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Russian Disinformation. Russian Disinformation. Russian Disinformation. How many times have you heard that over the past four years?
But what about British disinformation? This phenomenon seems to
completely escape scrutiny.Much of the current Russia paranoia began with claims that Donald Trump was recruited by Russian intelligence years ago as a sleeper agent, and then given a leg-up into the presidency of the United States with the help of the GRU. The claims of 'collusion' were repeated over and over, and
yet at the end of the day none of them could be substantiated. And where did it all start? In the now-notorious dossier assembled by former British spook Christopher Steele.
Steele, it has now been revealed, got his information from a guy called
Igor Danchenko. He, in turn, got a lot of it from a former classmate,
Olga Galkina, described as an alcoholic "disgruntled PR executive living in Cyprus," and as such obviously a well-informed source with intimate knowledge of the Kremlin's innermost secrets.
In short, the
Steele dossier was a load of hokum, commissioned by a British Black PR operative and then fabricated by some random Russian emigres with no access to anything of value.
And yet, millions believed it.And then, we have the
story of Brexit. Ever since the 2016 referendum which resulted in Britain leaving the European Union, we have been repeatedly told that the
victory of the Leave campaign was made possible by 'Russian interference'. Most significantly, it was claimed that the Russian government
illicitly funded the Leave campaign by funnelling money through the campaign's most significant financial backer, businessman Arron Banks.
Comment: A smart move by Barr in the midst of a protracted and greatly obstructed investigation. Hopefully, whether Trump remains in office or not, the Durham investigation actually yields some arrests among those in the higher echelons of power in the FBI, DNC and assorted agencies.