Disinformation in plain sight now includes a series of stunts, supported by OAN and apparently pro-Russian Ukrainian politicians as Rudy Giuliani tries to spin more mischief for Trump. Coincidentally a Sinclair reporter asked Speaker Pelosi the “hate” question today.
Giuliani’s trips were organized around filming of a multipart television series produced/aired by conservative One America News (OAN) as a GOP alternative to the impeachment hearings.
Among those traveling with Giuliani is Andriy Telizhenko, a cigar-loving ex-diplo who's become Trump world’s own "whistleblower." He claims "Soros people" at the US Embassy in Kyiv are trying to block his return to DC to keep him from becoming ambassador. https://t.co/nGVVt5vwcT
— Christopher Miller (@ChristopherJM) December 5, 2019
KYIV — Rudy Giuliani has made a surprise visit to Kyiv — but the city isn’t buzzing with his arrival. It’s groaning.
Giuliani arriving with his shady band of conspiracy theorists — just as Democrats move to officially file impeachment charges against President Donald Trump — is the last thing Ukrainians who have tried desperately to stay out of the drama unfolding in Washington wanted. Kyiv is trying to focus on upcoming peace talks with Russia to end the war simmering in its east, but Giuliani’s visit meant the headlines were all about impeachment once more.
Officials from the office of President Volodymyr Zelensky to the US embassy to everyone in between know that the arrival of the bombastic mayor is nothing but trouble.
“Holy shit. I don’t believe in such coincidences,” Ukrainian anti-corruption activist Daria Kaleniuk wrote of Giuliani’s arrival on Facebook, noting that it comes just days ahead of long-anticipated peace talks between Zelensky and Russian President Vladimir Putin in Paris on Monday.
Giuliani, who is being investigated by federal prosecutors looking into whether he violated federal lobbying laws, is on a mission to “destroy” the Democrats’ impeachment narrative via a documentary series on the vehemently pro-Trump One America News Network (OAN). But judging by the questionable cast of Ukrainian characters he’s meeting, whatever information he manages to dig up is likely to be extremely dubious. “I’m just a country lawyer trying to show his client is being framed. I will do it,” Giuliani told Fox News. He didn’t answer calls or text messages seeking comment on Thursday.
Giuliani’s meddling in Kyiv is what helped lead to the impeachment inquiry in the first place — a host of witnesses have told investigators how they feared his “irregular channel” of diplomacy, focused on digging up dirt on the President Trump’s political rivals, could do lasting damage to the US–Ukraine relationship.
"Bombshell exclusive interviews" with figures like:
-3 discredited ex Ukraine prosecutors fired over poor performance & corruption allegations
-MP formerly of pro-Russia party with KGB past whose father linked to Rus mob boss
-MP tied to controversial oligarch Ihor Kolomoisky https://t.co/5zZ7tC0JMu
— Christopher Miller (@ChristopherJM) December 5, 2019
OAN Correspondent uncovers alleged perjury
According to former Ukrainian Prosecutor Gen Lutsenko Amb Yovanovitch deceived American people under oath during impeachment hearing -blocked him from providing evidence of her untouchable list to US Authorities https://t.co/uaBYuLuC1N— Ruthann (@TeaBoots) December 5, 2019
Sadly, OAN, the barely watched, far-right San Diego cable channel Giuliani is working with to peddle alternative facts on Ukraine is not streaming the series for free, but using it to sell paid subscriptions. But one OAN package does also give you Russia Today, so there's that. https://t.co/EtMkhDw6EG pic.twitter.com/RDr4lEEPJh
— Robert Mackey (@RobertMackey) December 5, 2019
This is a coordinated campaign of coverage.
To be clear, as the House is set to impeach Trump for inviting foreign interference in 2020, his personal lawyer is in Ukraine attempting to dig up more political dirt. And note who he’s meeting with. Do you think Russia might be fueling this fire? https://t.co/jqiyGdJbiS
— Jim Sciutto (@jimsciutto) December 5, 2019
KYIV, Ukraine — President Trump’s personal lawyer Rudolph W. Giuliani met Thursday in Ukraine with one of the key figures working to build a corruption case against Hunter Biden, the Ukraine lawmaker said, after posting Facebook photographs of himself with the former New York mayor.
Andriy Derkach said he pressed Giuliani on the need to set up a joint U.S.-Ukraine investigation into corruption in Ukraine at the meeting in Kyiv. Derkach also vowed to set up an anti-corruption group in the Ukraine parliament.Giuliani did not make any immediate public comments on the meetings in Ukraine.But in tweets hours later, he drew connections between future U.S. aid and investigations by Ukraine into former vice president Joe Biden — issues that are already at the center of the impeachment inquiry.Giuliani tweeted that U.S. assistance to Ukraine on anti-corruption reforms could face a “major obstacle” until the “conversation about corruption in Ukraine” is resolved. Giuliani alleged “compelling” evidence of criminal misdeeds by Biden, but gave no specifics.
https://twitter.com/lennutrajektoor/status/1197082122554630144?
https://twitter.com/lennutrajektoor/status/1202711674878406657?
The OAN host traveling with Giuliani has published a bunch of political cartoons, incl one that referenced “spirit cooking — the baseless claim…that top Democratic officials are involved in Satanic cannibalistic sacrifices.” https://t.co/l7VSxwUsPd
— Miriam Elder (@MiriamElder) December 5, 2019
https://twitter.com/Impeach_Today/status/1202681191637405697?
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The same James Rosen who quit his Fox News job in late 2017 amid reports he sexually harassed coworkers. He now works for Sinclair Broadcasting, which you may remember from the creepy Deadspin video of all the anchors reading the exact same pro-Trump script. https://t.co/97yXidfwnJ
— Bobby Lewis (@revrrlewis) December 5, 2019
