Liberal journalist Glenn Greenwald questioned the narrative that Russia worked to help Trump win the election in an interview Monday on Fox News, saying he’s “skeptical” of reports from The Washington Post and New York Times on the CIA’s conclusion.
“We should be extremely skeptical of it for multiple reasons,” he said on “Tucker Carlson Tonight,” referring to reports the CIA is confident Russia meddled in the election with the main goal of electing Trump. The reports are apparently based on second- and even third-hand accounts of intelligence briefings from Obama officials and sources that could even be Democrat Senate staffers. (RELATED: Anyone Who Reads About Russian Hacks And Trump Should Read This First)
“You have somebody whose identity is being shielded, describing what the CIA has supposedly concluded, laundering that through The Washington Post,” Greenwald told Carlson. “These are assertions that are being made completely unaccompanied by any evidence whatsoever, let alone evidence that we can touch and rationally review.”
“There’s all kinds of reasons to suspect the CIA statements, including the fact that they’re wrong all the time,” he added. “They’re programmed in a lot of cases to disseminate disinformation, and there’s lots of reasons to view them as political actors, and I think we ought to be highly skeptical.”
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Greenwald attributed the narrative that has dominated post-election media coverage to desperate Democrats looking to score political points, saying it creates a “toxic” environment domestically and is reckless in terms of relations with Russia.
“All you do is ask for evidence before believing it, before embracing it as true,” he said regarding reaction to people questioning media reports on Russia’s interference. “And that alone subjects you to accusations that you might be disloyal, that you’re somehow a tool of the Kremlin — it’s a really toxic environment that I think Democrats have created, a little bit out of desperation and out of political maneuvering as well. But it is quite dangerous.”
“Why is Russia villain number one?” Carlson asked.
“It was really an election year political theme that the Democrats manufactured out of whole cloth — that the Russians, that Putin pose some sort of existential threat to the United States, that they’re our enemy, our entrenched enemy, and we all have the patriotic duty to resist it,” he replied. “And it’s not working. Americans don’t wake up and worry about Vladimir Putin. But Democrats seem to be digging in further into this losing political attempt.”
“To sit here and sort of suggest that Vladimir Putin lurks behind every American problem, to concoct these wild elaborate conspiracy theories, to try and convince Americans that Russia is this grave threat to the United States, that we all have to stand up — I think it’s incredibly dangerous,” he added. “Not just because it creates a toxic environment domestically, but because it’s very dangerous. It can put us on a path of almost unintentional confrontation with a country that can do a lot of damage.
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