidence Taibbi and Maté ignore? That evidence is quite substantial, and I take you through it all in the piece.

01:14 PM - May 12, 2023

Neil Abrams

@NeilAbrams

10/15

The evidence includes testimony from Kilimnik’s former associates, his time at an elite language-training institute that served as a feeder school for Soviet military intelligence, and his many activities advancing Russian foreign policy interests around the world.

01:15 PM - May 12, 2023

Neil Abrams

@NeilAbrams

11/15

My point is not to prove Kilimnik is a Russian spy. I personally find it hard to believe he’s not, but we can’t say conclusively that he is. The point, rather, is to show just how deceitful Taibbi and Maté can be when trying to rescue their own narratives from the trash heap.

01:15 PM - May 12, 2023

Neil Abrams

@NeilAbrams

12/15

Taibbi and Maté were right to pillory much of the mainstream Russiagate coverage. But their own reporting on the issue, combining, as it does, an utter lack of skepticism with a shamelessly selective reading of the evidence, is at least as bad as that which they criticize.

01:16 PM - May 12, 2023

Neil Abrams

@NeilAbrams

13/15

In the next installment, we’ll see how this whole question of whether Kilimnik is a spy is largely irrelevant. Far more important is who Manafort and Kilimnik acknowledged working for during the campaign, something collusion-proponents and deniers alike almost entirely missed.

01:16 PM - May 12, 2023

Neil Abrams

@NeilAbrams

14/15

Here’s a link to the piece. https://www.readthedetox.com/p/propaganda-and-collusion-in-the-trump-32b

readthedetox.com

Propaganda and Collusion in the Trump-Russia Affair, Part 3

The spy and the men who loved him

01:16 PM - May 12, 2023

Neil Abrams

@NeilAbrams

15/15

I’d add that the next entry, Part 4, is the most crucial one of the whole series, as it gets to the actual nature of the Trump campaign’s collusion with Russia. So if you don’t want to miss out on it, be sure to subscribe! https://www.readthedetox.com/

01:16 PM - May 12, 2023

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Propaganda and Collusion in the Trump-Russia Affair, Part 3

Propaganda and Collusion in the Trump-Russia Affair, Part 2

Propaganda and Collusion in the Trump-Russia Affair, Part 3