The pathetic performance by Republican Rep. Devin Nunes, the ranking member of the House Intelligence Committee, in his opening statement in the impeachment inquiry Wednesday morning was a litany of lies. Marcy Wheeler, who, as blogger emptywheel, has for nearly two decades closely followed national security and civil liberties issues, pointed out nine of them on Twitter. Here’s a selection:
At the outset she noted: “Nunes starts with a lie, that Democrats accused Trump of being an ‘Agent.’”
- ”Note: Nunes claims Dems didn't have more than circumstantial evidence of collusion. Evidence in the Stone trial more than meets Mark Meadows' definition of collusion.”
- “In fact, Mueller said there was evidence of conspiracy, which is stronger than collusion. So far, Two lies in the first seconds of Nunes' speech.”
- “Nunes claims there were 1-sided leaks. Lie number 3.”
- “Nunes claims ‘most’ GOP witnesses denied. They got 3 witnesses. Lie number 4.”
- ”Nunes false says Mark Zaid called for a coup. Lie number 5.”
- ”Nunes now complaining about projection. Claiming Steele dossier = collusion with Russia, claims Dems defend Hunter Biden having a job. Lies 6 and 7.”
- ”Note, Nunes claims witnesses don't know the answers on Hunter Biden. Except a number of witnesses did testify to it. Lie 8.”
- ”Nunes claims ‘Russian hoax’ has ended. No, the fully predicted investigation into Trump and his flunkies conspiracies with Russia and WikiLeaks has not. Lie 9.”
That’s quite the introduction.
It isn’t mere lying. There is a scheme here. As the conservative political activist and former chess champion Garry Kasparov has noted, “The point of modern propaganda isn't only to misinform or push an agenda. It is to exhaust your critical thinking, to annihilate truth.”
To annihilate truth. To make it difficult for people to know what is and isn’t true. To create chaos.
That’s what Donald Trump and his sycophants are up to this morning, and every morning.
