Sunday, December 13, 2020

Is the Media Burying The Swalwell Story?; The Poetic Justice in Eric Swalwell’s Relationship With a Chinese Spy, and related stories

Is the Media Burying The Swalwell Story?
We often discuss media coverage and accuracy on developing legal and political controversies. Much of this discussion recently has focused on the bias shown by the media in the last four years. I have worked for the media as a legal analyst and columnist for years, but I have never before seen this raw and open bias in major media. At the same time, academics are rejecting the very concept of objectivity in journalism in favor of open advocacy.
This morning, Fox News called out all of the networks for zero coverage of the bombshell story from Axios that Rep. Eric Swalwell may have had a close relationship with a suspected Chinese spy who fled to China a few years ago. Many of us were struck by the lack of coverage, particularly given the position of Swalwell on the House Intelligence Committee and his former bid for the presidency. It was particularly striking when the media is now reluctantly covering the Hunter Biden story after a long blackout before the election. Yet, the most stark comparison is with the exhaustive coverage given the highly analogous story involving an alleged spy, Maria Butina, who had an affair with a high-ranking figure in the National Rifle Association.
Swalwell is alleged to have had a close relationship with Chinese national, Fang Fang or Christine Fang, who not only raised money for him but placed at least one intern in Swalwell’s congressional office, according to Axios. Bizarrely, Swalwell has refused to confirm or deny that he had an intimate relationship with his office claiming that such an answer could compromise classified information. Even that ridiculous comment did not prompt ABC, NBC, or CBS to cover the story. Obviously, Fang and the Chinese already know if she had a sexual relationship with Swalwell. The only people in the dark are the voters. --->READ MORE HERE
Jahi Chikwendiu/The Washington Post
The poetic justice in Eric Swalwell’s relationship with a Chinese spy:
There is a certain poetic justice in the news that Rep. Eric Swalwell (D-Calif.) had a close relationship with an alleged Chinese spy, Christine Fang. Swalwell was one of the most prominent purveyors of the now-disproven conspiracy theory that Donald Trump had colluded with Russian intelligence to steal the 2016 election. Yet it turns out that all the while Swalwell was spreading those lies, he knew that he had been cultivated and funded by a suspected Chinese intelligence operative.
During the Mueller probe, Swalwell repeatedly claimed without a shred of evidence that Trump not only colluded with Russia but also that he was an “agent” of Russian intelligence. In an interview on MSNBC, Chris Matthews asked him whether Trump was a Russian agent “like in the 1940s where you had people who were ‘reds’?” Swalwell answered, “He’s working on behalf of the Russians, yes.” It turned out that was a lie. Swalwell used his position as a member of the House Intelligence Committee to suggest that he had seen evidence the rest of us could not that Trump was a Russian operative — when we now know no such evidence existed.
So, it is a bit ironic to learn that the congressman who claimed Trump was an agent of a hostile foreign power himself had a relationship with an alleged agent of a hostile foreign power. Fang began cultivating Swalwell when he was a member of the Dublin, Calif., city council, as part of a Chinese intelligence operation to get close to rising political stars. After he was elected to Congress in 2012, she became a bundler raising money for his reelection campaign. She chose her target well. Swalwell became a member of the House Intelligence Committee and lead Democrat on the subcommittee with oversight over the CIA. According to Axios, “Fang facilitated the potential assignment of interns into Swalwell’s offices” and “in at least one case, an intern recommended by Fang was placed into Swalwell’s D.C. office.” Swalwell has thus far refused to discuss his relationship with Fang, and his office did not return a request for comment.--->READ MORE HERE
Posted by BOSMAN at 12:05 AM
Labels: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

No comments:

Post a Comment

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)