RUSSIA COLLUSION HOAX: In 2016, the FBI launched an investigation called Crossfire Hurricane to follow up on claims that the Trump campaign had colluded with Russia to influence the election outcome.
The 2019 Mueller Report failed to provide conclusive evidence that the Trump campaign had conspired or coordinated with the Russian government’s efforts to influence the election.
The 2020 Durham report criticized the FBI’s handling of the notorious Steele Dossier and noted procedural flaws and confirmation bias in the Crossfire Hurricane investigation.
“HANDS UP! DON’T SHOOT!” HOAX: In 2014, an 18-year-old black man named Michael Brown was shot by police officer Darren Wilson in Ferguson, Missouri. Early witness accounts, particularly from Brown’s friend Dorian Johnson, suggested Brown was shot while surrendering with his hands up, saying, “I don’t have a gun, stop shooting!” However, examination of bullet trajectories and Brown’s DNA on Wilson’s gun, supported Wilson’s claim that Brown charged at the officer after a struggle.
Hands Up! Don’t Shoot! became a rallying cry for protests against police violence which protesters claimed was particularly targeted toward blacks. Black Lives Matter used it to raise millions, which the founders spent on themselves. Supporters of the phrase argue it doesn’t matter if Darren Wilson was justified in shooting Michael Brown, because cops are racists.
JUSSIE SMOLLETT HOAX: On January 29, 2019, a gay, black actor named Jussie Smollett reported to Chicago police that he had been attacked by two masked men who had beaten him while shouting racial and homophobic slurs. He also claimed they had poured bleach on him and placed a noose around his neck while yelling, “This is MAGA country!“
The story gained widespread attention, gaining Smollett tremendous sympathy. But when Chicago police investigated, they learned Smollett had hired the two men to stage the attack as a publicity stunt to boost his acting career. In December 2021, Smollett was convicted on five counts of lying to police.
COVINGTON KKKIDS HOAX: On January 18, 2019, a group of students from Covington Catholic High School in Park Hills, Kentucky, attended a March for Life in Washington, D.C. While waiting for their bus home at the Lincoln Memorial, the group was accosted by a Native American activist named Nathan Phillips, who was participating in the Indigenous Peoples March.
A short video of the event portrayed the students as aggressors who had surrounded and taunted Phillips. Longer videos later revealed a more complex situation, but the initial narrative led to the boys being doxxed, threated, and condemned to such an extent that the school had to temporarily closed due to safety concerns. As longer videos emerged, some media outlets and public figures retracted or softened their criticisms, acknowledging the complexity of the situation.
Nicholas Sandmann, the boy who had been most specifically targeted, filed defamation lawsuits. His suits against ABC and The New York Times failed, but he won $250 million from The Washington Post and undisclosed amounts from CNN and NBC.
- https://www.breitbart.com/the-media/2019/01/22/attorney-threatens-to-sue-nyts-maggie-haberman-for-libel-against-covington-students/
- https://nypost.com/2020/07/24/washington-post-settles-250m-suit-with-covington-teen-nick-sandmann/
“VERY FINE PEOPLE” HOAX: [2:10] – Trump’s 2017 Charlottesville comments were misrepresented to suggest he is a racist. The full context shows he was referring to non-extremist statue protesters, yet the “very fine people” lie has been repeated ad nauseum, even as recently as a year ago when Joe Biden was running for re-election.
- https://www.breitbart.com/radio/2019/03/19/breitbart-news-pollak-definitive-takedown-of-the-charlottesville-very-fine-people-hoax/
- https://www.foxnews.com/politics/biden-repeats-claim-debunked-liberal-fact-checker-neo-nazis-very-fine-people
SOURCES
- The Bluebird of Bitterness, aka, Bob, aka, my best researcher sent me this link @ https://scifiwright.com/2024/02/hoax-list/. It’s just a long list of the Breitbart links. I am planning to do bits of it each day (or so) in the format I used above. I included some additional links, but most of what I’ve used is from asking Grok for a run-down on each of the hoaxes.
polination.blog 