Мистер Смит

[tijd.livejournal.com]

Информационная бомба от Wall Street Journal получила продолжение вчера вечером (спасибо rednyrg721 за наводку). Газета публикует продолжение истории о том, как республиканский трюкач Питер Смит контачил с российскими хакерами для помощи Трампу. Выясняется, что в досье, которое собирал Смит, упоминались люди из окружения Трампа - Бэннон, Коннуэй и Кловис. Это указывает на то, что Смит мог действовать с ведома и по поручению избирательной кампании.

A longtime Republican activist who led an operation hoping to obtain Hillary Clinton emails from hackers listed senior members of the Trump campaign, including some who now serve as top aides in the White House, in a recruitment document for his effort. The activist, Peter W. Smith, named the officials in a section of the document marked “Trump Campaign.” The document was dated Sept. 7, 2016.
https://www.wsj.com/articles/gop-activist-who-sought-clinton-emails-cited-trump-campaign-officials-1498872923

Более подробные детали приводит источник информации - британский компьютерный специалист Matt Tait, которого Смит пытался привлечь для того, чтобы проверить аутентичность емайлов, взломанных хакерами.
https://lawfareblog.com/time-i-got-recruited-collude-russians

Отметим несколько интересных моментов:



1. Питер Смит - ветеран своего дела. В 1990ых он играл важную роль в добыче компромата на Билла Клинтона. Благодаря Смиту удалось раскопать Полу Джонс, на судебном процессе с которой Клинтон произнёс роковую для него фразу "I have never had sexual relations with Monica Lewinsky. I've never had an affair with her." Эта фраза привела к импичменту.

Beginning in 1992, Smith spent more than $80,000 to finance anti-Clinton research in an effort to persuade the mainstream press to cover Clinton's sex life. Among others, his efforts involved David Brock, the journalist who first mentioned the name "Paula" in an article on Clinton.
In 1993, Brock said, Smith helped introduce him to the Arkansas state troopers who accused Clinton of using them to procure women when he was Governor of Arkansas. Brock wrote an article based on the troopers' account of Clinton's sexual escapades that was published in the January 1994 issue of The American Spectator, a conservative magazine. According to Brock, Smith wanted to establish a fund for the troopers, in case they suffered retribution. Brock said he opposed payments because they would undermine the troopers' credibility.
To allay his concerns, Brock said, Smith urged him to speak to Porter, who was then working at Kirkland & Ellis, the Chicago law firm that employed Starr in its Washington office. Brock said he had hoped his talk with Porter would put an end to any planned payments to the troopers, but Smith did pay them and their lawyers $22,600.
In 1992, Smith also paid Brock $5,000 to research another bit of Arkansas sex lore regarding Clinton, a rumor that has since proved to be baseless. Brock did not pursue an article.
Brock's trooper article in The American Spectator mentioned a woman identified as "Paula," and in May 1994, Ms. Jones filed her lawsuit against President Clinton.
https://partners.nytimes.com/library/politics/012499jones-lawyers.html



Журналист David Brock раскаялся в той роли, которую он сыграл в этом скандале, и к концу 1990ых перешёл на сторону Клинтонов и демократов. Он основал Media Matters и играет важную роль в других прогрессивных организациях. В 2015 он выпустил книгу "Killing the Messenger: The Right-Wing Plot to Derail Hillary and Hijack Your Government".

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