1 00:00:01,040 --> 00:00:03,600 Speaker 1: So it used to be Moscow would align or look 2 00:00:03,680 --> 00:00:08,039 Speaker 1: for willing or perhaps unwitting agents of influence and agents 3 00:00:08,160 --> 00:00:13,120 Speaker 1: on the political left, anti imperialists, anti American socialist types. 4 00:00:13,560 --> 00:00:16,680 Speaker 1: Now they're sinking their teeth into conservatives, people who believe 5 00:00:16,720 --> 00:00:19,880 Speaker 1: in blood and soil nationalism. So in a way, when 6 00:00:19,960 --> 00:00:23,160 Speaker 1: MAGA came into being, it was cream cheese for the Russians. 7 00:00:24,760 --> 00:00:27,760 Speaker 2: I'm John Cipher and I'm Jerry o'she. I served in 8 00:00:27,800 --> 00:00:31,400 Speaker 2: the CIA's Clandestine Service for twenty eight years, living undercover 9 00:00:31,600 --> 00:00:32,920 Speaker 2: all around the world. 10 00:00:32,640 --> 00:00:35,040 Speaker 3: And in my thirty three years with the CIA, I 11 00:00:35,080 --> 00:00:37,920 Speaker 3: served in Africa, Asia, Europe, and the Middle East. 12 00:00:38,080 --> 00:00:40,319 Speaker 2: Although we don't usually look at it this way, we 13 00:00:40,440 --> 00:00:43,080 Speaker 2: created conspiracies in our operations. 14 00:00:43,280 --> 00:00:45,720 Speaker 3: We got people to believe things that weren't true. 15 00:00:45,840 --> 00:00:48,760 Speaker 2: Now we're investigating the conspiracy theories we see in the 16 00:00:48,800 --> 00:00:50,000 Speaker 2: news almost every day. 17 00:00:50,240 --> 00:00:52,479 Speaker 3: We'll break them down for you to determine whether they 18 00:00:52,520 --> 00:00:54,880 Speaker 3: could be real or whether we're being manipulated. 19 00:00:55,160 --> 00:01:02,120 Speaker 2: Welcome to Mission implausible. So last week we spoke to 20 00:01:02,280 --> 00:01:05,600 Speaker 2: journalists and author an expert on Russian intelligence, Michael Weiss, 21 00:01:05,760 --> 00:01:09,280 Speaker 2: about Russian conspiracies throughout history and how they've used their 22 00:01:09,319 --> 00:01:12,399 Speaker 2: intelligence services to weaponize against the West and others. And 23 00:01:12,760 --> 00:01:14,760 Speaker 2: this week we're going to talk with him about some 24 00:01:14,800 --> 00:01:17,520 Speaker 2: things that have just happened recently where Russian intelligence was 25 00:01:17,560 --> 00:01:21,800 Speaker 2: spreading money to right wing extremists social media people to 26 00:01:22,319 --> 00:01:25,280 Speaker 2: spread conspiracy theory. So it was a conspiracy to spread 27 00:01:25,319 --> 00:01:28,760 Speaker 2: conspiracy theories into our political system. And there were a 28 00:01:28,840 --> 00:01:31,480 Speaker 2: number of these sort of right wing social media folks, 29 00:01:31,520 --> 00:01:34,880 Speaker 2: some with large followers on YouTube and Twitter and other places, 30 00:01:35,080 --> 00:01:37,200 Speaker 2: that were essentially getting paid quite a bit of money 31 00:01:37,240 --> 00:01:38,440 Speaker 2: by Russian intelligence. 32 00:01:38,760 --> 00:01:42,360 Speaker 4: Yeah, they claim not to know, but it was hundreds 33 00:01:42,360 --> 00:01:46,160 Speaker 4: of thousands a month for some of them for YouTube 34 00:01:46,240 --> 00:01:48,279 Speaker 4: videos that got very few views. 35 00:01:48,440 --> 00:01:50,360 Speaker 2: Well, Adam Adam Waite, some of them got quite a 36 00:01:50,360 --> 00:01:53,480 Speaker 2: lot of views. And in fact, they interviewed Donald Trump. 37 00:01:53,480 --> 00:01:55,440 Speaker 2: So I mean, these guys, you know, like a couple 38 00:01:55,440 --> 00:01:57,280 Speaker 2: of them are like had eighth grade educations, and they 39 00:01:57,280 --> 00:02:00,680 Speaker 2: were spreading things about civil war and election deny and 40 00:02:00,720 --> 00:02:03,200 Speaker 2: all this kind of stuff. But actually Donald Trump went 41 00:02:03,280 --> 00:02:05,200 Speaker 2: on the show with one of these guys and did 42 00:02:05,240 --> 00:02:08,320 Speaker 2: an interview. And these guys, their whole shtick is that 43 00:02:08,720 --> 00:02:12,440 Speaker 2: their shadowy figure is controlling strings behind the scenes. But 44 00:02:12,520 --> 00:02:14,520 Speaker 2: then when these guys it probably had never made more 45 00:02:14,560 --> 00:02:16,640 Speaker 2: than thirty thousand dollars a year. Someone came to and 46 00:02:16,680 --> 00:02:20,080 Speaker 2: provided them four hundred thousand dollars a week to spreads 47 00:02:20,120 --> 00:02:21,279 Speaker 2: things a shy. 48 00:02:21,000 --> 00:02:22,480 Speaker 4: Figure, shattery figure show. 49 00:02:24,440 --> 00:02:25,919 Speaker 2: So if they didn't know if they were Russian, and 50 00:02:25,919 --> 00:02:27,000 Speaker 2: they certainly knew something was. 51 00:02:27,040 --> 00:02:29,880 Speaker 4: Up, although that in a way is a proof of 52 00:02:29,919 --> 00:02:33,280 Speaker 4: the success, right, Like, part of Russia's goal is this corrosive, 53 00:02:34,080 --> 00:02:38,519 Speaker 4: removing trust and confidence in the media and elected officials 54 00:02:38,600 --> 00:02:41,160 Speaker 4: and in any voice of authority. So if you have 55 00:02:41,600 --> 00:02:45,120 Speaker 4: people so cynical that they would take the money, maybe 56 00:02:45,120 --> 00:02:48,600 Speaker 4: they're thinking, well, that's what MSNBC does. MSNBC does not 57 00:02:48,680 --> 00:02:51,240 Speaker 4: do that, but in their mind that's what they're thinking, 58 00:02:51,720 --> 00:02:53,560 Speaker 4: we might as well get ours, right. 59 00:02:53,840 --> 00:02:56,560 Speaker 3: Yeah, they're both useful and idiots, right. 60 00:02:58,520 --> 00:03:01,119 Speaker 4: To quote a phrase, Yeah yeah yeah. 61 00:03:01,160 --> 00:03:05,160 Speaker 2: And one of these same guys, days after it came 62 00:03:05,160 --> 00:03:07,280 Speaker 2: out and there's an indictment and it became clear that 63 00:03:07,360 --> 00:03:10,880 Speaker 2: he was taking Russian money, is still promoting stuff. 64 00:03:11,160 --> 00:03:14,280 Speaker 4: Now when you have that much money, My mind does 65 00:03:14,360 --> 00:03:18,480 Speaker 4: go to was this a sophisticated op run by really 66 00:03:18,480 --> 00:03:21,800 Speaker 4: smart people in Moscow? Or was this a bunch of 67 00:03:22,160 --> 00:03:25,280 Speaker 4: bottom feeders who knew how to get money from Russia. 68 00:03:25,639 --> 00:03:28,799 Speaker 4: I'm talking about the middle people who paid the people off. 69 00:03:28,840 --> 00:03:30,320 Speaker 4: They were like, oh, we're going to come up with 70 00:03:30,320 --> 00:03:32,240 Speaker 4: this kind of BS scam. So it was a two 71 00:03:32,320 --> 00:03:35,920 Speaker 4: way scam. They were scamming Russia and scamming the US 72 00:03:36,360 --> 00:03:39,280 Speaker 4: just to get some commission or some bit of the payment. 73 00:03:39,360 --> 00:03:42,520 Speaker 2: What do you think, Well, what's upsetting to me is 74 00:03:42,520 --> 00:03:45,800 Speaker 2: how easy it is. So for Russia, it's really not 75 00:03:45,960 --> 00:03:49,640 Speaker 2: very much money. It creates an incredible amount of problems 76 00:03:49,720 --> 00:03:52,040 Speaker 2: in our political system. And it's not hard to find 77 00:03:52,040 --> 00:03:54,040 Speaker 2: these people. They're out there. If you just look through 78 00:03:54,080 --> 00:03:57,240 Speaker 2: social media, people are willing to say the most awful things. 79 00:03:57,800 --> 00:03:59,440 Speaker 2: And if you want to just keep them saying them, 80 00:03:59,680 --> 00:04:02,520 Speaker 2: or pump a few bits of information into them, because 81 00:04:02,520 --> 00:04:05,640 Speaker 2: they'll say anything, it's not a hard operation to run. It. 82 00:04:05,640 --> 00:04:09,720 Speaker 3: As an intelligence officer, the easiest operations to run of 83 00:04:09,760 --> 00:04:12,840 Speaker 3: the most simple. You find a couple of schlubs who 84 00:04:12,880 --> 00:04:15,680 Speaker 3: will do your bidding, and that is actually the easiest 85 00:04:15,680 --> 00:04:17,880 Speaker 3: with sophisticated. 86 00:04:17,080 --> 00:04:19,400 Speaker 4: Cutout literally how I put this podcast together. 87 00:04:21,640 --> 00:04:24,360 Speaker 3: But it's funny because the CIA and I've got to 88 00:04:24,400 --> 00:04:28,080 Speaker 3: be very careful about false eclipmans. Here the CIA famously 89 00:04:28,279 --> 00:04:32,279 Speaker 3: in the nineteen fifties was involved in almost the same thing, 90 00:04:32,920 --> 00:04:36,719 Speaker 3: except with radio for Europe. It was getting people to 91 00:04:36,800 --> 00:04:40,120 Speaker 3: tell the truth, and they were scrupulous in making sure 92 00:04:40,160 --> 00:04:43,520 Speaker 3: that the stories were actually true and going in behind 93 00:04:43,560 --> 00:04:47,120 Speaker 3: then the iron curtain, and people believed it because it 94 00:04:47,480 --> 00:04:50,520 Speaker 3: was true. This is like vastly different. 95 00:04:50,680 --> 00:04:52,479 Speaker 2: What's happened is a lot of the things that we 96 00:04:52,520 --> 00:04:54,880 Speaker 2: saw in twenty sixteen that Russians have been doing for 97 00:04:54,960 --> 00:04:57,560 Speaker 2: years and years were really tested, and it pushed in 98 00:04:57,880 --> 00:05:01,840 Speaker 2: Ukraine before twenty fourteen and after, and then a lot 99 00:05:01,880 --> 00:05:04,240 Speaker 2: of the stuff that we've seen subsequently was pushed in Europe. 100 00:05:04,279 --> 00:05:06,720 Speaker 2: So in Europe they've spent a rush day made the 101 00:05:06,760 --> 00:05:09,560 Speaker 2: Russian intelligence spent a lot of money on European media. 102 00:05:10,200 --> 00:05:14,039 Speaker 2: But also they've paid off politicians, they've bought lawyers, they've 103 00:05:14,200 --> 00:05:17,320 Speaker 2: provided money to right wing and left wing extremist groups. 104 00:05:17,520 --> 00:05:21,080 Speaker 2: Is there more Are there politicians that are getting money 105 00:05:21,240 --> 00:05:24,080 Speaker 2: and or somehow getting this information, because there's a number 106 00:05:24,080 --> 00:05:26,760 Speaker 2: of politicians that are saying exactly the same things that 107 00:05:26,800 --> 00:05:29,919 Speaker 2: these social media influence are. Is there a direct connection 108 00:05:30,000 --> 00:05:31,960 Speaker 2: there or are they just hearing it in other places 109 00:05:31,960 --> 00:05:32,880 Speaker 2: and spreading it By. 110 00:05:32,720 --> 00:05:37,600 Speaker 4: The way in twenty twelve. These two guys, once Russian American, 111 00:05:37,680 --> 00:05:40,440 Speaker 4: the others just American. But they came back from being 112 00:05:40,520 --> 00:05:45,840 Speaker 4: journalists quote unquote journalists in Russia. They were hanging around 113 00:05:45,880 --> 00:05:48,520 Speaker 4: with Matt Taibi. They had this newspaper with him, and 114 00:05:48,640 --> 00:05:51,360 Speaker 4: they came to the US and started this thing called 115 00:05:51,400 --> 00:05:55,599 Speaker 4: the Shame Project where they were revealing how elite American 116 00:05:55,680 --> 00:05:59,279 Speaker 4: journalists were just tools of oligarchic capitalism. And they picked 117 00:05:59,320 --> 00:06:01,920 Speaker 4: five journals and I was one of them. So that's 118 00:06:01,960 --> 00:06:06,440 Speaker 4: why this stands out. Congratulations, thank you, And it did 119 00:06:06,520 --> 00:06:09,200 Speaker 4: cause a fair bit of stress for me for a 120 00:06:09,240 --> 00:06:13,120 Speaker 4: few days where they wrote out, I mean it was 121 00:06:13,200 --> 00:06:18,239 Speaker 4: total nonsense, totally untrue about how I had sold rights 122 00:06:18,279 --> 00:06:21,760 Speaker 4: to like I'd sold my soul and planet money to 123 00:06:21,880 --> 00:06:25,560 Speaker 4: this bank, and they put together this dossier on me 124 00:06:25,640 --> 00:06:29,120 Speaker 4: that was like I once spoke at a micro finance 125 00:06:29,200 --> 00:06:31,760 Speaker 4: conference that happened to be at JP Morgan. So they 126 00:06:32,040 --> 00:06:34,520 Speaker 4: had a website Adam Davidson at JP Morgan. They said 127 00:06:34,520 --> 00:06:37,520 Speaker 4: that was the day where JP Morgan bribed Adam to 128 00:06:37,880 --> 00:06:41,640 Speaker 4: It was utterly ridiculous. To my frustration, NPR, my employer 129 00:06:41,640 --> 00:06:43,880 Speaker 4: at the time, told me, I couldn't respond and say 130 00:06:43,920 --> 00:06:46,720 Speaker 4: it was munch of nonsense, and it just sat there. 131 00:06:46,760 --> 00:06:48,880 Speaker 4: It was a little alarming, but it didn't get a 132 00:06:48,880 --> 00:06:53,680 Speaker 4: lot of buzz. But then RT Russia Today had a 133 00:06:53,760 --> 00:06:58,000 Speaker 4: huge segment on it, and that inspired somebody actually at 134 00:06:58,080 --> 00:07:00,120 Speaker 4: Jared Kushner's paper at the time, the New york Er 135 00:07:00,120 --> 00:07:02,720 Speaker 4: over to write a piece that sort of repeated these 136 00:07:03,160 --> 00:07:05,640 Speaker 4: slanders and that somehow gave it intimacy. 137 00:07:05,880 --> 00:07:08,560 Speaker 2: It makes its way into the media food chain. Just 138 00:07:08,560 --> 00:07:09,960 Speaker 2: to give you a little heads up. So I was 139 00:07:10,000 --> 00:07:12,160 Speaker 2: in Moscow living in Moscow when Mark Ames and Matt 140 00:07:12,160 --> 00:07:15,720 Speaker 2: Taibi had their newspaper there called The Exile, which was 141 00:07:15,720 --> 00:07:19,960 Speaker 2: actually a very disgusting newspaper. They would rate clubs based 142 00:07:19,960 --> 00:07:22,560 Speaker 2: on the like the number one to four erect penises, 143 00:07:22,640 --> 00:07:27,080 Speaker 2: about what your chances of essentially screwing girls at the club. 144 00:07:27,320 --> 00:07:30,560 Speaker 4: It was disgusting. The fact that Matt Taybe got as 145 00:07:30,640 --> 00:07:32,720 Speaker 4: much respect as he got. It was pretty open. I mean, 146 00:07:32,720 --> 00:07:36,920 Speaker 4: he talked about raping people like he was pretty discussion. 147 00:07:37,240 --> 00:07:39,360 Speaker 2: Believe me. Even though it was the nineties and it 148 00:07:39,400 --> 00:07:42,080 Speaker 2: was a crazy time, the Russian security services were still 149 00:07:42,160 --> 00:07:44,480 Speaker 2: very active, so they're very well aware of what these 150 00:07:44,480 --> 00:07:44,960 Speaker 2: guys are doing. 151 00:07:44,960 --> 00:07:45,040 Speaker 1: Now. 152 00:07:45,040 --> 00:07:47,520 Speaker 2: I'm not saying I have any evidence to suggest that 153 00:07:47,600 --> 00:07:50,760 Speaker 2: they are working for Russian intelligence whatever, but it's the 154 00:07:50,840 --> 00:07:52,640 Speaker 2: exact kind of thing that Russians would try to take 155 00:07:52,640 --> 00:07:53,800 Speaker 2: advantage of if they could. 156 00:07:53,920 --> 00:07:57,240 Speaker 4: I would say, I have no firm evidence. They may 157 00:07:57,280 --> 00:08:00,800 Speaker 4: have been just for free doing the thing that Russia 158 00:08:01,120 --> 00:08:04,120 Speaker 4: wanted them to do, and that was later revealed in 159 00:08:04,160 --> 00:08:06,920 Speaker 4: other contexts to be the exact playbook of Russia. 160 00:08:07,000 --> 00:08:09,480 Speaker 3: And this isn't something new. I mean, going back in 161 00:08:09,520 --> 00:08:14,559 Speaker 3: American history, Henry Ford, Charles Lindberg, a number of leading 162 00:08:14,600 --> 00:08:18,640 Speaker 3: movie stars were very pro Nazi right up until Pearl Harbor. 163 00:08:19,000 --> 00:08:21,000 Speaker 3: In fact, the number of people who were involved in 164 00:08:21,040 --> 00:08:24,120 Speaker 3: this is actually quite shocking. Errol Flynn, the Great actor, 165 00:08:24,280 --> 00:08:26,920 Speaker 3: was a great admirer of Adolf Hitler. And it wasn't 166 00:08:26,960 --> 00:08:30,400 Speaker 3: until December seventh, nineteen forty one that everybody suddenly changed 167 00:08:30,440 --> 00:08:30,720 Speaker 3: their two. 168 00:08:31,160 --> 00:08:33,600 Speaker 2: Not everybody. There's still a lot of people supporting that's 169 00:08:34,240 --> 00:08:38,120 Speaker 2: after you as you listened to Rachel Maddow's podcast. 170 00:08:38,080 --> 00:08:41,480 Speaker 3: Well, they weren't openly, Yeah, they weren't openly. 171 00:08:41,640 --> 00:08:41,880 Speaker 2: Yeah. 172 00:08:41,960 --> 00:08:45,080 Speaker 3: Yeah, I'm really pleased that we're going to have two 173 00:08:45,120 --> 00:08:48,440 Speaker 3: episodes with Michael Wise. He's really one of the leading 174 00:08:48,520 --> 00:08:53,240 Speaker 3: lights when it comes to disinformation, authoritarianism, and especially for 175 00:08:53,520 --> 00:08:57,000 Speaker 3: as he's an expert on ISIS. I found it very interesting, 176 00:08:57,080 --> 00:09:01,440 Speaker 3: having served twice in a rock against hearing his views 177 00:09:01,480 --> 00:09:03,920 Speaker 3: on it. And it's funny as a professional intelligence officer 178 00:09:04,000 --> 00:09:07,000 Speaker 3: that for a while was my thing. I was focusing 179 00:09:07,040 --> 00:09:10,720 Speaker 3: on ISIS night and day, and I hear journalists come in, Adam, 180 00:09:10,760 --> 00:09:14,960 Speaker 3: I will unfortunately pay you a real compliment. Serious journalists 181 00:09:14,960 --> 00:09:16,800 Speaker 3: like you and Michael Wise. They come in and you 182 00:09:16,840 --> 00:09:19,000 Speaker 3: guys have got a really good grip, and we would 183 00:09:19,000 --> 00:09:20,880 Speaker 3: listen very closely what you had to say, because you 184 00:09:20,920 --> 00:09:23,480 Speaker 3: had to take on things that those of us on 185 00:09:23,520 --> 00:09:25,199 Speaker 3: the inside didn't always get. 186 00:09:25,520 --> 00:09:29,280 Speaker 4: But just to be clear, you're saying, I'm also really good. 187 00:09:29,400 --> 00:09:32,120 Speaker 4: I just want to I will say something that Michael 188 00:09:32,120 --> 00:09:35,600 Speaker 4: Wise represents. This may be a time of enormous misinformation, 189 00:09:35,679 --> 00:09:38,440 Speaker 4: but it's also I think it's got to be the 190 00:09:38,520 --> 00:09:43,080 Speaker 4: time of the most good information about misinformation that we're 191 00:09:43,120 --> 00:09:44,520 Speaker 4: actually aware of it. 192 00:09:45,000 --> 00:09:48,960 Speaker 2: But what bad actors know is essentially they know we're 193 00:09:49,000 --> 00:09:50,880 Speaker 2: so big they can't take us on directly. They need 194 00:09:50,920 --> 00:09:53,880 Speaker 2: to find weak spots, and a week spot for an 195 00:09:53,920 --> 00:09:57,839 Speaker 2: Intelligence Service is our First Amendment. They know that they 196 00:09:57,840 --> 00:10:00,960 Speaker 2: can spread any information into our system, and frankly, there's 197 00:10:01,000 --> 00:10:03,160 Speaker 2: not much we can do about it. We can't stop it, 198 00:10:03,240 --> 00:10:05,280 Speaker 2: we can't turn it off. We can't tell people not 199 00:10:05,360 --> 00:10:07,520 Speaker 2: to say things, even if they're getting it from foreign 200 00:10:07,559 --> 00:10:10,920 Speaker 2: places for malign purposes. And this is like a terrorist 201 00:10:11,000 --> 00:10:13,600 Speaker 2: looking for a soft spot to attack, rather than attack 202 00:10:13,640 --> 00:10:16,120 Speaker 2: an army head on or something. They're looking for weaknesses 203 00:10:16,160 --> 00:10:18,199 Speaker 2: and taking advantage of it. And in this case, this 204 00:10:18,360 --> 00:10:25,000 Speaker 2: information flows very well into a system with the First Amendment. Okay, 205 00:10:25,160 --> 00:10:26,640 Speaker 2: I'm a bit old. I'm going to need to go 206 00:10:26,679 --> 00:10:28,520 Speaker 2: to the bathroom, so let's take a quick break and 207 00:10:28,600 --> 00:10:38,679 Speaker 2: we'll be back shortly. All right, welcome back. 208 00:10:41,920 --> 00:10:43,880 Speaker 3: There's a Rolling Stone article that's just come out, and 209 00:10:43,960 --> 00:10:45,679 Speaker 3: this is on the First Amendment. And Johnny, I want 210 00:10:45,679 --> 00:10:49,760 Speaker 3: to trow you as well that Trump apparently is telling 211 00:10:49,800 --> 00:10:51,400 Speaker 3: and this is just accord of the article and what 212 00:10:51,440 --> 00:10:53,680 Speaker 3: I've read, but he is saying that he wants to 213 00:10:53,840 --> 00:10:57,880 Speaker 3: arrest Stephen Colbert for expressing his First Amendment rights. And 214 00:10:58,000 --> 00:11:01,320 Speaker 3: what he's saying in the intimidation part this is that 215 00:11:01,679 --> 00:11:08,720 Speaker 3: Colbert's jokes and his comments are a contribution not in money, 216 00:11:08,800 --> 00:11:12,760 Speaker 3: but in kind to Trump's enemies, to Trump's about his enemies, 217 00:11:12,760 --> 00:11:15,920 Speaker 3: but to his political rivals and his opponents. And he 218 00:11:16,000 --> 00:11:20,520 Speaker 3: intends to, if elected, go after Colbert for making jokes 219 00:11:20,520 --> 00:11:21,040 Speaker 3: about him. 220 00:11:21,240 --> 00:11:23,400 Speaker 2: So maybe if Harris wins, she can go after Tucker 221 00:11:23,440 --> 00:11:25,600 Speaker 2: Carlson for his contributions to That is. 222 00:11:25,559 --> 00:11:28,439 Speaker 3: A really good point. Yeah, I mean, you know Goose 223 00:11:28,480 --> 00:11:31,200 Speaker 3: and Ganner kind of thing. But Adam, do you sense 224 00:11:31,280 --> 00:11:33,720 Speaker 3: this is just something he's just like brooding about or 225 00:11:33,800 --> 00:11:35,760 Speaker 3: is this something that we actually have to be we 226 00:11:35,960 --> 00:11:39,520 Speaker 3: and Michael Weiss, this is the authoritarian handbook, one on one, 227 00:11:39,720 --> 00:11:42,840 Speaker 3: even if he doesn't follow through with convictions, even just 228 00:11:42,960 --> 00:11:47,359 Speaker 3: investigating or telling the Justice Department to go after as intimidation. 229 00:11:47,679 --> 00:11:49,840 Speaker 4: I had an interesting talk with I was at a 230 00:11:49,880 --> 00:11:52,680 Speaker 4: dinner where it was a bunch of lawyers and smart 231 00:11:52,720 --> 00:11:56,400 Speaker 4: people on the law, and they were talking about how 232 00:11:57,040 --> 00:12:00,360 Speaker 4: what this Supreme Court has already done with the presentsidential 233 00:12:00,400 --> 00:12:04,640 Speaker 4: immunity and other bills this year, the Chevron defense, et cetera. 234 00:12:04,840 --> 00:12:07,920 Speaker 4: The immunity thing wasn't even a wild fringe idea that 235 00:12:08,120 --> 00:12:11,360 Speaker 4: really came out of nowhere and was really shocked a 236 00:12:11,360 --> 00:12:14,000 Speaker 4: lot of people but the Chevron defense was a fringe 237 00:12:14,760 --> 00:12:19,320 Speaker 4: idea that has been slowly populating, So it's probably not 238 00:12:19,400 --> 00:12:22,559 Speaker 4: a good idea to assume this is all, Oh, that's 239 00:12:22,640 --> 00:12:26,200 Speaker 4: crazy talk. Like the crazy talk to the law of 240 00:12:26,280 --> 00:12:30,320 Speaker 4: the land pipeline seems pretty robust right now, and like 241 00:12:30,360 --> 00:12:33,559 Speaker 4: the whole goal of the unitary executive. Even non crazy 242 00:12:33,920 --> 00:12:37,000 Speaker 4: Conservatives have been promoting this idea for two hundred and 243 00:12:37,000 --> 00:12:37,560 Speaker 4: fifty years. 244 00:12:37,600 --> 00:12:40,960 Speaker 3: Before the Supreme Court they said, well, in theory, could 245 00:12:41,080 --> 00:12:44,600 Speaker 3: a president order Seal Team six to murder political rival? 246 00:12:45,160 --> 00:12:47,520 Speaker 3: And yet no one seems to be worried, nor should 247 00:12:47,520 --> 00:12:51,520 Speaker 3: they be, that Biden is going to order Trump assassinated by. 248 00:12:52,200 --> 00:12:55,400 Speaker 4: Although he can fully legally he could, right yeah, and 249 00:12:55,640 --> 00:12:57,600 Speaker 4: because he won't, in fifty wants to overturn it. 250 00:12:57,920 --> 00:13:02,320 Speaker 3: And I'm really concerned about this for both conspiracy theories driving. 251 00:13:02,080 --> 00:13:04,800 Speaker 2: This is my opportunity to turn you to an op 252 00:13:04,960 --> 00:13:07,079 Speaker 2: ed piece that I wrote in the Washington Post recently 253 00:13:07,200 --> 00:13:11,960 Speaker 2: with Jim Petrilla, a former CIA lawyer, about the immunity discussion, 254 00:13:12,160 --> 00:13:14,480 Speaker 2: and it's all this talk about the Seal Team six, 255 00:13:14,640 --> 00:13:17,480 Speaker 2: and when you talk about the military, there's this whole 256 00:13:17,840 --> 00:13:21,679 Speaker 2: history of not following illegal orders and that type of thing. 257 00:13:21,800 --> 00:13:25,360 Speaker 2: I think more likely these immunity decision will have an 258 00:13:25,360 --> 00:13:29,319 Speaker 2: impact on places like the CIA, where there are authorities 259 00:13:29,360 --> 00:13:31,800 Speaker 2: that can be used to such a get rid of 260 00:13:31,800 --> 00:13:33,880 Speaker 2: the reforms that have happened for the last forty fifty 261 00:13:33,960 --> 00:13:36,040 Speaker 2: years and allow the CIA to do some of these 262 00:13:36,120 --> 00:13:37,080 Speaker 2: kind of activities. 263 00:13:37,480 --> 00:13:40,520 Speaker 3: Unfortunately, these aren't conspiracy theories anymore. These are like something 264 00:13:40,520 --> 00:13:42,920 Speaker 3: that people in these audits should be really concerned about. 265 00:13:45,800 --> 00:13:48,400 Speaker 2: So today we have Michael Weiss. He's a journalist and 266 00:13:48,400 --> 00:13:52,440 Speaker 2: author and expert on Syria, terrorism and Russian intelligence. He's 267 00:13:52,480 --> 00:13:55,000 Speaker 2: been publishing inside reporting on the war in Ukraine and 268 00:13:55,080 --> 00:13:58,520 Speaker 2: Russian malign activities around the world. So, Michael, this seems 269 00:13:58,520 --> 00:14:01,440 Speaker 2: to be the perfect story for Mission plug. So Russia 270 00:14:01,480 --> 00:14:05,880 Speaker 2: engaged in an actual conspiracy to pay conspiracy theorists to 271 00:14:06,000 --> 00:14:10,520 Speaker 2: spread disinformation and conspiracy theories and paid them very well. 272 00:14:10,520 --> 00:14:12,760 Speaker 1: Made I think a couple of million dollars. They all 273 00:14:12,760 --> 00:14:16,280 Speaker 1: got hundreds of thousands of dollars to make videos. There 274 00:14:16,280 --> 00:14:19,480 Speaker 1: you go, I mean, not produce anything elaborate and sophisticated, 275 00:14:19,560 --> 00:14:22,680 Speaker 1: just them ranting on camera about things that it seemed 276 00:14:22,680 --> 00:14:24,960 Speaker 1: that they already sort of believed. But if you read 277 00:14:24,960 --> 00:14:28,280 Speaker 1: the indictment. They were prompted by their handler, who it 278 00:14:28,280 --> 00:14:31,240 Speaker 1: turns out, was a fake persona invented by a Russian 279 00:14:31,280 --> 00:14:35,240 Speaker 1: intelligence officer, and basically he just his cutout was this 280 00:14:35,400 --> 00:14:39,360 Speaker 1: non existent finance bro who, in the mold of Elon 281 00:14:39,480 --> 00:14:42,000 Speaker 1: Musk and David Sachs and that lot, seemed to think 282 00:14:42,040 --> 00:14:46,040 Speaker 1: that wokeness was destroying Western civilization and the only cure 283 00:14:46,040 --> 00:14:49,640 Speaker 1: for it is a bunch of weird maga people with podcasts. 284 00:14:49,680 --> 00:14:53,000 Speaker 1: And the strange thing is that the FBI and DJ 285 00:14:53,200 --> 00:14:56,120 Speaker 1: make it seem as if these guys were unwitting agents. 286 00:14:56,480 --> 00:14:58,040 Speaker 1: If somebody came to me and said, hey, we love 287 00:14:58,080 --> 00:14:59,800 Speaker 1: your podcast. I'm gonna give one hundred thousand dollars in 288 00:14:59,840 --> 00:15:02,880 Speaker 1: that episode, I'd be a little bit suspicious. I think 289 00:15:02,960 --> 00:15:05,200 Speaker 1: highly of myself, but not that highly of myself. You know, 290 00:15:05,200 --> 00:15:08,800 Speaker 1: it's well above market rates, So yeah, I mean, is 291 00:15:08,840 --> 00:15:11,440 Speaker 1: it that they were too stupid to have any even 292 00:15:11,480 --> 00:15:14,480 Speaker 1: the base level interest in who's coming up to them 293 00:15:14,520 --> 00:15:17,600 Speaker 1: and offering these bags of cash or did they just 294 00:15:17,760 --> 00:15:20,520 Speaker 1: not care and think, okay, if it's the Russians, so what, 295 00:15:20,600 --> 00:15:22,840 Speaker 1: I'm already drinking from those waters as it were. 296 00:15:23,160 --> 00:15:25,920 Speaker 3: The media is pretty clear that they received a CV 297 00:15:26,440 --> 00:15:29,680 Speaker 3: on whoever this guy was, this fake persona, But if 298 00:15:29,720 --> 00:15:32,120 Speaker 3: you gave it more than ten minutes of googling, he 299 00:15:32,200 --> 00:15:33,880 Speaker 3: simply doesn't exist. This guy. 300 00:15:34,240 --> 00:15:35,640 Speaker 2: He's even spelled his name rong. 301 00:15:37,560 --> 00:15:38,080 Speaker 1: Two ends. 302 00:15:38,520 --> 00:15:41,840 Speaker 3: So it's either they didn't know or more likely they 303 00:15:41,840 --> 00:15:43,360 Speaker 3: just simply didn't want to know. 304 00:15:43,520 --> 00:15:45,640 Speaker 1: But you know, the amazing thing is the level of 305 00:15:45,680 --> 00:15:49,920 Speaker 1: insight that the FBI had into the Russian case officer 306 00:15:50,520 --> 00:15:52,880 Speaker 1: and what he was doing. And one of the things 307 00:15:52,920 --> 00:15:55,240 Speaker 1: I've been tracking and I think is very thematic, is 308 00:15:55,280 --> 00:15:59,440 Speaker 1: the kind of cultural degradation of the Russian intelligence services 309 00:15:59,440 --> 00:16:01,640 Speaker 1: over time. You know, Dossaevsky said you can judge a 310 00:16:01,640 --> 00:16:04,720 Speaker 1: society based on its prison population. You can also base 311 00:16:04,720 --> 00:16:08,200 Speaker 1: the society based on its cadre of intelligence officers and agents. 312 00:16:08,520 --> 00:16:11,560 Speaker 1: This guy, for instance, pretended he was in Paris but 313 00:16:11,800 --> 00:16:14,880 Speaker 1: was logging into Zoom or whatever it was Microsoft teams 314 00:16:14,920 --> 00:16:18,080 Speaker 1: on Moscow time, and they've literally got him googling the 315 00:16:18,160 --> 00:16:19,720 Speaker 1: time in Paris from his computer. 316 00:16:19,840 --> 00:16:21,880 Speaker 2: Yeah, he missed a meeting one time because he missed 317 00:16:21,920 --> 00:16:22,960 Speaker 2: the thought. 318 00:16:23,480 --> 00:16:25,280 Speaker 1: Right, right, And I mean he is spelling your name 319 00:16:25,320 --> 00:16:28,160 Speaker 1: with two ends, a name like Gregorian, which you could 320 00:16:28,200 --> 00:16:31,480 Speaker 1: easily google how that name is. It's just bizarre kind 321 00:16:31,480 --> 00:16:32,200 Speaker 1: of tradecraft. 322 00:16:32,280 --> 00:16:35,640 Speaker 3: Because Trump himself has commented on this and basically said, 323 00:16:35,880 --> 00:16:38,000 Speaker 3: I don't believe any of it, and I think in 324 00:16:38,080 --> 00:16:42,320 Speaker 3: the right wing blogosphere and their right wing ecosystem, this 325 00:16:42,400 --> 00:16:43,520 Speaker 3: story doesn't exist right. 326 00:16:43,600 --> 00:16:46,200 Speaker 1: Well, all the influencers essentially capped to it and said, 327 00:16:46,240 --> 00:16:48,200 Speaker 1: we were duped. We are the victims here, right, So 328 00:16:48,240 --> 00:16:51,560 Speaker 1: they're legitimating the indictment and the credibility of it. The 329 00:16:51,600 --> 00:16:54,280 Speaker 1: other interesting thing I've noticed with this, and this has 330 00:16:54,320 --> 00:16:56,800 Speaker 1: also been a theme, certainly for the last decade or so. 331 00:16:57,240 --> 00:16:59,240 Speaker 1: Usually when the Russians get their hand caught in the 332 00:16:59,240 --> 00:17:02,880 Speaker 1: cookie jar, their intelligence operations are exposed, their reflexive response 333 00:17:02,960 --> 00:17:06,720 Speaker 1: is to deny it's a lie, it's Rusophobia, or the 334 00:17:06,760 --> 00:17:09,520 Speaker 1: CIA and the FBI are whipping up anti Soviet sentiment. 335 00:17:09,560 --> 00:17:11,160 Speaker 1: I mean, you just go back to any major spy 336 00:17:11,200 --> 00:17:14,240 Speaker 1: scandal in the twentieth century during Cold War I mean 337 00:17:14,320 --> 00:17:17,760 Speaker 1: Gusenko in Canada, the extent to which the Soviet press 338 00:17:17,760 --> 00:17:20,800 Speaker 1: has said that this was all just a fabrication designed 339 00:17:20,840 --> 00:17:23,399 Speaker 1: to disrupt the World War two alliance. And oh, okay, 340 00:17:23,400 --> 00:17:27,120 Speaker 1: maybe some people in the Communist Party were stealing nuclear information, 341 00:17:27,160 --> 00:17:28,879 Speaker 1: but it was all stuff we had already, and this 342 00:17:28,920 --> 00:17:32,880 Speaker 1: is all penny antebs this time. The Russians are kind 343 00:17:32,880 --> 00:17:35,679 Speaker 1: of Artie's response, I think they were quoted by Fox 344 00:17:35,720 --> 00:17:41,040 Speaker 1: News was ha ha. They're laughing off. Russian propagandists are saying, oh, okay, 345 00:17:41,119 --> 00:17:43,840 Speaker 1: they paid a bunch of right wing podcasters. What about NAPO, 346 00:17:44,040 --> 00:17:48,040 Speaker 1: which is a collective of, as they call themselves, brain 347 00:17:48,119 --> 00:17:51,880 Speaker 1: dead cartoon dogs who espouse the Ukrainian cause and basically 348 00:17:51,920 --> 00:17:54,120 Speaker 1: troll the Russians the way the Russians used to troll 349 00:17:54,200 --> 00:17:58,159 Speaker 1: everyone else. And yet the Russian conceit, and the conceit 350 00:17:58,200 --> 00:18:00,600 Speaker 1: of the fellow travelers of the Russian government is that 351 00:18:00,720 --> 00:18:03,399 Speaker 1: NAFO is a CIA enterprise. But these are all bots 352 00:18:03,440 --> 00:18:06,639 Speaker 1: paid for by clever accountants at Langley or whatever. Meanwhile, 353 00:18:06,640 --> 00:18:08,520 Speaker 1: I know the people who found in NAPO. They're very real. 354 00:18:08,520 --> 00:18:11,680 Speaker 1: One is a former army tank commander in Afghanistan who's 355 00:18:11,760 --> 00:18:13,920 Speaker 1: done interviews about it. But I think that's part of 356 00:18:13,960 --> 00:18:16,760 Speaker 1: the new kind of the way that the Russian government 357 00:18:16,800 --> 00:18:19,240 Speaker 1: plays these games. You know that the idea of we're 358 00:18:19,240 --> 00:18:24,240 Speaker 1: inhabiting a post truth, postmodern world where it's no longer. 359 00:18:24,520 --> 00:18:26,719 Speaker 1: You don't have to deny something. You cop to your 360 00:18:26,720 --> 00:18:29,399 Speaker 1: own malevolence, but you just turn it around and say, 361 00:18:29,480 --> 00:18:31,960 Speaker 1: we just do what everybody else does. Right. That's the 362 00:18:32,000 --> 00:18:35,560 Speaker 1: fundamental nature of these conspiracy theories is they project that 363 00:18:35,640 --> 00:18:37,680 Speaker 1: which they what they accused the West of doing, they 364 00:18:37,720 --> 00:18:38,800 Speaker 1: themselves are guilty of. 365 00:18:39,080 --> 00:18:41,399 Speaker 2: Right. Let's take a quick step back, though. Can you 366 00:18:41,440 --> 00:18:43,320 Speaker 2: tell us about the people involved in this? 367 00:18:43,480 --> 00:18:43,600 Speaker 3: Right? 368 00:18:43,640 --> 00:18:46,320 Speaker 2: So it was through this company called Tenet Media. There 369 00:18:46,400 --> 00:18:50,280 Speaker 2: was a few people Benny Johnson, Timpoole, Dave Rubin, and 370 00:18:50,320 --> 00:18:53,280 Speaker 2: Tim Poole even interviewed Donald Trump on his show. And 371 00:18:53,320 --> 00:18:55,919 Speaker 2: Benny Johnson has something like two and a half million 372 00:18:55,960 --> 00:18:57,399 Speaker 2: followers on his YouTube channel. 373 00:18:57,480 --> 00:18:57,640 Speaker 3: Yeah. 374 00:18:57,680 --> 00:19:00,760 Speaker 1: I think the short answer is they're all angry, grievance 375 00:19:00,800 --> 00:19:03,560 Speaker 1: afflicted culture warriors. I wouldn't even say that they have 376 00:19:03,640 --> 00:19:07,000 Speaker 1: any coherent politics other than the liberal establishment and the 377 00:19:07,000 --> 00:19:10,200 Speaker 1: elites are out to dispossess all of us and wokenesses 378 00:19:10,240 --> 00:19:13,720 Speaker 1: the cancer of our time, and anything that is anti 379 00:19:13,840 --> 00:19:16,760 Speaker 1: Trump is bad, and Donald Trump represents this sort of 380 00:19:16,760 --> 00:19:19,680 Speaker 1: disruptor mentality that they all cling to. These are people 381 00:19:19,680 --> 00:19:23,600 Speaker 1: who demand to be taken seriously and are very angry 382 00:19:23,680 --> 00:19:26,000 Speaker 1: at the fact that so few people seem to have 383 00:19:26,040 --> 00:19:28,639 Speaker 1: done so, and so they've created this cottage industry of 384 00:19:28,640 --> 00:19:31,800 Speaker 1: being on the outside looking in at a forty five 385 00:19:31,840 --> 00:19:34,520 Speaker 1: degree angle to the so called establishment, whatever that is, 386 00:19:34,560 --> 00:19:37,280 Speaker 1: and however one chooses to define it. And there are 387 00:19:37,280 --> 00:19:41,479 Speaker 1: a lot of angry cranks and malcontents out there, and 388 00:19:41,560 --> 00:19:44,480 Speaker 1: what the Internet has done beautifully is bring all of 389 00:19:44,520 --> 00:19:47,680 Speaker 1: these people together. And the Russians, to their credit, saw 390 00:19:47,960 --> 00:19:50,439 Speaker 1: that this is having an influence, that these guys do 391 00:19:50,520 --> 00:19:54,520 Speaker 1: have an organic following of real people. They are peddling influence, 392 00:19:54,520 --> 00:19:56,280 Speaker 1: certainly in the age of Trump, They're acting as a 393 00:19:56,280 --> 00:19:59,160 Speaker 1: force multiplier for the stuff that he believes. So, yeah, 394 00:19:59,160 --> 00:20:01,280 Speaker 1: there's this guy, Tim pul Well. I don't really know 395 00:20:01,359 --> 00:20:03,960 Speaker 1: them that well. I don't follow this ecosystem. I know 396 00:20:04,040 --> 00:20:06,600 Speaker 1: Timpole has gone on Fox News and complained about how 397 00:20:06,600 --> 00:20:09,320 Speaker 1: guys like Timpoole can't get laid and how women don't 398 00:20:09,400 --> 00:20:12,280 Speaker 1: like them, which again, like if I had, if. 399 00:20:12,160 --> 00:20:14,040 Speaker 2: The women knew he was getting ten million dollars. 400 00:20:14,040 --> 00:20:14,680 Speaker 3: Yeah, exactly. 401 00:20:15,240 --> 00:20:18,280 Speaker 1: I'm reading the indictment. I'm looking at the profiles of 402 00:20:18,320 --> 00:20:19,200 Speaker 1: all of these actors. 403 00:20:19,440 --> 00:20:19,639 Speaker 2: You know. 404 00:20:19,640 --> 00:20:21,439 Speaker 1: One of the ties that binds all these guys is 405 00:20:21,640 --> 00:20:24,119 Speaker 1: they're very down on Ukraine and the idea that the 406 00:20:24,119 --> 00:20:27,600 Speaker 1: Western the United States has any responsibility whatsoever to help 407 00:20:27,720 --> 00:20:32,320 Speaker 1: Ukraine materially, morally, diplomatically, financially. And I think looking at 408 00:20:32,359 --> 00:20:35,080 Speaker 1: them from the perspective of a Russian intelligence officer, it 409 00:20:35,160 --> 00:20:38,000 Speaker 1: makes perfect sense that they would seize upon these guys 410 00:20:38,000 --> 00:20:40,679 Speaker 1: and say, how can we help. We want to amplify 411 00:20:40,760 --> 00:20:43,200 Speaker 1: your endeavor here and give you lots of money and 412 00:20:43,720 --> 00:20:45,520 Speaker 1: keep you doing the things that you do. But there 413 00:20:45,560 --> 00:20:48,440 Speaker 1: is evidence here this wasn't a sort of non editorial 414 00:20:48,480 --> 00:20:51,320 Speaker 1: interference deal. They were prompting them, they were giving them 415 00:20:51,359 --> 00:20:55,160 Speaker 1: talking points. Could you, for instance, say that the isis 416 00:20:55,240 --> 00:20:58,280 Speaker 1: K attack on the Crocus mal in Russia was in 417 00:20:58,320 --> 00:21:02,200 Speaker 1: fact the Ukrainian military. And then it becomes this relationship 418 00:21:02,240 --> 00:21:04,679 Speaker 1: where you realize the only TV you can do is 419 00:21:04,720 --> 00:21:07,960 Speaker 1: Russian state TV. So you lean into what you think 420 00:21:08,080 --> 00:21:11,400 Speaker 1: that audience is expecting from you. You know, Seian opposition 421 00:21:11,520 --> 00:21:14,919 Speaker 1: or all terrorists, plasher a Lasada ain't so bad? Putin 422 00:21:15,080 --> 00:21:18,680 Speaker 1: is this? But what about George W. Bush and Bill Clinton, etc. 423 00:21:18,880 --> 00:21:19,040 Speaker 2: Etc. 424 00:21:19,440 --> 00:21:21,879 Speaker 1: And I've seen a lot of people over the years 425 00:21:21,920 --> 00:21:25,399 Speaker 1: who they might start out a little heterodox in their 426 00:21:25,480 --> 00:21:28,440 Speaker 1: thinking or kind of contrarian and then, as a result 427 00:21:28,520 --> 00:21:34,119 Speaker 1: of getting boosted by Russian propaganda, become completely intoxicated with 428 00:21:34,200 --> 00:21:36,800 Speaker 1: the conspiracism because they realize that's how they're building their 429 00:21:36,840 --> 00:21:39,960 Speaker 1: audience on Twitter and Facebook, and they become this sort 430 00:21:40,000 --> 00:21:41,679 Speaker 1: of cultural force onto themselves. 431 00:21:41,720 --> 00:21:45,760 Speaker 3: But in the past people like this, So in World 432 00:21:45,840 --> 00:21:49,040 Speaker 3: War Two, Lord haw Right who talked to British troops, 433 00:21:49,400 --> 00:21:52,159 Speaker 3: he was executed by the British after the war, and 434 00:21:52,280 --> 00:21:55,080 Speaker 3: his trial he basically said, I believed it. I thought 435 00:21:55,080 --> 00:21:57,440 Speaker 3: this was all I didn't actually lie. I was talking 436 00:21:57,480 --> 00:22:00,880 Speaker 3: about British defeats, and I was talking about competence by 437 00:22:00,960 --> 00:22:03,520 Speaker 3: Montgomery and so forth, and it didn't matter. And then 438 00:22:03,520 --> 00:22:06,680 Speaker 3: in the US we had Tokyo Rose and access Sally 439 00:22:07,119 --> 00:22:09,840 Speaker 3: and again in their trials where they're all found guilty 440 00:22:09,880 --> 00:22:12,960 Speaker 3: of treason, they basically said, I was telling the truth. 441 00:22:13,040 --> 00:22:15,760 Speaker 3: My truth just happened to be the same as what 442 00:22:15,800 --> 00:22:18,359 Speaker 3: our enemies were doing. So when I hear Tim Poole 443 00:22:18,920 --> 00:22:21,399 Speaker 3: and people like this say, it doesn't really matter because 444 00:22:21,440 --> 00:22:25,080 Speaker 3: that's what I think anyway. But basically doing it at 445 00:22:25,080 --> 00:22:27,919 Speaker 3: the knowingly or they should know at the behest of 446 00:22:27,960 --> 00:22:30,320 Speaker 3: Gladabra Putin, who is our enemy? If you don't believe it, 447 00:22:30,480 --> 00:22:33,280 Speaker 3: just ask him, right, he says this, And seventy years 448 00:22:33,320 --> 00:22:35,240 Speaker 3: ago we were putting these people in the docket and 449 00:22:35,240 --> 00:22:36,960 Speaker 3: trying them for trees. I'm not saying we should do 450 00:22:37,040 --> 00:22:39,800 Speaker 3: with these guys, but I think that as a country, 451 00:22:39,880 --> 00:22:45,720 Speaker 3: we treated disinformation differently in the past. Okay, let's take 452 00:22:45,720 --> 00:22:49,159 Speaker 3: a break from the craziness just for a minute or two. 453 00:22:57,320 --> 00:23:04,000 Speaker 1: And Rebecca, the critical word is money. I have some 454 00:23:04,320 --> 00:23:10,040 Speaker 1: flickering respect for sort of the generation of revolutionary idealists 455 00:23:10,119 --> 00:23:13,680 Speaker 1: from the twenties and thirties who joined the communist cause 456 00:23:13,680 --> 00:23:15,960 Speaker 1: because they truly believed that was the future of humanity. 457 00:23:16,440 --> 00:23:19,560 Speaker 1: They were driven by not necessarily I mean yes, in 458 00:23:19,560 --> 00:23:21,679 Speaker 1: many cases a love of Moscow, and they believed in 459 00:23:21,680 --> 00:23:23,840 Speaker 1: the workers state. But also they were terrified by the 460 00:23:23,960 --> 00:23:26,720 Speaker 1: rise of fascism in Europe, and they saw communism as 461 00:23:26,760 --> 00:23:30,119 Speaker 1: the only viable alternative because liberal democracy had failed. We 462 00:23:30,160 --> 00:23:34,200 Speaker 1: talked on the last show Whittiger Chambers head amassing people 463 00:23:34,240 --> 00:23:38,560 Speaker 1: of that ilk to them. When the Soviet services started 464 00:23:38,560 --> 00:23:41,480 Speaker 1: to say we want to pay you, that was anathema. 465 00:23:41,760 --> 00:23:44,439 Speaker 1: They would never have taken money that was an insult, 466 00:23:44,440 --> 00:23:47,160 Speaker 1: and that actually started to make them doubt their own idealism. 467 00:23:47,160 --> 00:23:48,680 Speaker 1: What do you mean, pay me. I'm doing this because 468 00:23:48,680 --> 00:23:51,200 Speaker 1: I'm a revolutionary. I do this because it's the core 469 00:23:51,240 --> 00:23:51,880 Speaker 1: of my conviction. 470 00:23:52,000 --> 00:23:52,920 Speaker 3: It's the right thing to do. 471 00:23:53,000 --> 00:23:54,520 Speaker 1: Right, it's the right thing to do. And you know, 472 00:23:54,720 --> 00:23:56,399 Speaker 1: the difference here is it's a grift. 473 00:23:56,800 --> 00:23:57,040 Speaker 3: Right. 474 00:23:57,240 --> 00:24:00,720 Speaker 1: Maybe they start out believing I don't know, Kamala Harris 475 00:24:00,800 --> 00:24:04,920 Speaker 1: is kind of comie like in her policy prescriptions. Maybe 476 00:24:04,920 --> 00:24:07,560 Speaker 1: they start with the kind of politics like this. But again, 477 00:24:07,680 --> 00:24:11,720 Speaker 1: this relationship that they have with their online audience, these 478 00:24:11,960 --> 00:24:17,040 Speaker 1: invisible faces of thousands, hundreds of thousands of people who click, follow, subscribe, 479 00:24:17,560 --> 00:24:19,439 Speaker 1: and then if there's a tip jar or some kind 480 00:24:19,440 --> 00:24:23,000 Speaker 1: of crowdfunding mechanism, feed the beast. That's what I think 481 00:24:23,080 --> 00:24:26,800 Speaker 1: drives them. Suddenly they're famous, suddenly they're wealthy, or they're 482 00:24:26,840 --> 00:24:30,920 Speaker 1: doing quite well, whereas in the more traditional sort of 483 00:24:31,119 --> 00:24:34,679 Speaker 1: outlets and fora they would fail. And I think again, 484 00:24:34,760 --> 00:24:37,680 Speaker 1: their sense of self, their mentality, and their place in 485 00:24:37,800 --> 00:24:41,440 Speaker 1: the culture is very much in definition, is defined by 486 00:24:41,920 --> 00:24:45,720 Speaker 1: their negative relationship to what they see as acceptable society 487 00:24:46,000 --> 00:24:48,000 Speaker 1: and the fact that the Russians just paid them loads 488 00:24:48,040 --> 00:24:50,840 Speaker 1: of cash is very much in keeping with that sort 489 00:24:50,880 --> 00:24:52,080 Speaker 1: of core cynicism, I. 490 00:24:52,040 --> 00:24:54,040 Speaker 2: Think, Michael, let me ask you the question we were 491 00:24:54,040 --> 00:24:56,040 Speaker 2: getting to earlier about how much bigger it might be. 492 00:24:56,080 --> 00:24:58,600 Speaker 2: So we have lots of evidence, for example, that in 493 00:24:58,640 --> 00:25:02,320 Speaker 2: Europe Russia has overtly paid for media, but has also 494 00:25:02,440 --> 00:25:06,280 Speaker 2: paid politicians and political parties. So is this latest indictment 495 00:25:06,680 --> 00:25:07,800 Speaker 2: just a tip of the iceberg? 496 00:25:07,920 --> 00:25:10,400 Speaker 1: Well, you know, it's very funny. I lived in London 497 00:25:10,600 --> 00:25:15,040 Speaker 1: from about twenty ten to late twenty twelve and one 498 00:25:15,080 --> 00:25:17,199 Speaker 1: of the things I noticed when I was starting to 499 00:25:17,240 --> 00:25:21,200 Speaker 1: cover Russian intelligence and influence operations was the Russian government 500 00:25:21,240 --> 00:25:24,600 Speaker 1: seemed very interested in the Tory Party to an extent 501 00:25:24,640 --> 00:25:29,600 Speaker 1: that the SVR helped found something called Conservative Friends of Russia. 502 00:25:30,280 --> 00:25:33,160 Speaker 1: They had their launch party at the Russian Embassy and 503 00:25:33,240 --> 00:25:35,280 Speaker 1: a friend of mine, Peter Palmeransive, went to one of 504 00:25:35,320 --> 00:25:37,960 Speaker 1: these events and he said it was all very Weimar. 505 00:25:38,119 --> 00:25:41,960 Speaker 1: You had very awkward looking men with bad complexions. There 506 00:25:42,000 --> 00:25:44,320 Speaker 1: was at least one or two Dwarfs there, and it 507 00:25:44,359 --> 00:25:46,800 Speaker 1: was like, these are all like guys who want to 508 00:25:46,840 --> 00:25:50,040 Speaker 1: go to Russia, want to meet pretty girls, want to 509 00:25:50,080 --> 00:25:53,440 Speaker 1: have consultancy contracts with gaz Prom and Rosneft, and they 510 00:25:53,440 --> 00:25:56,720 Speaker 1: see Russia as a fun anarchic place where they can succeed, 511 00:25:57,240 --> 00:26:01,560 Speaker 1: whereas in the UK not so much. At best, they 512 00:26:01,640 --> 00:26:04,119 Speaker 1: might be a Tory backbencher one day, and yet lo 513 00:26:04,240 --> 00:26:06,440 Speaker 1: and behold, the Russians took them to Moscow and Saint 514 00:26:06,440 --> 00:26:09,920 Speaker 1: Petersburg and there was some compramont and strip. I mean again, 515 00:26:09,960 --> 00:26:12,399 Speaker 1: you could write the script in crayon. That's how easy 516 00:26:12,440 --> 00:26:15,880 Speaker 1: it was. What struck me was okay, so it used 517 00:26:15,880 --> 00:26:19,800 Speaker 1: to be Moscow would align or look for willing or 518 00:26:19,840 --> 00:26:24,320 Speaker 1: perhaps unwitting agents of influence and agents on the political left, 519 00:26:24,840 --> 00:26:29,919 Speaker 1: anti imperialists, anti American sort of socialist types. Now they're 520 00:26:30,240 --> 00:26:33,240 Speaker 1: sinking their teeth into conservatives. People who believe in blood 521 00:26:33,280 --> 00:26:36,879 Speaker 1: and soil nationalism have a sense of religiosity, even if 522 00:26:36,920 --> 00:26:39,399 Speaker 1: they don't quite subscribe to it. So in a way, 523 00:26:39,760 --> 00:26:42,879 Speaker 1: when MAGA came into being, it was cream cheese for 524 00:26:42,880 --> 00:26:45,080 Speaker 1: the Russians. This is exactly what they were hoping to 525 00:26:45,119 --> 00:26:47,560 Speaker 1: see arise in the United States because they had been 526 00:26:48,240 --> 00:26:51,359 Speaker 1: playing with the same elements in Europe. What starts in 527 00:26:51,440 --> 00:26:55,119 Speaker 1: Europe often migrates over to the United States. And I 528 00:26:55,160 --> 00:26:57,239 Speaker 1: think we're just now catching up with the fact that 529 00:26:57,280 --> 00:26:59,320 Speaker 1: this has been going on here for quite some time. 530 00:26:59,680 --> 00:27:01,840 Speaker 1: And yeah, I mean it probably isn't just confined to 531 00:27:01,880 --> 00:27:04,000 Speaker 1: the far right, because there's certainly elements on the far 532 00:27:04,119 --> 00:27:06,440 Speaker 1: left who agree with the far right on a lot 533 00:27:06,440 --> 00:27:11,680 Speaker 1: of things Syria, Israel, Palestine, now certainly Ukraine, and indeed, 534 00:27:11,720 --> 00:27:14,600 Speaker 1: I mean running interference for Donald Trump, because he is 535 00:27:14,640 --> 00:27:16,520 Speaker 1: the guy who's going to just tear it all up 536 00:27:16,760 --> 00:27:19,480 Speaker 1: and start all over again, and he's so unpredictable and chaotic. 537 00:27:19,600 --> 00:27:24,480 Speaker 1: It weakens the United States and therefore empowers its adversaries. 538 00:27:23,960 --> 00:27:26,440 Speaker 2: Who are the main public figures in the United States 539 00:27:26,520 --> 00:27:29,399 Speaker 2: who appear to be regurgitating Russian talking points come to 540 00:27:29,440 --> 00:27:32,880 Speaker 2: mind for me, for example, Tulca gabberd Ron Johnson, Tucker Carlson, 541 00:27:33,280 --> 00:27:37,680 Speaker 2: Elon Musk, Rfk, Junior Rugi, Scott Ridder, Aaron Motte, Josh Holly, 542 00:27:37,680 --> 00:27:38,520 Speaker 2: all those kind of guys. 543 00:27:38,640 --> 00:27:41,760 Speaker 1: Sure Ridder might himself face indictment because the FBI raided 544 00:27:41,800 --> 00:27:43,320 Speaker 1: his house evidently. 545 00:27:43,040 --> 00:27:44,760 Speaker 2: Not the first time, not the first time. 546 00:27:44,920 --> 00:27:47,480 Speaker 1: No, I mean you mentioned it. The Grey Zone Project 547 00:27:47,560 --> 00:27:50,520 Speaker 1: is low hanging fruit. I think, given the fact that 548 00:27:50,560 --> 00:27:53,520 Speaker 1: it was founded literally after Max Blumenthal came back from 549 00:27:53,520 --> 00:27:57,680 Speaker 1: Moscow attending the RT annual Gala ten year anniversary, at which, 550 00:27:57,720 --> 00:28:00,919 Speaker 1: by the way, was also one Mike Flynn, one Jill Stein. 551 00:28:01,040 --> 00:28:03,960 Speaker 1: But yeah, I mean, look, just because you're regurgitating these 552 00:28:04,280 --> 00:28:07,600 Speaker 1: talking points or these narratives doesn't mean that you're on 553 00:28:07,640 --> 00:28:08,120 Speaker 1: the payroll. 554 00:28:08,280 --> 00:28:10,440 Speaker 2: It's true. But it's interesting that how clear they are. 555 00:28:10,480 --> 00:28:13,000 Speaker 2: Often like at the same time they all start putting 556 00:28:13,080 --> 00:28:16,239 Speaker 2: up almost the same language. So something's going someone's getting it, 557 00:28:16,359 --> 00:28:18,679 Speaker 2: putting it into the ecosphere, and others are picking it up. 558 00:28:18,760 --> 00:28:20,399 Speaker 1: You know, all of these guys were saying in the 559 00:28:20,480 --> 00:28:23,160 Speaker 1: lead up to the February twenty twenty two full scale 560 00:28:23,200 --> 00:28:27,200 Speaker 1: invasion of Ukraine, this is crazy, this is QAnon for 561 00:28:27,480 --> 00:28:30,000 Speaker 1: the liberal establishment. It ain't gonna happen. Then when the 562 00:28:30,080 --> 00:28:34,439 Speaker 1: Russians invaded, the tweets were almost identical. It was listen, 563 00:28:34,560 --> 00:28:38,000 Speaker 1: I was wrong, I'm sorry, and it was almost verbatim 564 00:28:38,080 --> 00:28:41,680 Speaker 1: across Mark Ames Aaron mate. It's like they all got 565 00:28:41,680 --> 00:28:45,400 Speaker 1: their fucking taskings from their handlers telling them, oh, yeah, okay, 566 00:28:45,680 --> 00:28:47,960 Speaker 1: we need to change the narrative to start putting this 567 00:28:47,960 --> 00:28:50,800 Speaker 1: stuff out now. It cra deserved it, yeah, exactly, Ukraine 568 00:28:50,800 --> 00:28:53,760 Speaker 1: deserved it. This is the result of NATO's expansion, blah blah, 569 00:28:53,800 --> 00:28:55,040 Speaker 1: and that's what they've been doing for the last two 570 00:28:55,040 --> 00:28:58,440 Speaker 1: and a half years. And that actually reflects that not 571 00:28:58,600 --> 00:29:01,680 Speaker 1: everyone in the Russian government and across the security services 572 00:29:01,680 --> 00:29:05,960 Speaker 1: intelligence agencies was read into the invasion of Ukraine. I'd 573 00:29:06,000 --> 00:29:09,200 Speaker 1: heard stories from here in New York that the Russian 574 00:29:09,240 --> 00:29:13,320 Speaker 1: mission to the United Nations was hosting a party and everybody, 575 00:29:13,440 --> 00:29:15,479 Speaker 1: you know, we're twelve vodkas in the bag and they 576 00:29:15,480 --> 00:29:17,640 Speaker 1: had to be recalled to the office because guess what 577 00:29:17,760 --> 00:29:21,040 Speaker 1: Putin actually went in And so they either they were 578 00:29:21,040 --> 00:29:24,080 Speaker 1: acting surprise or they were genuinely taken aback Butye because 579 00:29:24,080 --> 00:29:25,080 Speaker 1: they didn't think he was going to happen. 580 00:29:25,600 --> 00:29:28,160 Speaker 3: We've seen this play before. So in World War Two, 581 00:29:28,840 --> 00:29:31,800 Speaker 3: the French Communist Party, the American Communist Party, they were like, 582 00:29:32,240 --> 00:29:34,880 Speaker 3: you know what, let's just stay out of this World 583 00:29:34,880 --> 00:29:39,440 Speaker 3: War two until Barbaros. Once the Germans invaded the Soviet Union, 584 00:29:39,800 --> 00:29:42,480 Speaker 3: then the American Communist Party had to do a complete 585 00:29:42,520 --> 00:29:43,240 Speaker 3: about face. 586 00:29:43,480 --> 00:29:47,120 Speaker 1: The French Communist newspaper, the editorials in the morning and 587 00:29:47,160 --> 00:29:49,680 Speaker 1: the evening edition were the exact opposite. 588 00:29:49,720 --> 00:29:52,480 Speaker 3: And dare I say, Hunter Biden. I mean, I don't 589 00:29:52,480 --> 00:29:54,600 Speaker 3: want to go back to that, but I think we 590 00:29:54,640 --> 00:29:57,320 Speaker 3: do have to say that it's not just these influencers. 591 00:29:57,720 --> 00:30:02,400 Speaker 3: Alexander Smirnoff, for example, was this guy was arrested an 592 00:30:02,480 --> 00:30:05,960 Speaker 3: FBI in Foreman, a Russian who was pushing the narrative 593 00:30:06,240 --> 00:30:09,320 Speaker 3: that the Biden crime family were in the pockets of 594 00:30:09,320 --> 00:30:13,000 Speaker 3: the Russian So someone it's not just a few influencers. 595 00:30:13,040 --> 00:30:15,440 Speaker 3: I think the Russian services are going at this in 596 00:30:15,480 --> 00:30:18,120 Speaker 3: a whole host of different ways. So it's a huge 597 00:30:18,160 --> 00:30:21,280 Speaker 3: conspiracy and it's manifested in all sorts of different ways. 598 00:30:21,440 --> 00:30:23,960 Speaker 1: Yeah, and now you have this wonderful chestnut from Putin 599 00:30:24,120 --> 00:30:29,200 Speaker 1: where he's winkingly endorsing Kamala Harris for her infectious laugh 600 00:30:29,240 --> 00:30:32,560 Speaker 1: and everyone these idiots are literally saying that means that 601 00:30:32,720 --> 00:30:35,600 Speaker 1: the Russians are for the Democratic Party. Aha, it's still 602 00:30:35,640 --> 00:30:36,320 Speaker 1: a hoax. 603 00:30:36,120 --> 00:30:38,680 Speaker 3: But the infectious laugh thing that is playing off. Of course, 604 00:30:38,760 --> 00:30:41,800 Speaker 3: what Trump was saying that was a criticism he was making. 605 00:30:42,040 --> 00:30:44,160 Speaker 3: So it's clear that Putin is listening to this and 606 00:30:44,360 --> 00:30:46,240 Speaker 3: he's winking at the American audience. 607 00:30:46,360 --> 00:30:51,000 Speaker 1: There's a macab delight they take in watching this sort 608 00:30:51,000 --> 00:30:56,360 Speaker 1: of very eager enthusiastic constituency, lap up whatever it is 609 00:30:56,440 --> 00:30:59,440 Speaker 1: they're pouring down, because this is one of the thoroughgoing 610 00:30:59,480 --> 00:31:02,520 Speaker 1: conceits of how the Russians view people who are not 611 00:31:02,640 --> 00:31:06,240 Speaker 1: fully recruited, but are these useful idiots, agents of influencers. 612 00:31:06,280 --> 00:31:08,600 Speaker 1: The Russian term for it is shit eater. They treat 613 00:31:08,640 --> 00:31:11,280 Speaker 1: them with contempt. They're like tissue to be used and 614 00:31:11,320 --> 00:31:14,000 Speaker 1: discarded at the Russians pleasure. And this now, this new 615 00:31:14,000 --> 00:31:17,000 Speaker 1: thing up where you're offering amnesty to Timpoole and Lauren 616 00:31:17,080 --> 00:31:18,200 Speaker 1: Chen and a lot of them. They want to come 617 00:31:18,200 --> 00:31:20,480 Speaker 1: to Russia and live here. Can you imagine any of 618 00:31:20,520 --> 00:31:23,680 Speaker 1: these people going and living in Russia? I can't. That's 619 00:31:23,720 --> 00:31:26,720 Speaker 1: the whole game over right there. They need the Western audience. 620 00:31:26,800 --> 00:31:29,200 Speaker 1: They want to live, they want to indulge in life 621 00:31:29,200 --> 00:31:33,720 Speaker 1: here while tearing down their own society as completely depraved 622 00:31:33,800 --> 00:31:34,520 Speaker 1: and corrupt. 623 00:31:34,640 --> 00:31:39,880 Speaker 3: So, Michael, how does a free society protect itself? So 624 00:31:40,200 --> 00:31:42,760 Speaker 3: Lord haw when he was involved in the World War two, 625 00:31:42,800 --> 00:31:46,920 Speaker 3: the British executed him, access Sally and Tokyo Rose got 626 00:31:47,080 --> 00:31:49,720 Speaker 3: thirty years, although they're all out within four or five. 627 00:31:49,840 --> 00:31:53,400 Speaker 2: Right, These social media influencers were all about conspiracy theories. 628 00:31:53,440 --> 00:31:56,400 Speaker 2: They had millions of followers, and they constantly talked about 629 00:31:56,440 --> 00:32:00,720 Speaker 2: seeing shadowy figures secretly pulling the strings behind the scenes. 630 00:32:01,080 --> 00:32:03,760 Speaker 2: But somehow they didn't seem to question why someone gave 631 00:32:03,880 --> 00:32:07,480 Speaker 2: these eighth grade education people millions of dollars to spread 632 00:32:07,520 --> 00:32:11,320 Speaker 2: Russian talking points. They see things behind every bush, and 633 00:32:11,360 --> 00:32:12,680 Speaker 2: then on this all of a sudden, they got a 634 00:32:12,680 --> 00:32:14,800 Speaker 2: bunch of this money and didn't ask any questions. 635 00:32:15,040 --> 00:32:17,600 Speaker 1: And this is part of the great irony. And again 636 00:32:17,680 --> 00:32:20,160 Speaker 1: going back to the macab delight. You know, the Russians 637 00:32:20,480 --> 00:32:24,320 Speaker 1: tell their useful idiots to say everything is a CIA 638 00:32:24,440 --> 00:32:29,520 Speaker 1: State Department deep state conspiracy, from NAFO to the White 639 00:32:29,520 --> 00:32:32,320 Speaker 1: Helmets or whatever, when in fact, what the Russians are 640 00:32:32,320 --> 00:32:36,880 Speaker 1: doing more accurately adheres to that definition, and it's this 641 00:32:36,920 --> 00:32:38,720 Speaker 1: weird sort of Freudian projection. 642 00:32:39,080 --> 00:32:41,520 Speaker 2: It's funny. I saw a tweet which said exactly. I said, 643 00:32:41,840 --> 00:32:45,080 Speaker 2: just wait until the conspiracy theorists discover they're part of 644 00:32:45,080 --> 00:32:48,800 Speaker 2: a conspiracy to use conspiracy theorists to spread disinformation via 645 00:32:48,840 --> 00:32:49,720 Speaker 2: conspiracy theories. 646 00:32:50,000 --> 00:32:51,040 Speaker 1: Yeah, exactly. 647 00:32:52,160 --> 00:32:55,440 Speaker 3: So we're going to stop here for today and continue 648 00:32:55,480 --> 00:33:00,160 Speaker 3: our conversation with Michael Weiss on the next episode see 649 00:33:00,200 --> 00:33:02,600 Speaker 3: you next week. I'm Mission Implausible. 650 00:33:07,400 --> 00:33:12,440 Speaker 5: Mission Implausible is produced by Adam Davidson, Jerry O'Shea, John Seipher, 651 00:33:12,760 --> 00:33:17,160 Speaker 5: and Jonathan Sterner. The associate producer is Rachel Harner. Mission 652 00:33:17,200 --> 00:33:21,160 Speaker 5: Implausible is a production of Honorable Mention and Abominable Pictures 653 00:33:21,280 --> 00:33:22,640 Speaker 5: for iHeart Podcasts.