A part of me wonders if any credibility can be restored with the establishment press over the Russian collusion hoax. There still hasn’t been a reckoning that is warranted among the top news organizations for peddling a lie that ended up being pure fake news. For all the talk during the Trump administration about Russian disinformation, it was the intelligence community and the media who were spreading it like smallpox. No one has been fired for the serial falsehoods many at these outlets knew were false. The FBI knew it was shoddy from the start, as the basis materials—the Steele Dossier—were from a Clinton-funded opposition research project. One of its main typists at CNN, Natasha Bertrand, has been promoted.
Some left-leaning commentators, like Glenn Greenwald, offered sardonic congratulations, noting how Bertrand is Langley’s favorite writer. The Federalist’s Mollie Hemingway pointed out how Bertrand fanned the flames of the Russian collusion hoax and ran interference for Democrats by declaring the Hunter Biden laptop Russian disinformation when everyone and their mother knew the device was authentic. The New York Times and others finally admitted the laptop was real months after conservative media first verified it:
Never forget that Natasha "Fusion GPS" Bertrand funneled the Russia Collusion lie into print and also was the author of the disinformation op claiming America's intel experts said Hunter Biden's laptop was Russian. CNN now rewarding her for her propaganda with a promotion. https://t.co/BM4vPruFNk
— Mollie (@MZHemingway) February 13, 2024
CNN rewards @NatashaBertrand with a promotion after she perpetrated the Russia collusion hoax and Laptop from Hell Russia disinfo hoax
— Wendell Husebø (@WendellHusebo) February 13, 2024
Slow clap for the trustworthy media 👏🏻 https://t.co/oBOLQY3GxA
The intelligence community's favorite typist!
— Jordan Schachtel @ dossier.today (@JordanSchachtel) February 13, 2024
Stunning and brave
Natasha Bertrand’s lies during Trump and Russiagate are too numerous to list in one place.
— Glenn Greenwald (@ggreenwald) February 13, 2024
But they are abundant. Her job is to messages from CIA and mindlessly repeat them.
Since that’s an asset in corporate media, her promotion is well-earned!👇https://t.co/9ZbKlTRKsm pic.twitter.com/of1PQzkTwE
Bertrand started the “Hunter laptop is Russian disinfo” conspiracy theory created by the Biden campaign right before the election. https://t.co/aBNZaT7P3G pic.twitter.com/GuPaI9QCd3
— Drew Holden (@DrewHolden360) February 13, 2024
This lack of accountability has accelerated the public’s distrust of the media. It’s why I chuckle when I hear these folks talk about the need to convince GOP audiences, lamenting about the lack of trust and a return to truth-telling. That’s all well said, and some of the people making these points were never part of the Russian collusion media operation, but there’s no coming back until the most prominent voices for this journalistic catastrophe are fired.
You can’t talk about changing the media landscape post-Trump without acknowledging this lie, the people who peddled it, and what it will take to fix it. On the latter, a Red Wedding is involved across multiple newsrooms, which won’t do that because hurting Trump was the only goal, not reporting the facts.
