Nothing can now be believed which is seen in a newspaper. Truth itself becomes suspicious by being put into that polluted vehicle. – Thomas Jefferson (1807)

In Chapter 10 of With Malice Aforethought, I analyze Russian active measures to subvert American journalism through its intelligence apparatus. As well as how media reporting style significantly influences and shapes public opinion. One of the most recent examples is the October 9, 2023, Newsweek article* “Donald Trump’s Israel Intel Leak Under Scrutiny After Hamas Attack.” 

In the article, Ewan Palmer theorizes a link between then President Trump’s sharing of sensitive information about the details of an alleged Islamic State (ISIS) plot with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and Ambassador Sergey Kislyak in a May 2017 Oval Office meeting. Referencing his sources for the scrutiny of this 2017 event, Palmer goes on to say that “on social media, a number of people believe that Trump’s handing over of Israeli information may have resulted in Iran assisting the Palestinian group [Hamas].” The article quotes four separate posts on X, formerly known as Twitter.

“Hamas apparently knew how to get around Israel’s Iron Dome defenses. They probably learned this from Iran. Iran almost certainly got the information from Russia. And who gave it to Russia? Sure looks like it was Donald Trump, at the request of Putin.” Thom Hartmann, author and political commentator.

“Don’t forget: Trump gave Israeli intelligence to Russians in the Oval Office 6 years ago. Putin armed Iran in exchange for drones to attack Ukraine.” Allison Gill, host of the Mueller, She Wrote podcast

“FLASHBACK: Trump shared classified intelligence from Israel with Russia—and admitted to it. Israeli intelligence feared it would end up in the hands of Iran.” Meidas Touch X.

“This isn’t hard to follow. Trump gave military intel to the Russians. The Russians, who are extremely close allies with Iran, gave it to Iran. Iran gave that information to Hamas. Hamas used it to attack Israel. This is why intel security matters. Republicans DO NOT CARE.” Mikel Jollett, musician and author.

Thom Hartmann, author and political commentator: “Hamas apparently knew how to get around Israel’s Iron Dome defenses. They probably learned this from Iran. Iran almost certainly got the information from Russia. And who gave it to Russia? Sure looks like it was Donald Trump, at the request of Putin.”

Allison Gill, host of the Mueller, She Wrote podcast: “Don’t forget: Trump gave Israeli intelligence to Russians in the Oval Office 6 years ago. Putin armed Iran in exchange for drones to attack Ukraine.”

Meidas Touch X: “FLASHBACK: Trump shared classified intelligence from Israel with Russia—and admitted to it. Israeli intelligence feared it would end up in the hands of Iran.” 

Mikel Jollett, musician and author: “This isn’t hard to follow. Trump gave military intel to the Russians. The Russians, who are extremely close allies with Iran, gave it to Iran. Iran gave that information to Hamas. Hamas used it to attack Israel. This is why intel security matters. Republicans DO NOT CARE.”

The article ends with the obligatory “Trump is due to go on trial in May 2024 accused of retaining classified documents after he left the White House in January 2021, and then obstructing the federal attempt to retrieve them from his Mar-a-Lago estate in Palm Springs, Florida. The former president has pleaded not guilty to 40 charges as part of the criminal case and has repeatedly denied any wrongdoing.” The article has been shared thousands of times on social media.

Not knowing who any of these influencers were, I decided to do some research to verify their qualifications to make their respective analytical comments on such an important matter. Here is what I found.

Thom Hartmann is a Radio and TV political commentator and hosts The Thom Hartmann Program (2003–present), the #1 progressive talk radio program. From 2010-2017, Hartmann hosted The Big Picture, a daily 1-hour television talk show program co-produced with Kremlin controlled Russia TV (RT) America and broadcast from the Washington, D.C., RT America news network studios. If you’ve read the book, you already know that RT is subordinated to the Russian Press Agency Novosti, a division of the Department of Agitation and Propaganda (Agitprop) of the Russian Central Committee of the Communist Party. In a 2017 interview with Politico, Hartmann described his political philosophy as democratic socialism. When someone asks, “what’s your political philosophy? I’d say Democratic socialism. But boy, the crap you take when you say socialist. Because people don’t understand it. They think I’m talking about Soviet-style socialism, which I’m not.”

Angela Gill is a host on the Mueller She Wrote podcast. The Mueller She Wrote website describes itself as “a binder full of women unraveling the mysteries of the Mueller investigation. Join us each week as your hosts simplify the absurd amount of Mueller news and wrap it up into informative, hilarious bites. MSW is committed to separating the facts from conjecture with just the right amount of snark.” The daily podcast features segments like Hot Notes, in which co-hosts Johnson and Coburn do research about Trump and present for discussion their findings, and Fantasy Indictment League, in which the hosts and listeners speculate about the people who may be indicted. The show includes a free podcast and a daily spinoff show, The Daily Beans, “a women-owned and operated progressive news podcast for your morning commute brought to you by the webby award-winning hosts of Mueller, She Wrote. Get your social justice and political news with just the right amount of snark.”

Meidas Touch is the Twitter (X) handle for MeidasTouch Network (MTN). MTN is a liberal/progressive website that bills itself as a “pro-democracy news network.” MTN is known for strong anti-GOP and anti-Trump rhetoric.

Mikel Jollett is an alternative rock musician with far-left/progressive views.

So, here we have one of the most recognized news magazines in the world reporting on renewed scrutiny of sensitive information about an ISIS plot Trump shared with the Russian Foreign Minister and Ambassador to the US, which he had the legal authority to do at the time he was President, with highly questionable sources postulating a theoretical link to the Hamas terrorist attack on Israel.

I thought it was a bit odd when I first read that 2017 information about an ISIS plot was somehow linked to Hamas’ October 7, 2023, terrorist attack on Israel. Is it possible that Russia may have shared this information with Iran? Yes. Nevertheless, it was the fact that Iran and other Middle Eastern countries considered ISIS a significant geopolitical threat and the 6-year intervening period that had me scratching my head. However, when I learned the sources of the scrutiny were four virulent left-wing progressive anti-Trumpers, one of which was a progressive Democratic Socialist who formerly co-produced a TV show on a Russian television news program that was a subdivision of Communist Russia’s Department of Agitation and Propaganda, well, it all seemed to make sense at that point. I mean, really, who better to get your propaganda from?

This is malinformation and blatant media malpractice. What was Palmer’s motivation for writing this article? Better yet, how did Newsweek’s editors miss such a blatant manipulation of information to mislead the news consumer? Perhaps it had more to do with clicks and shares and advertising revenue as opposed to an objective journalistic endeavor. But that’s just supposition on my part.