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The Smear

How Shady Political Operatives and Fake News Control What You See, What You Think, and How You Vote

Sharyl Attkisson

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political-science

Introduction

  • Fox News host Tucker Carlson cites his own dicta for a successful modern-day smear. First, it must be inherently interesting and, preferably, salacious. That means anything of a tabloid nature—sex, greed, or venal sin. Second, the smear has to be explainable in a sentence or two. Even better if it can be encapsulated in a catchy phrase. “War against women.” “Crooked Hillary.” “Gun show loophole.” And finally, the smear must confirm what a lot of people want to believe. If it’s too disconnected from the realm of the desirable or credible, it won’t work.Jun 17 2024 9:02PM

Chapter 1

  • “Hamilton and Jefferson were planting stuff on each other’s sex lives and writing anonymously for their partisan newspapers,” says Professor Mark Feldstein, of Philip Merrill College of Journalism at the University of Maryland. He’s an avid student of historical scandal. Back in the 1790s, the efforts were relatively unsophisticated, he tells me. “In those days it was kind of obvious who was behind the smears, because the first Treasury secretary, Alexander Hamilton, had this sexual affair with a woman named Maria Reynolds and Thomas Jefferson published it. And Jefferson was banging Sally Hemings, and it was the Hamilton paper that surfaced it,” says Feldstein.Jun 17 2024 9:09PM
  • According to the CIA, Bing Crosby, Dinah Shore, and Marlene Dietrich performed black propaganda lyrics written for German and American songs. One instance involved a tune called “Lili Marleen.” It’s a nostalgic, pessimistic melody. Adolf Hitler’s chief propagandist, Joseph Goebbels, considered it demoralizing and banned it in Germany. Outside the barracks, by the corner light I’ll always stand and wait for you at night Despite the ban, Dietrich recorded the song in German and English and it was played on Soldatensender, which German troops could hear. The idea was to make them homesick. It worked.Jun 17 2024 9:11PM
  • The CIA memo goes on to advise station chiefs to “employ propaganda assets.” They were told that “book reviews and feature articles are particularly appropriate for this purpose.” And you’ll likely recognize some of the suggested talking points included in the memo’s recommendations: •  Argue there’s nothing new. •  Insist that a large-scale conspiracy would be impossible to conceal in the United States. •  Smear critics as politically or financially motivated, hasty and inaccurate, or infatuated with their own theories.Jun 17 2024 9:15PM
  • Once labeled as conspiracy theorists, the targets are to be doubted, viewed with suspicion, and disregarded, even though proven conspiracies, as a matter of fact, are exceedingly common.Jun 17 2024 9:15PM
  • “Labeling something as a ‘conspiracy theory’ is a far more efficient way to tame the press [into disregarding a source or viewpoint] than actually whacking journalists the way they do in other countries,” Professor Miller tells me. “It’s a subtle form of intimidation and a much more effective way to keep people in line. Once journalists have internalized the notion that there’s something crazy about someone who suspects a conspiracy, they’re useless as guardians of our freedom. Just call something a conspiracy theory and journalists snap into attack mode, roll their eyes, and jeer.”Jun 17 2024 9:15PM
  • The CIA’s legacy can further be found in a maxim often used by today’s spooks. When confronted: •  Admit nothing •  Deny everything •  Demand proof •  Make counterallegations •  Discredit the oppositionJun 17 2024 9:16PM
  • When smears do their job, the victims are eschewed by their friends and associates. They’re separated from their support structure. Their resolve is weakened. They’re broken. Willey notes she’d been a lifelong Democrat but, once smeared, found herself desperately alone.Jun 17 2024 9:28PM
  • Blumenthal proves himself a quintessential smear artist and model for others to follow. He defends his liege from any grievance, real or imagined, and works with a friendly press to advance his agenda. He attacks any accusers with a take-no-prisoners ferocity that some believe to be unrivaled—whether his targets are political enemies, members of the press who are off the narrative, or anonymous grand jurors doing their job as civil servants. One other key tactic Blumenthal would pioneer and perfect: the art of getting his story or view—even when incorrect—widely circulated in the media. He knows that if his version of events is later disputed or proven false (as was the case with the grand jury), the intended harm would have already been done.Jun 17 2024 9:33PM

Chapter 3

  • The wheels are set in motion when political, corporate, or special interests catch wind of a news story that may shed a negative light on them or their agenda. They use a wide range of tactics to obtain as much information as they can about the story in progress so they can identify pressure points. They try to get the reporter on the phone and question him. They’d rather not leave a written email trail. They try to go off the record on the phone, so that they can plant seeds of doubt without being quoted. They provide information, innuendo, and rumor that may be irrelevant, unproven, or false to personally disparage a source the reporter may be using. They have no intention of providing the reporter with an on-the-record interview or any useful information, but they hold out hope like a carrot on a stick as they cajole information from the reporter. What’s your angle? they demand. What’s the thesis? Whatever the answer, they set about arguing that it’s wrong. Not worthy of a story. Old news. Disproven. Settled science. They find out the names of producers and editors who have influence over the script. They try to determine the date and time the story may be published. This tells them how much time they have to spin and obfuscate. They try to find out who the other “voices” in the story are. Who are the reporter’s sources? Who else is being interviewed and what are they saying?Jun 17 2024 10:24PM
  • Now they’re ready to deploy. For example, PR flacks representing a pharmaceutical company trying to stop a negative story may contact a news outlet’s sales department and complain, or threaten to pull advertising. They contact the story editors directly to argue against the story. Their law firms call the news organization’s general counsel with threatening rhetoric. They raise rational-sounding objections to the story, though one-sided and often entirely false. They take verbal off-the-record swipes at the journalists pursuing the story, whispering disparaging side comments to chip away at the reporter’s reputation in the eyes of his colleagues. They send out missives against the reporter on social media and through partners in the blogosphere. If they can’t stop the story, they work to quickly discredit it before it’s published. That may include calling upon willing partners in the media to write scathing attacks of the reporter and news item, or preempting the story with a one-sided counterpoint.Jun 17 2024 10:25PM
  • Of all the smear artists I’ve met, and the ones I interviewed for this book, I’ve wondered what makes them tick. Do they have common personality traits that set them up to be successful in this nebulous sphere of influence? For one, I’ve learned they’re people who like being in-the-know or feeling as though they’re on the inside. In much the same way that journalists are addicted to being the first to learn the news, these influencers have a deep desire to be privy to behind-the-scenes dealings. That may include secret meetings with members of Congress or their staff. It could mean a private phone call with the editor of an online publication. Or maybe it’s being among the first to get clued in on a developing political scheme or strategy.Jun 17 2024 10:27PM
  • Another common trait of smear artists: they’re polarizing figures who often find themselves in conflict with others on the same team. I know more than a few who’ve worked paid positions for one interest only to vehemently oppose that same interest at their next gig. One operator (who doesn’t want to be identified in this book) had a committed and well-paying engagement with a political interest that he felt later “betrayed” him by talking about him behind his back. “I can burn those motherfuckers,” he told me. “I just might do it if they don’t stop bad-mouthing me.” Some of the most successful character assassins tend to speak and think in paranoid undertones—justifiably so. After all, they operate in a realm where people really are out to get one another. They know what’s possible. Although they often appear to be deeply committed ideologues, they’re willing to adjust their belief systems to fit to circumstances that are most advantageous to themselves. You could call it opportunist pragmatism.Jun 17 2024 10:27PM
  • Nonprofits, Think Tanks, and LLCs After PR firms and dark-money groups, the third major sector to consider when measuring the size and scope of the smear industry is the nebulous universe of tax-exempt nonprofits, including “charities,” limited liability companies (LLCs), and think tanks that engage in smears, often funded by conservative and liberal billionaires or corporate interests who prefer to stay in the shadows.Jun 20 2024 4:39AM
  • A typical nonprofit involved in a smear campaign might begin by issuing a press release or “news article” with an epigrammatic title to grab attention and define the parameters. In just a few words, the headline tells who or what you should question or turn against—and why.Jun 20 2024 4:40AM
  • Partners in the blogosphere disseminate the requisite talking points and quote “experts” who agree that the public should be angry. Or suspicious. Or question. Or hate. The experts have been trained, and sometimes paid, by smear groups. They gladly provide the necessary speculation and opinion. They quote one another and call it proof that their claims against the chosen target are true. The “experts” are hired guns, but some in the news media will blindly accept.Jun 20 2024 4:45AM
  • If nonprofits aren’t always what they seem to be, neither are think tanks. To most Americans, think tanks are mysterious groups whose work is given a great deal of weight by politicians and the media. Think tank experts and their reports are quoted in news articles and used as ammunition on Capitol Hill to argue for or against policies. Think tanks are passed off as independent research bodies that confer legitimacy to the topics about which they publish and speak.Jun 20 2024 4:46AM
  • In 2002, the George W. Bush White House apparently assisted in a bizarre effort to smear its own Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) with the help of a think tank. The revelation came in an email exchange obtained by the London Observer. One of the email parties was Bush official Phil Cooney, a former oil industry official. In the email, Cooney is communicating with Myron Ebell, director of the oil-industry-funded think tank Competitive Enterprise Institute (CEI). The two are devising ways to discredit an undesirable EPA report that supports the notion of global warming (while the Bush White House opposes it).Jun 20 2024 4:47AM
  • Lastly, LLCs, or limited liability companies, are an emerging tool in the political smear trade. They don’t have to disclose the names of their donors and can conduct any sort of political activity, so they’re convenient for those who want to fund political efforts but keep their names secret. The downside to LLCs is that, as for-profit enterprises, they must pay taxes on the contributions they receive—something super PACs and other tax-exempt nonprofits don’t have to do.Jun 20 2024 3:08PM
  • LLCs also have to spend more than half their time on non-election-related activity, and their primary purpose must be something other than election spending, or else they become a political committee in the eyes of the law and have to disclose donors.Jun 20 2024 3:09PM
  • Tucker says LLCs especially deserve a skeptical review when they’re set up in places like Delaware or Wyoming. “Both of those states have really lax laws on disclosure for their companies, which makes it really attractive for people who want to hide those kinds of transactions.”Jun 20 2024 3:10PM
  • An example of a smear artist operating both LLCs and super PACs is Republican communications strategist Liz Mair. (When you hear that somebody’s title is “communications strategist,” they’re probably in the smear game.) Mair’s résumé shows she was once online communications director at the Republican National Committee. There she led what she calls a “groundbreaking online media outreach effort aimed at electing John McCain, Sarah Palin and Republicans across the country.”Jun 20 2024 3:10PM

Chapter 4

  • The American Bridge memo also boasts that CNN was receptive to its outreach. It reads, “CNN recently ran a feature story on our use of livestream technology.” And American Bridge takes credit for publicizing “Jeb Bush’s comments on privatizing Social Security (June 2015), Bush’s comment that ‘all lives matter’ (July 2015), Chris Christie jumping on Jeb Bush’s ‘work longer hours’ bandwagon (July 2015), and Rick Perry slamming Jeb’s economic growth record in Florida (July 2015).” The memo says that several video clips of the candidates were “cut, and shared on social media and/or by press release while the candidates were still delivering the same speech.” American Bridge also claims to have “placed” negative stories about Bush with CNN, the Washington Post, Associated Press, New York Times, Wall Street Journal, and “several key Florida outlets. . . . Our tracking operation has also been key in undermining Jeb through a constant barrage of rapid response attacks.”Jun 20 2024 6:22PM
  • Connect, Define, Explain, and Illustrate. Note how the recommended responses divert from the question at hand. ATTACK: “Obamacare increases health care costs.” RESPONSE: We passed Obamacare because no family should have to choose between putting food on the table and visiting a doctor. ATTACK: “Letting Medicare bankrupt the country is stealing from our children and grandchildren.” RESPONSE: Children are not better off if their parents and grandparents are worse off. Should the debate really be about pitting family members against family members—or politicians putting the wealthy ahead of people who work for a living? ATTACK: “We should raise the eligibility age for Medicare.” RESPONSE: If you’re a wealthy politician who doesn’t worry about affording health care for himself or needing to retire after a lifetime of manual labor, sure, it’s no big deal to you.Jun 20 2024 6:32PM
  • A final example from Message Matters shows just how dishonest its messaging could be: ATTACK: “Health reform is pushing employers to not offer health insurance benefits at all.” RESPONSE: With the health law in place, 98 percent of workers who get coverage through their work are expected to keep their plans.Jun 20 2024 6:32PM

Chapter 6

  • Transactional journalism results in a perverted dynamic. Public officials manipulate the press into competing to be first to receive government and political propaganda—self-serving rumors or press releases promoting agendas or smearing opponents. The reporter who’s first to publish these handouts gets a hearty pat on the back from colleagues.Jun 21 2024 2:22AM
  • “Great get!” they say. In the news business a “great get” used to mean that you, as a reporter, got an exclusive story as a result of your ingenuity, shoe-leather journalism, and persistence. Today it simply means you’re the recipient of a White House or political party leak. As one national journalist tells me, “When you’re one of the top dogs in the ‘handout chain,’ you get the info first. And the total shills are feeding the material. The political operatives use [the media] . . . build them, break them down, or bust them when they need to or want to.”Jun 21 2024 2:22AM

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