How Bill Barr’s Fox News interview spawned a mysterious right-wing conspiracy theory involving Obama

How Bill Barr’s Fox News interview spawned a mysterious right-wing conspiracy theory involving Obama
Donald Trump and Barack Obama (Image via Wikimedia Commons)
Travis Gettys
and
Raw Story
May 23, 2019The Right Wing

A new right-wing conspiracy attempts to use President Donald Trump’s “birther” smears as an excuse to let him off the hook in the Russia investigation.

The pro-Trump website American Greatness questioned why former FBI director James Comey briefed the incoming president in January 2017 about a salacious dossier compiled by former British spy Christopher Steele, and speculated it was a setup, reported Washington Monthly.

That particular conspiracy theory was floated after Attorney General William Barr told Fox News anchor Bill Hemmer about the briefing, and right-wing media outlets suggested the dossier was leaked by FBI sources to Buzzfeed News in the weeks ahead of the inauguration.

American Greatness wondered why President Barack Obama had signed off on Comey notifying the president-elect about the dossier’s claim about Trump allegedly consorting with Russian prostitutes in a Moscow hotel.

The right-wing website speculated the briefing was made to “intentionally rattle” Trump as revenge for his birther smears against Obama, whose press secretary compared the salacious Trump rumors to the conspiracies that dogged the nation’s first black president.

“Is there a possibility that the entire Trump-Russia election collusion hoax was meant as payback for Trump?” the website asked. “Will any journalists bother to ask?”

Report typos and corrections to: feedback@alternet.org.

Should Trump be allowed to hold office again?

Understand the importance of honest news ?

So do we.

The past year has been the most arduous of our lives. The Covid-19 pandemic continues to be catastrophic not only to our health - mental and physical - but also to the stability of millions of people. For all of us independent news organizations, it’s no exception.

We’ve covered everything thrown at us this past year and will continue to do so with your support. We’ve always understood the importance of calling out corruption, regardless of political affiliation.

We need your support in this difficult time. Every reader contribution, no matter the amount, makes a difference in allowing our newsroom to bring you the stories that matter, at a time when being informed is more important than ever. Invest with us.

Make a one-time contribution to Alternet All Access, or click here to become a subscriber. Thank you.

Click to donate by check.

DonateDonate by credit card
Donate by Paypal
{{ post.roar_specific_data.api_data.analytics }}
@2022 - AlterNet Media Inc. All Rights Reserved. - "Poynter" fonts provided by fontsempire.com.