Fox News: Tucker Carlson Lays Track for a Trump Indictment
A condensed overview of 10 hours of Fox News media for the week ending 7/3/22
Last week a typical Fox News viewer might think that the January 6th Committee was a huge power play by the Biden administration to hamstring Trump for a potential presidential run in 2024 and to silence Biden’s critics. They might also believe the United States is the only country facing high rates of inflation and that we are running dangerously close to a hostile Communist revolution and mass starvation.
The hyperbole was as thick as blackstrap molasses last week on Fox News. As the January 6th Committee Hearings revealed even more disturbing information about Trump’s alleged actions on the day of the riot. Fox kicked things up a notch.
Tucker Carlson compared Pres. Joe Biden to the murderous communist dictator, Joseph Stalin. That seemed like a bit of a reach considering Biden hasn’t enacted programs that have resulted in the deaths of 6-9 million people. Stalin forced the relocation of entire ethnic groups, purposefully starved about 4 million Ukrainians and killed huge swaths of his own government leadership and military.
As far as Carlson is concerned Joe Biden is Joseph Stalin. I guess they are similar in that they are both named Joe.
In the following clip, Monica Crowley, former Assistant Secretary for Public Affairs for the U.S. Department of the Treasury under the Trump Administration makes quite the leap when she predicts massive food shortages along with some form of Communist rule.
There is no viable Communist party in the United States and no push by even the most radical Democrats to have the government seize the means of production and move to a managed economy. Regardless Fox insists on scaring their mostly Baby Boomer audience that we could became the United Socialist States of America any day now.
Clip of the week
As crazy as that clip is, Crowley was mild to what Tucker Carlson promoted.
This week most of my focus is going to be on Tucker Carlson’s extended monologue from Wednesday, June 29th. In a 18-minute rant Carlson makes claims that several Republicans and right-wing Americans have been wrongfully investigated, arrested and criminally convicted under the Biden administration.
Carlson compares the U.S. to unstable banana republics where opposition leaders are often imprisoned or even executed.
This theme goes along with the drumbeat that Carlson has been promoting for weeks now - the only thing standing between U.S. citizens and tyranny is the right to bear arms.
At the beginning of this crazed diatribe Carlson summed it up,
“Why have a political debate when you can just arrest people who disagree with you?”
Carlson never mentions the many pardons former president Donald J. Trump doled out to multiple members of his administration who were convicted of various crimes.
Tucker Carlson starts with a list he claims are American citizens who have been targeted for political reasons. He also calls Merrick Garland the “most political Attorney General in history.”
#1. Douglass Mackey aka Ricky Vaughn (online identity)
Carlson’s claims - He was arrested for making internet memes that made fun of Hillary Clinton.
What he was actually arrested for - Mackey’s created memes to trick liberals into casting votes via social media or text message. His ads claimed voters could vote from home if they used the correct text codes and hashtags. His intention was to “limit Black turnout,” according to the federal complaint. Federal investigators found that 4900 phone numbers texted their votes to text codes Mackey advertised.
Mackey was charged with a “civil rights conspiracy statute.”
What Carlson left out - Mackey is a white nationalist. This is yet another example of Tucker Carlson staunchly defending a white nationalist. Mackey also has some overlap with The Proud Boys as some of his co-conspirators were affiliated with the group. Another co-conspirator expressed admiration for Adolph Hitler and Nazism, and has claimed to have been involved in the spread of the QAnon conspiracy movement.
#2. Russell Taylor and Allen Hostetter - The FBI raided their homes.
Carlson’s claim - neither man did anything wrong. They had a permit for their rally on January 6th.
What Carlson left out - Both were charged with knowingly entering a restricted building or area of the Capitol grounds. Taylor was charged with carrying a knife while doing so. The federal indictment was made public and filed into court records on June 9. Hostetter faces six counts and Taylor faces four.
#3. Rudy Giuliani - records and cell phone seized by the FBI
Carlson’s claim - the FBI cannot seize records from a lawyer due to attorney client privilege.
What Carlson left out - Attorney client privilege does not apply if the attorney is involved with a crime. Giuliani is already facing a slew of legal problems as last year an appeals court suspended Giuliani's ability to practice law in New York State and Washington D.C.
#4. George Dixon - the FBI raided his home and seized documents
Carlson’s claim - Dixon was working on a documentary about Hunter Biden and his business dealings in Ukraine and that’s why he was a target.
What Carlson left out - To quote Rawstory about this case,
“Last year, lawyers told Mother Jones that raising money abroad for a movie that could be seen as aimed at influencing the 2020 election could violate campaign finance laws or the Foreign Agents Registration Act, if the investors were tied to foreign governments.”
Another reason for the raid could be Dixon’s involvement with Giuliani. To quote the same article again,
“Federal prosecutors in New York are investigating Giuliani for a suspected violation of foreign lobbying laws in regard to his efforts in Ukraine, where he worked with former Ukrainian government officials and alleged Russian agents to gin up allegations about Joe Biden that Giuliani and former President Donald Trump pressured Ukraine's government to investigate," the report continues. - Rawstory.com
#5. Owen Shroyer of Alex Jones’s InfoWars - arrested and charged due to a quote he made on Jan. 6th
Carlson’s claim - Tucker Carlson claimed Shroyer was arrested for making the following quote,
‘Today we marched for the Capitol because on this historic January 6 2021, we have to let our congressmen and women no and we have to let Mike Pence know that they stole the election.”
What Carlson left out - Shroyer was actually charged with - Illegally entering a restricted area on the Capitol grounds and disorderly conduct. The criminal complaint was filed on August 19th, 2021.
#6. The homes of journalists who work with Project Veritas were raided by the FBI
Carlon’s claims - This is probably the only incident on Carlson’s list where the FBI might have overstepped its bounds. The homes were raided in relation to the alleged theft of a diary that belonged to Ashley Biden, the daughter of President Joe Biden.
It’s unclear if the diary was stolen or found, and it’s not illegal for a journalist to be in possession of stolen property when it come from a source.
What Carlson left out - There is debate over whether or not O’Keefe and his organization could be considered legitimate press as Project Veritas is known more for pulling stunts and deceptively editing video. Project Veritas generally does not follow any ethical standards of journalism.
The founder of Project Veritas, James O’Keefe has plead guilty to criminal charges involving entering real property belonging to the United States under false pretenses.
#7. Steve Bannon for defying the subpoena for the Jan. 6th Committee
Carlson’s claim - Bannon did nothing wrong and was protected by executive privilege.
What Carlson left out - Bannon cited executive privilege which makes no sense since he wasn’t working for the federal government during the riots on Jan. 6th
Tucker Carlson continues to minimize the riot on the Capitol,
“An insurrection that wasn’t armed, wasn’t planned and didn’t insurrect anything,” he said on his show on Wednesday Jan. 29th, 2022.
There is evidence that some protesters were armed, advanced planning of the event did happened and they very much wanted to stop the electoral process.
#8 and #9. Sherronna Bishop, former campaign manager for Rep. Laura Boebert and Tina Peters, Mesa County clerk - both had their homes raided by the FBI.
Carlson’s claim - Tucker Carlson reduced the DOJ’s investigation to Peters, “raising doubts about the legitimacy of the election”.
What Carlson left out - The court-ordered search was part of an investigation of alleged election security breaches conducted by Mesa County officials. Peters and her associates were being investigated for an alleged security breach involving elections equipment in Mesa County.
Colorado Secretary of State Jena Griswold’s office is conducting an internal investigation of Peters, as well as the FBI, 21st Judicial District Attorney’s office, and the Colorado Attorney General’s office who are conducting a criminal investigation of Peters. Bishop was part of a team working with Peters.
In May Peters was charged with 10 criminal counts of conspiracy by a grand jury. Bishop has praised the Proud Boys in the past. So far Bishop has not faced any criminal charges. Other women who worked with Peters also had their homes searched.
#10 - Peter Navarro - arrested and jailed for not responding to a congressional subpoena to testify at the Jan. 6th Committee Hearings.
Carlson’s claim - Navarro’s arrest was due to a lawsuit he filed against the committee.
What Carlson left out - Navarro is hardly the first Trump associate to be arrested for refusing to appear before the Committee. See Steve Bannon earlier in this list for reference.
#11 - Ryan Kelley, Republican Gubernatorial candidate in Michigan - arrested for his involvement in the Jan. 6th riots.
Carlson’s claim - there was no merit to the charges against Kelley but offered no evidence besides Kelley’s word.
What Carlson left out - The criminal complaint alleges that Kelley, among other things, knowingly entered and engaged in disorderly conduct in restricted buildings or grounds and engaged in an act of physical violence against a person or property.
#12 - Jon Eastman, former lawyer to Donald J. Trump, has his phone seized by the FBI
Carlson’s claim - The feds had no reason to seize his property and that the search was an illegal warrantless search.
What Carlson left out - In the video clip Carlson included in this segment, an agent walks up to Eastman and hands him a warrant. Eastman is one of the major players on Trump’s legal team in regards to the riot on January 6th. It was Eastman who came up with the idea that Vice Pres. Mike Pence could negate the election by not certifying the electors.
Attorney client privilege does not protect a lawyer if the he or she is helping their commit a crime. Again see Rudy Giuliani for reference earlier in this list.
#13 - Jeffery Clark, the lawyer Trump tried to make his Attorney General right before he left office, home searched by the FBI
Carlson’s claim - The DOJ had no reason to target Clark.
“What he did was say things that Joe Biden and Joe Biden's justice department didn't like. So he was hauled out of his home in his pajamas for maximum public humiliation,” said Carlson
What Carlson left out - According to testimony so far in the January 6th Committee Hearings - Clark is another major player in the plot to overturn the presidential election. .
In Dec. 2020 Clark helped draft a letter to Georgia Governor Brian Kemp which claimed that the Justice Department had identified “significant concerns” about election results in Georgia. In the letter he advised Kemp to create “a separate slate” of electoral college electors “supporting Donald J. Trump.”
Several other attorneys testified that they vowed to resign in protest if Trump appointed Clark as Attorney General.
Clark’s behavior has been explored at length in the January 6th Committee Hearings with several attorneys testifying that they didn’t feel he was following the rule of law and they wanted to have absolutely nothing to do with the letter written to Gov. Brian Kemp.
Tucker ends this crazed rant full of deception and misleading statements with the following quote,
“Every election of your lifetime has been contested, every single one there's not an election or Republican wins, in which Democrats don't say yes, the voting machines were rigged,” said Carlson.
The average age of a typical Fox News viewer is 65 years old. I have no idea who Carlson is talking to when he said that.
There was no debate on the overwhelmingly large landslides Ronald Reagan won in the 1980s nor George W. H. Bush’s win in 1988. Bill Clinton won in 1992 without much controversy.
Widespread skepticism in our electoral process didn’t really start until the 2000 presidential election where George W. Bush lost the popular vote to Gore only to win after the SCOTUS voted to stop the re-count of ballots in Florida due to a razor thin margin between the two candidates.
One election twenty-two years ago does not make a lifetime, especially for a senior aged audience.
Tucker Carlson on Tuesday - A Message of Hope (Sarcasm)
This is a condensed edit of one of Tucker Carlson’s fear mongering rants. In the words of our former president Donald J. Trump, ENJOY!
Fox News goes full Alt-Right Crazy
This conspiracy theory has been around for a while but had a bit of a resurgence during the COVID-19 lockdown. The far-right likes to push the idea that the government will force the populace to eat bugs for food. It doesn’t make a ton of sense but it should alarm Fox News that they sound no different than a bratty white nationalist - Nicholas J. Fuentes.
Inflation really is a Global Problem
Sometimes PBS just hands me a perfect rebuttal to Fox News. While Fox continues to insist that inflation is not a global problem, Judy Woodruff of PBS NewsHour rightfully states that inflation is at record levels throughout Europe.
Stories Fox Ignored
Week ending 7-3-22
Brittney Griner detention in Russia – PBS had six minute segment that explored her case at length.
101-year-old ex-guard at Nazi Camp convicted by German court.
UN report on Syrian war - 306,887 civilians were killed between 3/11 and 3/21 in Syria due to the conflict.
Flint Water scandal – Criminal indictments against former Gov. Rick Snyder and 7 others were deemed invalid by Michigan Supreme Court
53 migrants die of heat related deaths while crammed in a tractor-trailer – Fox reported on it but spun the story to make it about Biden’s immigration policies. PBS reported on the actual incident including how the migrants died.
Naftali Bennett not running for re-election as Prime Minister of Israel - His coalition government is crumbling and Naftali has decided to call it quits.
NATO Summit - Fox News reduced this to simply Biden traveling to Europe. PBS included far more specifics as NATO is meeting to begin the process of adding Finland and Sweden into the collation as well as discuss the many concerns about the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
988 – A new change for the suicide hotline for mental health – the number will be simplified to a three digit code with a rollout on July 18th
Story about climate change - Heat waves happening all over the world – PBS included a story about Fox News. A metrologist from Fox Weather openly discussed climate change while on the air, a PBS reporter juxtaposed her comments to Tucker Carlson denying climate change on his show.
By the Numbers
Due to the length of this newsletter I’m not including the word count for this week but I do have charts that compare Fox News and PBS NewsHour.
This past week Tucker Carlson traveled to Brazil to fawn all over President Jair Bolsonaro. Bolsonaro is trailing in the polls for the next presidential election. I guess Carlson was trying to give him a boost.
Although there was some overlap this past week with Roe v Wade and the January 6th Committee Hearings PBS covered completely different topics with a lot of emphasis on climate change. Their coverage of the SCOUTS ruling against the EPA was also centered on the effect of green house gases and the environment.
Coming up…
this week since I don’t have another January 6th Committee hearing to cover I should get back on track. I’m planning on another podcast/newsletter for the night that SCOTUS negated Roe v Wade and a podcast/newsletter breaking down the Tucker Carlson Original - “Patriot Purge.”
This week I’m back to my usual schedule of the first hour of ‘Fox & Friends”, “The Five” and I’ll be covering “Jesse Watters Primetime.”
It's probably best to outline a bit of a wider picture regarding the recent home raids and arrests as mentioned above at this point. It should be noted that there is a pattern to them.
The person responsible for levelling the Georgia guide stones perhaps doesn't even realise how much agony and embarrassment he has inflicted upon R.C. and brethren.
The argument that the perpetrator cannot be found is entirely nonsensical: there is clear cctv footage of him, and he was not disguised very well - with a hood and something of a covid-mask. It is very clear to see he is a white American man. Similarly, there is a cctv video of him driving off after the explosion. He rides a silver sedan. Were the license plates hidden? The video footage doesn't reveal that. Chances are they weren't. The Georgia Bureau of Investigations most likely knew who the perpetrator was already the next day. And then there is the formal obligation on their end to come into action, and make arrests.
Doing so is an impossibility however: he would be handed an enormous media platform to explain why he levelled these guide stones in fine detail. He would be turned into somewhat of a 'martyr' for the truth movement almost instantly. He would be writing a lot of letters from his prison cell.
Simply rebuilding these guide stones then, perhaps at a different location? Impossible as well, they would simply be blown away again. Let's not forget that commands number 1 and 10 of these stones were a thinly veiled threat against most of humanity: 'Maintain humanity under 500,000,000 in perpetual balance with nature.' and 'Be not a cancer on the Earth – Leave room for nature – Leave room for nature.'. The other 8 points seemed more like 'fillers'. And when some individuals take offense of these writings, there is nothing holding them back to destroy them once again.
However, this leaves this particular network in an awful position: without such guide stones, it is nothing short of a decapitated Novus Ordo Seclorum. One without its own ten commandments. Which, from their ideology, is nothing short of a disaster.
They will have to show their muscle now, and make clear they are still in control.
So, the alternative strategy is to go after and arrest, or at least take some type of legal action against, those that are seen as 'key figures' within the American truth movement. Hence these criminal investigations and court cases, like the recent one lost by Alex Jones with a huge financial toll. And the home raids and arrests of the likes of Trump, Steve Bannon and even Rudy Giuliani. Worst case scenario is that a former president ends up in jail, and Alex Jones goes bankrupt.
Make no mistake: there is someone walking freely in the USA now, thinking to himself - 'How come I'm not being arrested? It can't be that difficult, can it? I'm not exactly hiding in a cave!' It is already known what type of explosives were used to level the Georgia guide stones: dynamite. And quite a lot of it, since it managed to take down massive, granite slabs. His worst fears about the ones who erected these guide stones in the first place, are now coming true.
The subsequent arrests of the people mentioned above are substitutes for the one arrest that can not be made.