Rock Legend to Release Three Anti-COVID-Lockdown Songs

Ben Sellers
-
0
Rock Legend to Release Three Anti-COVID-Lockdown Songs

As part of the 1960s counterculture, Northern Irish rock legend Van Morrison was revered for helping the hippie generation fight against the forces of fascism.

Now, the famously reclusive “Brown-Eyed Girl” singer, 75, has come full-circle in his contrarian tendencies by attacking the “fascist bullies” responsible for coronavirus lockdowns that have been driven largely by leftists.

Starting next week, Morrison is set to release three new anti-lockdown protest songs spread out, in true socially-distanced form, over two week intervals, The Irish Times reported.

“I’m not telling people what to do or think, the government is doing a great job of that already,” he said in a statement on his website.

“It’s about freedom of choice,” he continued. “I believe people should have the right to think for themselves.”

He will debut the tracks in a series of upcoming gigs at the London Palladium.

In the first, “Born to Be Free,” which drops Sept. 25, he sings, “The new normal, is not normal / We were born to be free.”

In another of the songs, “No More Lockdowns,” set to be released on Oct. 23, he sings, “No more lockdown / No more government overreach / No more fascist bullies / Disturbing our peace … No more taking of our freedom / And our God given rights / Pretending it’s for our safety / When it’s really to enslave.”

Sandwiched in between them is “As I Walked Out,” due for an Oct. 9 release. The track reportedly references a widely shared post from the UK government website that says “Covid-19 is no longer considered to be a high consequence infectious disease.”

While denouncing the virus panic as “pseudoscience,” Morrison also has spoken out publicly about the need to resume live music and has played a series of socially-distanced shows in Europe while campaigning for venues to reopen at full capacity.

The newfound advocacy hasn’t won him many new fans in the cancel-culture set.

In fact, Northern Ireland’s health minister denounced the subversive songs as “dangerous,” the BBC reported.

“I don’t know where he gets his facts,” said Health Minister Robin Swann. “I know where the emotions are on this, but I will say that sort of messaging is dangerous.”

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, who himself was hospitalized in intensive care with the virus, has struck a more conciliatory tone saying his goal is simply to prevent a relapse.

While the US mortality rate has remained around 3 percent, the UK has seen one of the higher mortality rates, around 11 percent of those stricken with the highly contagious virus.

However, Morrison has gotten support from some fellow musicians in the UK, including the Gallagher brothers best known from the band Oasis, and Ian Brown, the lead singer of the band Stone Roses.

REPORT: Nashville Officials Hid True COVID Numbers from Public to Keep City Shut Down

Contributing Author
-
0
REPORT: Nashville Officials Hid True COVID Numbers from Public to Keep City Shut Down

Uncovered emails between Democrat Nashville Mayor John Cooper and the city’s health department reveal that officials tried to hide the fact that the number of coronavirus cases popping up in bars and restaurants was extremely low.

A contact-tracing study the city had conducted on June 30 found that construction and nursing homes were the leading source of coronavirus outbreaks in Nashville, while bars and restaurants reported just 22 cases.

In one of the emails, Leslie Waller from the health department asked Cooper’s senior adviser, Benjamin Eagles, if the study was going to be kept from the public.

“This isn’t going to be publicly released, right? Just info for Mayor’s Office?” she wrote, according to Fox-17.

“Correct, not for public consumption,” replied senior adviser Benjamin Eagles.

Several weeks later, a local reporter asked the health department about the seemingly low numbers among bars and asked why, if there wasn’t a significant outbreak in restaurants, the city was still preventing them from reopening.

Brian Todd, who works in the department, asked five officials how he should respond.

“My two cents. We have certainly refused to give counts per bar because those numbers are low per site,” answered one official whose name was obscured in the email.

“We could still release the total though,” the person continued, “and then a response to the over 80 could be because that number is increasing all the time and we don’t want to say a specific number.”

Neither the mayor’s office nor the health department would confirm the authenticity of the emails, but Nashville City Council member Steve Glover said both offices admitted to him that the emails were real.

“They are fabricating information,” Glover told Fox-17. “They’ve blown their entire credibility. It’s gone, I don’t trust a thing they say going forward … nothing.”

‘Catholic’ Pelosi to Church: ‘Follow Science’ on COVID-19 Restrictions

Editor 1
-
0
‘Catholic’ Pelosi to Church: ‘Follow Science’ on COVID-19 Restrictions

(Headline USA) House Speaker Nancy Pelosi pushed back Friday against the Catholic archbishop of San Francisco‘s criticism of COVID-related restrictions, saying he should “follow science” rather than advocate for fuller in-person gatherings for Mass and worship.

Asked about Archbishop Salvatore Joseph Cordileone’s recent op-ed protesting limits on larger public gatherings, Pelosi — a pro-abortion nominal Catholic who ignores its teaching on life beginning at conception — said he should not be putting people’s lives at risk.

“With all do respect to my archbishop, I think we should follow science on this,” Pelosi said.

Another ministry leader, evangelical Pastor John MacArthur of Grace Community Church in the Southern California, has been in his own legal dispute with Los Angeles County. He has said he is “following the science.”

“In the state of California there are 40 million people, 8,500 of them have died with COVID. That is .002 (percent),” MacArthur said. “So in California, you have a 99.99 percent chance to survive COVID.”

The right to worship has become a fierce touchstone in the debate over state and local rules to stem the spread of the coronavirus.

The bishop said worshipers’ rights are being “unjustly repressed,” by the government.

Nationwide, several churches are suing to halt restrictions.

“We recognize that the government has a right to impose reasonable public health rules,” he wrote in the Washington Post. “But when government asserts authority over the church’s very right to worship, it crosses a line.”

Pelosi said she attended in-person service recently in her San Francisco hometown, and received communion — picking up the wafer from the priest, as is allowed, rather than having it placed directly on the tongue.

She said she regularly joins online services.

“I miss going to church regularly,” she said.

The California Democrat said she had to sign up in advance to attend, and found about a dozen people spread out once she arrived.

“Very, very, very spaced,” she said.

She questioned whether the archbishop’s message was misunderstood.

“I’m sure he must have meant if it is scientifically safe, rather than jeopardizing people’s health if they want to go to church,” she said.

Pelosi noted that faith and science are sometimes seen at odds.

“Around here, people say to me, ‘You’re a person of faith, why do you believe in science?'” she claimed.

“I say, ‘I believe science is an answer to our prayers. It is a creation of God, and one that is an answer to our prayers.’”

Adapted from reporting by Associated Press.

CURRENT EVENTS: Electric Fence Deters Trump Sign Thieves

Editor 1
-
0
CURRENT EVENTS: Electric Fence Deters Trump Sign Thieves

(Headline USA) A Massachusetts man tired of people stealing his Donald Trump campaign sign has come up with a shocking solution: an electrified fence around it.

John Oliveira, 54, a disabled Navy veteran and a member of the New Bedford School Committee, put the fence up a few weeks ago.

Oliveira told Southcoasttoday.com, which first reported the story, that he started displaying a Trump sign on his lawn in late May.

The first one disappeared in July.

In all, six signs were taken, he told the Boston Globe.

His latest sign has not been stolen since the fence went up.

“I’m defending my property and my right to free speech,” he said.

The yellow and black solar-powered fence, purchased from a farm supply store, is about 3 1/2 feet high.

It has warning signs in English, Spanish and French.

He has informed police of the thefts.

The fence is not pretty, he acknowledged.

“But I’m not going to not put a sign up because somebody keeps stealing it or somebody keeps taking it because they don’t like what I’m saying,” he said.

Oliveira is not the first Trump supporter to come up with the idea for a current-deterrent or booby-trapping signs. Videos below show past examples.

Adapted from reporting by Associated Press.

Princeton’s Confession of ‘Systemic Racism’ Lands It a Federal Civil-Rights Investigation

Ben Sellers
-
0
Princeton’s Confession of ‘Systemic Racism’ Lands It a Federal Civil-Rights Investigation

Academia’s Ivy League indoctrination centers, such as Princeton, have been clamoring in recent years for the government to impose sanctions as restitution for their racial sins.

Some adherents of “critical race theory” have even toyed with the idea of voluntary reparations for themselves, held back only by the hesitancy of others to follow suit in their ostentatious virtue-signaling.

Now, thanks to its own confession of ongoing “systemic racism,” Princeton may be the first university to face compliance issues with federal civil-rights laws under the Left’s redefined social-engineering standards.

On Sept. 2, Princeton President Christopher L. Eisgruber wrote in an open letter to students that the elite New Jersey school was continuing to harbor the vestiges of a racist legacy that included “intentionally and systematically excluded people of color, women, Jews, and other minorities.”

Eisgruber’s bromide-packed mea culpa deflected much of the blame onto everybody but the university, which he insisted “contributes to the world through teaching and research of unsurpassed quality.”

But that, in turn, makes it a gatekeeper of modern cultural values and a beacon to the rest of the world for effecting social change, he insinuated.

Eisgruber outlined proposals that seemed to be plucked directly from the handbook of the pro-Marxist Black Lives Matter, a movement with ties to anti-democracy globalist forces like George Soros and the Chinese Communist Party.

“[W]e must continue to find ways to bring that mission to bear against racism, and against all of the discrimination that damages the lives of people of color,” he prattled.

“Race-based inequities in America’s health care, policing, education, and employment systems affect profoundly the lives of our staff, students, and faculty of color,” he continued. “Racist assumptions from the past also remain embedded in structures of the University itself.”

Eisbruber’s intention clearly was to trumpet the “unglamorous” behind-the-scenes work that the school was doing below the radar to enact its new racial-justice agenda.

But in announcing it, he also caught the attention of attorneys with the US Department of Education, who noted that any sort of ongoing discrimination at a federally funded school was out of compliance with Title VI of the Civil Rights Act.

As the conservative Power Line blog observed, “Those who attend a ‘systemically racist’ college are, by definition, subjected to discrimination by the college.”

The DOE and the Justice Department responded by sending Eisgruber a lengthy letter demanding that he furnish a trove of records explaining exactly what he meant by his acknowledgement of Princeton’s ongoing racism.

“Based on its admitted racism, the U.S. Department of Education … is concerned Princeton’s nondiscrimination and equal opportunity assurances … from at least 2013 to the present may have been false,” said the letter, noting the year Eisgruber assumed the provost position.

“The Department is further concerned Princeton perhaps knew, or should have known, these assurances were false at the time they were made,” it continued.

The letter indicated that Princeton had received “well over $75 million in federal Title IV taxpayer funds alone” while representing itself to be in compliance with federal law.

And it questioned Eisgruber’s pledge to explore “the possibility of a new credit- or degree-granting program that would extend Princeton’s teaching to a new range of students from communities disproportionately affected by systemic racism,” which might itself fall outside the bounds of discrimination laws.

The letter gave deadlines ranging from 21 to 28 calendar days for Princeton to furnish many of the requested materials, reminding them also that knowingly providing false information could carry a prison sentence of up to five years.

Luckily for Eisgruber, who started his career as a lawyer—even clerking for far-left former Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens—deciphering the legalese to ensure full compliance should be no issue.

“Finally, by copy of this letter we are referring Princeton to the Civil Rights Division, U.S. Department of Justice, and to the Department’s Office for Civil Rights, for any additional action they deem appropriate,” it concluded.

Mich. Judge Says Cheat-by-Mail Ballots Received TWO WEEKS After Nov. 3 Must Be Counted

Editor 1
-
0
Mich. Judge Says Cheat-by-Mail Ballots Received TWO WEEKS After Nov. 3 Must Be Counted

(Headline USA) A judge on Friday cleared the way for more absentee ballots to be counted in Michigan, saying envelopes postmarked by the eve of the Nov. 3 election are eligible, even if they show up days later.

The decision is significant in a state that is anticipating waves of absentee ballots this fall; about 2.3 million have already been requested.

For absentee ballots to be counted, Michigan law requires them to be received by the time polls close on Election Day.

Court of Claims Judge Cynthia Stephens said there’s a crucial need for flexibility in 2020.

“The evidence in this case stands uncontroverted and establishes that the mail system is currently fraught with delays and uncertainty in light of the COVID-19 pandemic,” Stephens said.

An absentee ballot can be counted if postmarked by Nov. 2 and received within 14 days after the election, Stephens said.

The decision, if it stands, would give parties or government officials plenty of time to “find” ballots should it appear their candidate is trailing.

The judge’s order could cause a delay in declaring winners in some races.

President Donald Trump won Michigan by only 10,000 votes in 2016.

Separately, a federal judge on Thursday blocked Michigan’s longstanding ban on transporting voters to the polls.

It’s a misdemeanor to hire drivers to take voters to polling places unless they’re unable to walk.

Michigan was the only state where ride-hailing company Uber did not offer discounted rides to the polls on Election Day in November 2018, according to the lawsuit.

U.S. District Judge Stephanie Dawkins Davis suspended enforcement of the law.

A form of the ban has been on the books since 1895.

“Congress implemented a statutory scheme and gave citizens the right to spend money on transporting voters to the polls,” Davis said.

The ban had been challenged by groups including Priorities USA, a liberal super PAC that has said it plans to spend millions mobilizing and turning out voters in the battleground state.

Adapted from reporting by Associated Press.

US Bans WeChat, TikTok from App Stores, Citing Security Risk

Editor 1
-
0
US Bans WeChat, TikTok from App Stores, Citing Security Risk

(Associated Press) The U.S. Commerce Department said Friday it will ban Chinese-owned TikTok and WeChat from U.S. app stores on Sunday and will saddle the apps with technical restrictions that could seriously limit their functionality in the U.S.

The order, which cited national security and data privacy concerns, follows weeks of dealmaking over the video-sharing service TikTok. President Donald Trump has pressured the app’s Chinese owner to sell TikTok’s U.S. operations to a domestic company. It is not clear how the latest prohibitions will affect a deal recently struck by California tech giant Oracle aimed at satisfying U.S. concerns over TikTok’s data collection and related issues.

TikTok expressed “disappointment” over the move and said it would continue to challenge President Donald Trump’s “unjust executive order.” The Commerce Department is enacting an order announced by President Donald Trump in August. TikTok sued to stop that ban.

Google and Apple, the owners of the major mobile app stores, did not immediately reply to questions. Neither did WeChat owner Tencent. Oracle, which has proposed a deal with TikTok aimed at averting such a ban, also did not reply.

“At the President’s direction, we have taken significant action to combat China’s malicious collection of American citizens’ personal data, while promoting our national values, democratic rules-based norms, and aggressive enforcement of U.S. laws and regulations,” Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross said in a prepared statement.

The action is the Trump administration’s latest attempt to counter the influence of China, a rising economic superpower. Since taking office in 2017, Trump has waged a trade war with China, blocked mergers involving Chinese companies and stifled the business of Chinese firms like Huawei, a maker of phones and telecom equipment.

China-backed hackers, meanwhile, have been blamed for data breaches of U.S. federal databases and the credit agency Equifax, and the Chinese government strictly limits what U.S. tech companies can do in China.

The order requires WeChat, which has millions of U.S. users who rely on the app to stay in touch and conduct business with people and companies in China, to end payments through its service as of Sunday and prohibits it from getting technical services from vendors that could seriously impact its functions.

Similar technical limitations for TikTok don’t go into effect until Nov. 12, shortly after the U.S. election. Ross said early Friday on Fox Business Network that access to that app may be possible if certain safeguards are put into place. TikTok says it has 100 million U.S. users and 700 million globally.

Nicholas Weaver, a computer science lecturer at UC Berkeley, said the actions taking effect Sunday are short-sighted and suggest that “the U.S. is not to be trusted and not a friendly place for business.” Users, meanwhile, face a security “nightmare” because they won’t be able to get app updates that fix bugs and security vulnerabilities, he said.

WeChat users have sued to stop the ban, and a federal judge in California appeared sympathetic to WeChat users in a hearing Thursday, but did not issue an injunction against the government. The Justice Department had said in a filing in that case that they would not target WeChat users with criminal or civil penalties for using the app for messaging.

Like most social networks, TikTok, owned by China’s ByteDance, collects user data and moderates users’ posts. It grabs users’ locations and messages and tracks what they watch to figure out how best to target ads to them.

Similar concerns apply to U.S.-based social networks such as Facebook and Twitter, but Chinese ownership adds an extra wrinkle because the Chinese government could demand cooperation from Chinese companies. The administration has provided no specific evidence that TikTok has made U.S. users’ data available to the Chinese government, leading several cybersecurity experts to question whether the administration’s efforts are more political efforts against China than tied to concern about data security.

“If there are direct national security threats, that information should be shared with the U.S. population,” said David Kennedy, CEO of cybersecurity firm TrustedSec, before the Commerce Department’s regulations were announced. “We’re not taking about what needs to happen policy-wise, we’re trying to hack this together to hurt China.”

TikTok says it does not store U.S. user data in China and that it would not give user data to the government, and does not censor videos per dictates from China.

Biden Enjoys Softball Questions on CNN Town Hall After Trump’s Grilling Earlier in Week

Editor 1
-
0
Biden Enjoys Softball Questions on CNN Town Hall After Trump’s Grilling Earlier in Week

(Headline USA) After President Donald Trump responded to tough questioning earlier in the week at a town hall hosted by ABC and its Democrat host George Stephanopoulos, CNN created a friendly environment Thursday night for 2020 challenger Joe Biden to field softball questions to tee up attacks on the incumbent.

Fox News reported: “According to analysis from NewsBusters managing editor Curtis Houck, of the 16 participants who asked Biden questions, 13 of them, over a whopping 80 percent were identified as Democrats. Only three were identified as Republicans.”

In contrast, the ABC town hall was said to be filled with citizen-questioners who were “undecided,” but their attitudes and challenging questions made it clear they leaned in support of Biden.

On Thursday, Biden went after Trump again and again over his handling of COVID-19, calling Trump’s downplaying of the pandemic “criminal” and his administration “totally irresponsible.”

“You’ve got to level with the American people — shoot from the shoulder. There’s not been a time they’ve not been able to step up. The president should step down,” the Democratic presidential nominee said to applause from a CNN drive-in town hall crowd in Moosic, outside his hometown of Scranton.

Speaking about Trump’s admission that he publicly played down the impact of the virus while aware of its severity, Biden declared: “He knew it and did nothing. It’s close to criminal.”

Later, Biden decried Americans’ loss of basic “freedoms” as the U.S. has struggled to contain the pandemic, like the ability to go to a ballgame or walk around their neighborhoods.

“I never, ever thought I would see just such a thoroughly, totally irresponsible administration,” he said, ignoring the fact that the extensive lockdowns have been imposed mostly by Democrat governors.

Biden faced a half-dozen questions about the coronavirus and a potential vaccine in the town hall from moderator Anderson Cooper and audience members. The pandemic was not just the main topic of the night — it was the cause of the unusual format of the event: a drive-in with 35 cars outside PNC Field.

The cars were parked around the stage, each with small groups of people standing outside them or leaning or sitting on the hoods to watch Cooper and Biden onstage. The network erected blue and red spotlights over the dirt and gravel parking lot to make it easier to see, and each parking space was marked off with white chalk in large rectangles to ensure that each group stayed more than 6 feet (1.8 meters) apart.

The town hall marked the first time that Biden had faced live, unscripted questions from voters since winning the nomination. Trump participated in a town hall Tuesday in an auditorium in Philadelphia.

The appearances have been seen as tuneups before the three presidential debates, the first set for Sept. 29. Biden’s uneven debate performances during the Democratic primary contributed to his initial struggles in polls and the early primary vote, and Trump has speculated about Biden taking performance-enhancing drugs and has raised questions about Biden’s mental acuity.

Biden, meanwhile, has promised to be a “fact-checker on the stage” with Trump but has said he doesn’t want to get drawn into a “brawl” with the Republican.

On Thursday, Biden said he was beginning to prepare for the upcoming debate by reviewing Trump’s remarks and preparing his own.

Biden was also pressed on his stance on the Green New Deal, the sweeping proposal from progressives in Congress that calls for achieving net-zero greenhouse gas emissions across the economy by 2030 at a mind-blowing cost. Biden’s proposal aims to reduce emissions to zero by 2050 and has a goal of achieving an entirely carbon pollution-free power sector by 2035.

Biden interrupted a questioner who suggested his climate plan embraces the Green New Deal to insist, “No, it doesn’t,” but when asked by the moderator if he supports the proposal, he said, “I don’t think it’s too much.”

Still, Biden added, “I have my own deal,” which he noted the Democratic Party has incorporated as part of its platform.

Biden also weighed in on foreign policy issues, promising to reduce America’s military footprint abroad and saying that any attempt to interfere with the election by a foreign power is a “violation of our sovereignty.” He promised that if he’s elected and it becomes clear post-election that Russia interfered in the election, “they’ll pay a price for it, and it’ll be an economic price.”

Biden described Russia as an “opponent,” but declined to use the same word when asked about China. He instead called the nation a “competitor” and pledging to improve trade policy with China.

Trump signaled he’d been watching the town hall before he took the stage for a rally in Misonee, Wisconsin, on Thursday night.

“I just see he’s up there tonight getting softball questions from Anderson Cooper. They don’t ask me questions like that,” Trump told the crowd gathered at the airport. “They’ve got cars … it’s the weirdest thing I’ve ever seen.”

Trump’s ABC town hall was held inside a half-empty auditorium, with attendees socially distanced and wearing masks.

Adapted from reporting by Associated Press.

At Wisc. Rally, Trump Promises to Restore Accurate Teaching of History in Schools

Editor 1
-
0
At Wisc. Rally, Trump Promises to Restore Accurate Teaching of History in Schools

(Headline USA) President Donald Trump stepped up his rhetoric on cultural issues, aiming to boost enthusiasm among rural Wisconsin voters as he tries to repeat his path to victory four years ago.

Making his fifth visit to the pivotal battleground state this year, he held a rally Thursday evening in Mosinee, in central Wisconsin, an area of the state that shifted dramatically toward Republicans in 2016, enabling Trump to overcome deficits in urban and suburban parts of the state.

Trump has increasingly used his public appearances to elevate cultural issues. In Mosinee, he called for a statute to ban burning the American flag in protest and criticized sports players and leagues for allowing demonstrations that divide the nation.

“We have enough politics, right,” he said, joking that sometimes, “I can’t watch me.” He added of protests in sports, “People don’t want to see it and the ratings are down.”

Earlier Thursday, in a speech at the National Archives to commemorate Constitution Day, he derided the New York Times’ ahistorical “1619 Project,” which infuses American history with a heavy dose of critical race theory.

“For many years now, the radicals have mistaken Americans’ silence for weakness. But they are wrong,” Trump said. “There is no more powerful force than a parent’s love for their children — and patriotic moms and dads are going to demand that their children are no longer fed hateful lies about this country.”

Trump told supporters in Wisconsin: “We’re launching a new pro-American lesson plan for students called 1776 Commission. We’re going to teach our children the truth about America.”

Trump’s last visit to Wisconsin came on Sept. 1, when he met with law enforcement and toured damage from riots in Kenosha after the police shooting of Jacob Blake, a black man shot seven times from behind after resisting arrest and attempting to access a knife in his vehicle.

“I saved the suburbs,” Trump said Thursday of his call for federal law enforcement and national guard troops to confront protesters. He added that police “did a great job in Kenosha.”

Trump also previewed aid to the region’s farmers, saying $13 billion would begin flowing “starting next week” to help farmers.

Trump took another victory lap two days after he presided over Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates recognizing Israel in a White House ceremony.

“I got nominated twice for the Nobel Peace Prize. That’s a big deal,” Trump said, adding, “I should’ve gotten nominated seven times.” His supporters chanted “Nobel Peace Prize” in response.

Trump won Marathon County, which includes Mosinee, by more than 12,000 votes in 2016 — over three times more than the margin by which 2012 GOP nominee Mitt Romney won the area.

Trump’s path to 270 Electoral College votes may well hinge on Wisconsin, and his campaign is investing tens of millions of dollars on advertising and get-out-the-vote efforts in the state.

Trump’s event took place largely outside an aircraft hangar at the Mosinee airport, his campaign’s preferred format for mass rallies during the coronavirus pandemic.

Republican Sen. Ron Johnson of Wisconsin was set to join Trump on Air Force One but ended up under quarantine Thursday after learning he was exposed to someone earlier in the week who subsequently tested positive for the virus. Johnson tested negative on Wednesday night, his office said.

Adapted from reporting by Associated Press.

WaPo, Eager to Publish Fake News on Conservative Prankster, Gets Fooled

Joshua Paladino
-
0
WaPo, Eager to Publish Fake News on Conservative Prankster, Gets Fooled

Three days ago, the Washington Post embarrassingly reported on a faux FBI raid taking place at the house of Jack Burkman, a notorious hoaxer and conservative lobbyist.

“FBI agents raided the home of lobbyist, conspiracy theorist and right-wing operative Jack Burkman early Monday,” their article began.

The Post dropped the story early Monday morning without confirmation from the FBI, straying from journalistic standards to receive verification from an definitive source before publishing.

The article’s headline began as “FBI raids home of conservative conspiracy theorist Jack Burkman,” evolved to “Conservative conspiracy theorist Jack Burkman claims FBI raided his home,” and has resolved as “FBI says no raid was conducted at home of conservative conspiracy theorist Jack Burkman.”

WaPo replaced the original article with an editor’s note:

On Sept. 14, 2020, The Washington Post published an erroneous story about a purported FBI raid on the home of conservative operative Jack Burkman. After the story published, the FBI said that the raid did not take place. The story was published because The Post failed to obtain appropriate confirmation. A story about the hoax can be found here.

Jacob Wohl, Burkman’s fellow trickster, staged the raid with actors he found on Craig’s List who — wearing fake FBI badges and windbreakers — believed they were acting in a TV pilot, according to the Daily Beast.

Burkman’s supposed neighbor Bev Donahue sent pictures and a video of the staged raid to the Post Monday morning.

Media outlets speculate the Bev Donahue is merely a pseudonym for Wohl.

The Post included Burkman’s confirmation of the raid in their initial article.

Burkman and Wohl have an extended history of working together on many hoaxes.

Among other things, they fabricated accusations of sexual assault against White House Special Counsel Robert Mueller, Democratic Presidential Candidate Pete Buttigieg, and director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases Anthony Fauci.

In an interview with the Post, Burkman said in response to their question about the validity of the raid: “You have to remember in journalism you have to be careful — I’m not saying you did this — creating your own reality and ensnaring yourself in those realities.”

1...3,5593,5603,561...3,825Page 3,560 of 3,825