I can see why the Washington Post’s coverage of the Russia investigation was so spotty.
Jacob Wohl and Jack Burkman are parasitical right-wing hoaxers. They use overly dramatic and embarrassingly incompetent publicity stunts to peddle lurid conspiracy theories and disinformation to a gullible few. This is what they do. On Monday, the loathsome twosome apparently even staged a fake FBI raid on Burkman’s residence in Arlington, Virginia.
Amazingly, the Washington Post fell for the scam. It reported the “raid” as if it were a real-life event — and all based on the say-so of Wohl and Burkman, whose reputations can be summed up with the word “fraud.”
“A fake FBI raid staged Monday by a notorious right-wing activist and conspiracist turned into an embarrassment for The Washington Post, which briefly reported the faux-event as if it were the real deal,” the newspaper said in a mea culpa to readers.
It adds, “The ‘raid’ on a house in Arlington, Va., actually involved actors recruited by Jacob Wohl, who has a history of making false accusations and has orchestrated dubious events in an effort to smear perceived opponents of President Trump.”
The thing that is really astonishing about one of the largest, most powerful, and well-resourced news organizations in the United States falling for what appears to be the latest in a long string of scams from two known scammers is that a relatively smaller newsroom with much shallower pockets uncovered the “raid” lie quite easily. Indeed, the Daily Beast appears to have had no trouble at all sniffing out the ruse and getting on-the-record comments from the people supposedly involved in the plot.
Wohl reportedly hired actors, telling them that they would be part of a “TV pilot,” one such actor told the Daily Beast. The actors then “raided” Burkman’s home early Monday morning wearing phony FBI windbreakers and everything.
“It appears Wohl used photos of the event to trick a reporter into believing that Wohl’s longtime associate, Jack Burkman, was being targeted by law enforcement officials. The intended purpose of the deception was not clear,” the Washington Post reported later of its muck-up. “In a story written by Metro reporter Rachel Weiner, The Post briefly reported Monday that a real FBI raid had taken place.”
The newspaper updated its story hours later, heavily amending the report to note that the “raid” was likely staged. The Washington Post eventually retracted the report entirely, leaving nothing but an editor’s note that says the since-deleted article “was published because The Post failed to obtain appropriate confirmation.”
“The story unfolded as a confluence of outright falsehoods by Burkman and Wohl coupled with lapses by Post journalists,” the Washington Post explained later.
It adds, “News organizations usually are reluctant to report on police activities without direct confirmation from an authoritative source; in this instance, Burkman and Wohl were the only ones to confirm the events in the original version of the story.”
In other words, the Washington Post went to print with a story whose sole confirmation was two men known best for lying to the press.
The FBI confirmed in a statement (after the Washington Post published its story) that there was no raid on Burkman’s home. Prior to retracting the report entirely, a Washington Post spokesperson explained in a statement that “the Post earlier today published an erroneous story about a purported FBI raid on the home of conservative operative Jack Burkman. The FBI has since said that the raid did not take place. Our story was published because we failed to obtain appropriate confirmation.”
Burkman, for his part, told the Washington Post later that “the only thing I can say is I stand by what I told The Post earlier and I wish you the best.”
He added, “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.”
This episode seems like a bit more than an embarrassing screw-up for the Washington Post. Wohl and Burkman are as incompetent as they are dishonest. But if even they can get the Washington Post to report a bogus story based solely on their say-so, imagine what a sophisticated state-run propaganda campaign headed by longtime disinformation experts can accomplish.
