'Explainer' Articles Insist Nobody 'Spied' on Trump (But We Know Better!!!)

There's a second wave of media reaction to John Durham's latest filing on the origins of the Trump-Russia investigation. The first wave was silence, hoping somehow the whole story would vanish. Now the second wave is "Explainers," which attempt to hem and haw defensively through the whole business.

The Associated Press "Explainer" was headlined "How the latest Trump-Russia filing generated buzz." This article was sent to me on Twitter by a fellow who apparently hates Donald Trump with the energy of a thousand suns, so that illustrates the type of people who eagerly share these dismissive articles.

The AP reporter on this was Eric Tucker. He channeled all the rebuttals of Michael Sussman, the Hillary Clinton-connected lawyer who Durham had indicted for lying (omitting his ties to Hillary). Tucker helpfully tweeted the Democrat line: "Sussmann's lawyers struck back at Durham team's over its inclusion in the court filing of allegations they said were false and 'intended to further politicize this case, inflame media coverage, and taint the jury pool.'"

This is the threat that Durham represents. He is exposing that everything the Clinton campaign did here was to politicize national security agencies, sharing their smears with the FBI and the CIA to spur spying on Trump advisers, to inflame media coverage, and then to taint the judicial process through the Mueller team, where 11 of 16 prosecutors were Democrat donors. Five of them were Clinton donors.

Tucker also had to pounce on the S-word. It's not spying! They were "mining information" to establish an "inference" tying Trump to Russia. "The researchers were not 'spying' on the Trump campaign in 2016 but were instead working at the request of federal officials to investigate Russian malware attacks that had targeted the U.S. government and the White House."

A similar spin came from taxpayer-subsidized NPR, under their internet headline "The John Durham filing that set off conservative media, explained." Their online summary of the "All Things Considered" story blatantly editorialized, "The political right is making hay out of a recent filing in special counsel John Durham's investigation into the Trump-Russia probe. We break down the truth behind their outlandish claims."

Outlandish? Fill-in host Elissa Nadworny asserted, "Fox News even said Clinton had, quote, 'infiltrated Trump Tower and the White House.' But is that what Durham actually said?"

Reporter Ryan Lucas replied, "No. Durham never said in his filing that Clinton paid operatives to spy on Trump or his campaign. He never used the word 'infiltrate.'" All this parsing sounds like saying Bill Clinton never had "sex" with Monica Lewinsky, since he claimed it was all oral sex.

Nadworny implied this was ancient history: "So all of this is tied up in events that happened five or six years ago. Why does it matter now?" Lucas explained, "Trump had hoped that Durham would deliver a report before the 2020 election that could help Trump's campaign. That, of course, didn't happen. But the battle over shaping perceptions is still very much raging."

NPR is aggressively "shaping perceptions" that conservative media manufactures "outlandish" claims that mangle the truth.

This is also how The New York Times and The Washington Post climbed on the bandwagon, ranting about conservative "conspiracy theories watered with fresh misinformation."

So the media that pushed a phony dossier with "pee tapes" and implied regularly that Trump was either happily colluding with the Russians or being blackmailed by the Russians is lecturing the rest of us about empty conspiracy theories. The largest fraud in everything now unfolding is that there's a conservative media and then there's a "reality-based press."

Judicial Watch’s Oct 13, 2021, Georgia Open Records Act obtained records of communication from South African Rodney Joffe..........Joffe, retired this month from Neustar, another information services company.

A cybersecurity firm at the center of Special Counsel John Durham’s investigation into the origins of the Trump-Russia probe was paid nearly $20,000 by The Biden campaign.

<><>The Biden campaign paid Neustar Information Services in 2020 for accounting and compliance work, according to Federal Election Commission records.

<><>According to Durham, Neustar’s chief technology officer, Rodney Joffe, accessed sensitive web traffic data that the company maintained on behalf of the White House executive office to collect “derogatory” information about Donald Trump.

The South African Joffe allegedly provided the information to Hillary Clinton campaign lawyer Michael Sussmann, who in turn gave it to the CIA during a meeting in February 2017. Durham charged Sussmann in September with lying to the FBI about his investigation of Trump.

That raises the question: was the same action going on against Trump in 2020?

The Biden and Clinton campaigns are the only two presidential committees to have ever paid Neustar, according to Federal Election Commission records.
<><>Biden’s campaign paid Neustar $18,819 on Sept. 29, 2020, the records show.
<><>The Clinton campaign paid the firm $3,000 in May 2015 for mobile phone services.
<><> Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee paid $3,000 to Neustar in 2017.

Neustar executives and staffers contributed $17,906 to Biden’s campaign, FEC records show.

Washington Free Beacon

Biden Had Firm at Center of Trump Hacking Scandal on Campaign Payroll
Neustar Information Services executive allegedly wanted Clinton administration post

The Biden campaign paid nearly $20,000 to a cybersecurity firm at the center of Special Counsel John Durham’s investigation into the origins of the Trump-Russia probe.

The campaign paid Neustar Information Services in 2020 for accounting and compliance work, according to Federal Election Commission records. According to Durham, Neustar’s chief technology officer, Rodney Joffe, accessed sensitive web traffic data that the company maintained on behalf of the White House executive office in order to collect “derogatory” information about Donald Trump. Joffe allegedly provided the information to Hillary Clinton campaign lawyer Michael Sussmann, who in turn gave it to the CIA during a meeting in February 2017. Durham charged Sussmann in September with lying to the FBI about his investigation of Trump.

The Biden campaign’s payments raise questions about whether Joffe continued snooping on Trump in the most recent election. The Biden and Clinton campaigns are the only two presidential committees to have ever paid Neustar, according to Federal Election Commission records. Biden’s campaign paid Neustar $18,819 on Sept. 29, 2020, the records show. The Clinton campaign paid the firm $3,000 in May 2015 for mobile phone services. The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee paid $3,000 to Neustar in 2017. Neustar executives and staffers contributed $17,906 to Biden’s campaign, FEC records show.

It is unclear what Neustar executives knew of Joffe’s activities on behalf of the Clinton campaign.

Durham alleges that Joffe and his associates “mined” the White House traffic data “for the purpose of gathering derogatory information about Donald Trump.” Joffe, who retired from Neustar in September, allegedly told associates that he was investigating Trump in order to please “VIPs” on the Clinton campaign. He also allegedly wanted a job in the Hillary Clinton administration.

Joffe and Neustar have not been named in court filings for the Sussmann case, but Joffe’s attorneys have confirmed his involvement in the matter to news outlets. Joffe has not been charged with wrongdoing. Neustar and Joffe’s lawyer did not respond to requests for comment. The White House referred the Washington Free Beacon to the Democratic National Committee for comment. The organization did not respond.

Trump called for criminal charges against the operatives who sought out his digital dirt.

“This is a scandal far greater in scope and magnitude than Watergate and those who were involved in and knew about this spying operation should be subject to criminal prosecution,” Trump said.

Durham alleged in a court filing on Friday that Joffe and his associates “exploited” domain name system Internet traffic for the White House executive office, Trump Tower, and Trump’s apartment building in Manhattan. They had access to the data through what Durham said is Neustar’s “sensitive arrangement” to provide web services to the White House executive office.

Sussmann allegedly provided the CIA with data showing contacts between Trump associates and users of a Russian mobile phone provider. Sussmann told the spy agency the contacts were rare and suspicious, according to Durham. The prosecutor disputed that claim, saying there were millions of contacts with users of the Russian provider, including from the Obama White House.

Joffe began helping the Clinton campaign in mid-2016 after he found what he claimed was suspicious Internet chatter between the servers of Russia’s Alfa Bank and Trump’s real estate company, the Trump Organization. Sussmann shared Joffe’s findings with journalists and then-FBI general counsel James Baker. Sussmann is accused of lying to Baker during a Sept. 19, 2016, meeting by denying that he was investigating Trump on behalf of the Clinton campaign.

According to Durham, Clinton campaign lawyers told campaign officials, including Jake Sullivan, about the Alfa Bank claims. Sullivan later joined the Biden campaign and currently serves as national security adviser. His wife is counselor to Attorney General Merrick Garland, who oversees the Durham probe and has final say over a release of a report of the investigation.

Federal investigators have debunked Joffe’s allegations of secret channels of communication between Trump and Russia. The Justice Department inspector general said the FBI determined by February 2017 that there was no basis to the Alfa-Trump allegation. Durham said in his court filing on Friday that his investigators found “no support” for the information Sussmann gave the CIA.

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