There are a lot of complaints regarding Media Matters for America (MMFA), least of all because its founder David Brock created fake media sites to help Democratic candidates. How such a figure can be trusted to tell the truth and keep anyone accountable, let alone be objective toward his political opponents, is laughable.
To think that MMFA is supposed to act as a media watchdog group. Now, Brock is leaving in order to counter Republicans even more strongly through Facts First USA, a 501c4 he will start and run, as our friends at Twitchy highlighted.
FACTS FIRST USA plans to use paid advertising, social, legal analysis, polling & research to try to turn the oversight investigations back on Republicans.
— Kenneth P. Vogel (@kenvogel) November 17, 2022
It produced this video accusing Republicans of preparing “sham investigations to help elect Trump.” pic.twitter.com/WCLpi5FRYs
In a memo from October 25, before the midterm elections even occurred and before Republicans were confirmed to have a majority in the House, Brock mentions the purpose of Facts First USA. While the midterms did not go as exactly as planned and hoped for, Republicans still have a majority in the House, as was projected earlier this week.
How Brock ultimately describes the group in the memo is quite chilling.
"The presidential election in 2024 will be close and simply relying on the hope that facts will triumph over conspiracy is not sufficient," it states. "Instead, a robust external force – a SWAT team with additional capacity – must also be in place to ensure that the media and public do not accept the false narrative that flows from congressional investigations. An external operation will also allow President Biden to stay focused on his own preferred messaging during 2023 and 2024 and on his reelection campaign."
That the organization, at least in name, portends to care about facts is ironic, given that early on, it mentions remarks from Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH) and takes them out of context.
"Ultimately, their objective is to employ scandal-outrage politics to ensure Democrats lose the presidency in 2024," the memo claims. It goes on to mention that "Representative Jim Jordan essentially admitted as much when he spoke to the CPAC conference in early August, telling the crowd that the investigations Republicans plan to conduct 'will help frame up the 2024 race, when I hope and I think President Trump is going to run again. And we need to make sure that he wins.'"
Those comments were not just taken out of context by Brock's memo but also by House Oversight Committee Democratic members at a hearing in September. Townhall spoke with Jordan shortly after that hearing, who said it was "just another example" of taking Republicans out of context since Democrats "can't defend what they're doing" and "they gotta attack and misrepresent and mislead the country about Republicans." Jordan also offered, "I think they go after Republicans because the facts aren't good for them, so they've got to do something."
One can also see that the comments are taken out of context from the full clip, as Jordan's remarks about investigating Hunter Biden and 2024 took place at different parts of the conversation.
The memo also addresses chatter from Republicans to impeach President Joe Biden, as well as members of his Cabinet.
"Of course, Republicans have no true basis for impeaching President Biden or any administration officials. Instead, they push baseless claims that President Biden has failed to enforce immigration laws or 'enabl[ed] bribery' by allowing Hunter Biden to influence the domestic policy of a foreign nation. Republican congressional leadership has already pledged to increase staffing for oversight committee attorneys – to cook up a reason for investigations and impeachment," the memo claims.
There are multiple reasons why Republican members have brought up the idea of impeaching Biden, not merely because of the shady business dealings involving his son. Among them include his mishandling of COVID-19, the disastrous withdrawal from Afghanistan, and the crisis at the southern border, which is why Department of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas is also a major target.
Further, these claims are not "baseless," as there have been record-high encounters at the southern border and admittances from mainstream media news outlets like The Washington Post, albeit far too late, confirming the shadiness of Hunter Biden's laptop.
The memo later addresses these grounds for impeachment more in depth, though with laughably partisan points. Regarding impeaching Biden over Afghanistan, the memo states it would "undermine President Biden's strength as commander in chief and his reputation for competence and steadfastness in foreign affairs," especially when it comes to their claim that "no president could have more successfully handled the international crisis of Russia invading Ukraine than did President Biden."
When it comes to impeachment over COVID, the memo claims that investigating the origins of the virus is a matter of "appeas[ing] their base" and goes on to say that theories concerning the virus' origin are conspiracies and far-right. "The attacks Republicans are planning against Dr. Fauci come directly from the far-right conspiracy theorists and evidence-deniers who now dominate the party," the memo claims at one point. "Second, Republicans want to feed the narrative that COVID was created in a Chinese lab in a conspiracy by Dr. Fauci. Finally, Republicans want to make a boogeyman out of Dr. Fauci as a way to erode the public's trust in government and administrative agencies more generally," it claims at another.
Maybe Brock and his ilk are the real conspiracy theorists?
Lest one think this talk of a "SWAT team" and name-calling is as far as Brock goes in going after Republicans, a section toward the end of the memo details "CAPACITIES REQUIRED FOR EFFECTIVE PUSHBACK," in which it claims it is the "right-wing media" that is part of the "24-hour rage machine."
The section explains that "a key objective of any effort to counter the Republican strategy will be to limit the reach of the right-wing rage machine – to keep it within their own echo chamber rather than allowing it to become part of the mainstream media coverage."
And, in case there's any question about how Brock and MMFA, as well as the mainstream media overall, are Democratic allies, the memo points out that the "White House cannot be the sole nucleus for publicly responding to the onslaught of congressional investigations for a number of reasons." It goes on to defend Biden by pointing out, "The Administration will want to remain focused on the positive, forward-looking agenda it is presenting to the American people. If the President or his staff appear fixated on the investigations, that narrative will become a fixture in the media."
Brock's memo reveals even more. "Therefore, only a truly independent outside group with no ties to the Biden White House coordinating a bipartisan response will be an effective counter to the right-wing smear machine. Further, some of the topics may be too personal or delicate for the White House to be responding or to even be seen as directing a response. Simply put, there are some things that outsiders, with stature and experience managing Democratic war rooms and with deep legal expertise, can say that those within the Administration should not," the memo reads. "Similarly, the White House should not be the one scrutinizing the media and holding it accountable for reporting false narratives. Finally, the media – and the public, as well – will consider voices from outside the Administration as more credible than those inside. It is important to coordinate and capitalize on that support."
In case any media outlets dare to step out of line and give Republican members any credibility, even when they are speaking the objective truth, Facts First USA will come after them as well. That will be done by how they plan to "distribute media guidelines for covering these alleged scandals – putting the mainstream reporters on notice that they will be held accountable if they simply buy into Republican propaganda."
That's just the start. "We will go beyond even those accountability efforts because Republicans are more radicalized than eight years ago and will be more vicious with the truth over the next two years than they ever have been before," the memo explains.
And they plan to get aggressive. "Facts First will win the war of public opinion by controlling the narrative – not just by defending against the partisan witch hunt, but by aggressively turning the tables on the attackers with offensive maneuvers and strong counter narratives that reveal their motivations and misconduct and tell our side of the story," Brock's memo reveals.
Such a point seems to be what Brock is really doubling down on.
"We bring a vast experience and expertise to lead this endeavor. And, importantly, we are not viewed as Biden insiders and so will have greater credibility with the media as independent actors," the memo reads as part of its conclusion. "This drive should begin now, but quietly. Republicans are already preparing to begin their investigations in earnest. We know who the main players will be, and we can begin developing research and plans to launch our efforts."
The memo was circulated by Kenneth P. Vogel of The New York Times on Thursday, the same day that Rep. James Comer (R-KY), the current ranking member and next in line to chair the House Oversight Committee, announced House Republicans would be looking into the shady Biden family businesses dealings.
