In 2016, corrupt Democrat partisans both in and out of government, along with their allies in the media, were desperate to stop the Trump juggernaut and used every tool at their disposal to do it. The effort started with opposition research funded by the DNC and the Clinton campaign. Then several versions of former British spy Christopher Steele’s anti-Trump dossier were delivered to the FBI, each from a different messenger: the late Senator John McCain (R-Ariz.), Mother Jones reporter David Corn, and Fusion GPS founder Glenn Simpson.

Then the FBI counterintelligence investigation began and subsequent FISA warrants were secured, citing a Yahoo News article that was based on the sketchy dossier. Finally, Mueller was called in to finish the job in May of 2017 and hopefully deliver the death blow to the new president.

But “Mueller Time” arrived, and it didn’t deliver the coup de grace to President Trump that Democrats and their allies in the media were hoping for. In fact, it did the opposite. It has delivered the coup de grace to Trump’s nemesis — the Russia-obsessed media. How many Americans are now looking at the media with a mixture of pity, disgust, and suspicion after being forced to listen to them caterwauling about Russia! Russia! Russia! for three long years? And how many Americans who believed every word of it are now having trouble processing the “disappointing” truth that our president is not “Putin’s Puppet”?

Federalist senior editor Mollie Hemingway reminded Fox News viewers on Friday that many interested parties in Washington, D.C. are responsible for pushing the now discredited “Russia narrative” accusing Trump of being a “Russian agent” with the help of the dirty dossier. Hemingway declared that there should be “a reckoning” for the assorted media outlets and individuals who spread unverified rumors as facts.

“If there is nothing there that matches what we’ve heard from the media for many years. There needs to be a reckoning and the people who spread this theory both inside and outside the government who were not critical and who did not behave appropriately need to be held accountable,” Hemingway argued on Fox’s Special Report.

Yes, there should be a reckoning for the hundreds of corrupt politicians, swamp things, charlatans, and grifters who peddled this poisonous conspiracy theory, further dividing the country and roiling the presidency.

The list of the worst Russia collusion conspiracy theorists is an extensive one and is divided into seven categories: journalists, House Democrats, former Obama administration officials, intel insiders who “know” stuff, Twitter personalities, Never Trumpers, and celebrities. All of these individuals have disseminated Trump/Russia disinformation, misinformation, propaganda, and plain old poppycock to their large followings for years. Many of these people have not only been wrong on occasion, they’ve been spectacularly wrong — over and over again.

Journalists

This is perhaps the most disgraceful group because they have a duty to report the news honestly and responsibly but failed to provide the public with fair and objective coverage of the president. Even opinion journalists have a responsibility to base their assertions on facts and evidence, but these journalists’ hatred of Trump blinded them to the damage their evidence-free reporting was doing to divide the nation.

PoliZette reported on Monday that since May 2017, 533,074 web articles had been published about the special counsel’s Trump-Russia hoax, generating “245 million interactions — including likes, comments and shares — on Twitter and Facebook.”

Axios determined these findings by compiling data from social media analytics company NewsWhip. The Media Research Center (MRC) said that major media gave 2,284 minutes of coverage to the Russia probe.

Here’s a video mashup of Russia-obsessed journalists predicting the president’s imminent demise:

https://youtu.be/qjUvfZj-Fm0

The Intercept’s Glenn Greenwald in January tabulated “The 10 Worst, Most Embarrassing U.S. Media Failures on the Trump-Russia Story.” but all of the major mainstream media news outlets — Washington Post, New York Times, Politico, McClatchy, the Guardian, ABC, NBC, CBS, MSNBC, CNN and more have much to answer for.

Another lefty, Matt Taibbi took a blowtorch to the MSM’s Trump-Russia coverage in his post: “It’s official: Russiagate is this generation’s WMD.”

Stories have been coming out for some time now hinting Mueller’s final report might leave audiences “disappointed,” as if a President not being a foreign spy could somehow be bad news. Openly using such language has, all along, been an indictment. Imagine how tone-deaf you’d have to be to not realize it makes youlook bad, when news does not match audience expectations you raised. To be unaware of this is mind-boggling, the journalistic equivalent of walking outside without pants. There will be people protesting: the Mueller report doesn’t prove anything! What about the 37 indictments? The convictions? The Trump tower revelations? The lies! The meeting with Don, Jr.? The financial matters!There’s an ongoing grand jury investigation, and possible sealed indictments, and the House will still investigate, and… Stop. Just stop. Any journalist who goes there is making it worse.

A CNN story bylined by Evan Perez, Jim Sciutto, Jake Tapper, and Carl Bernstein, headlined, “Intel chiefs presented Trump with claims of Russian efforts to compromise him,” got the Russia-collusion ball rolling in January of 2017. It was all downhill from there.

The following individual journalists stood out as the most committed defenders of the deep state and slingers of Russia collusion mud.

Brian Stelter

Stelter is the chief media correspondent for CNN and host of the CNN show Reliable Sources, but he is one of the most consistently unreliable sources in the MSM. Stelter wrote a post in March of 2017 ridiculing conservative media and the president for advancing the “conspiracy theory” that the Obama administration was “tapping” his phones in October of 2017.

It was later discovered that the FBI had secured surveillance warrants to spy on Trump adviser Carter Page.

“Through a single warrant, government agents can tap phone calls, texts, emails and bank records” from all of a subject’s “direct contacts as well as everyone who contacts those people or even visits their Facebook pages or websites,” Full Measure’s Sharyl Attkisson explained last month. “In this way, one analysis found intel agencies can use one legal wiretap to access to 25,000 people’s phones.”

Consider at least a half dozen Trump officials were caught in the FBI surveillance dragnet, according to news reports: campaign chair Manafort, multiple “transition officials” including Lt. General Michael Flynn and Jared Kushner, and adviser Carter Page— who was wiretapped over and over though never charged with anything.

Trump had every reason to be horrified and incensed.

Here’s what Stelter wrote in his post “debunking” this right-wing “conspiracy theory.”

There is no evidence to back up this theory. While the government has been investigating Russian attempts to interfere with the election, a spokesman for Obama called any suggestion that Obama or any White House official ordered surveillance against Trump “simply false.” “Most reporters I know are digging on this,” CNN’s Jake Tapper tweeted on Sunday. “But every current intel voice is saying they know of nothing to back up this claim.” Former CIA officer and independent presidential candidate Evan McMullin said on CNN’s “New Day” Monday morning that Trump is “taking action based on information he’s receiving from far-right, conspiratorial media outlets.” “That is highly concerning,” he said.

Incredibly, that post is still up, years after it was revealed that the FBI did indeed abuse FISA warrants to spy on the Trump campaign.

Jim Acosta

Acosta is CNN’s Trump-hating White House reporter who is known for criticizing virtually everything the president does and contradicting everything he says, especially as it regards Russia.

For example, in early 2017, he questioned the president’s claim that only “three or four” intelligence agencies had determined Russia was attempting to influence the 2016 election, as opposed to the “17 intelligence agencies” Obama administration officials had claimed and the New York Times had erroneously reported.

“Where does that number come from?” Acosta wondered about the “three or four” figure. He went on to call Trump’s claim “fake news.”

However, the “three or four” figure comes from the correction notes posted by the New York Times and Associated Press this week retracting their claim that all 17 agencies played a part. Acosta must not have read the corrections.

Manu Raju

In December of 2017, CNN reporter Raju was involved in”one of the most humiliating spectacles in the history of the U.S. media,” Glenn Greenwald wrote at The Intercept.

With a tone so grave and bombastic that it is impossible to overstate, CNN went on the air and announced a major exclusive: Donald Trump, Jr. was offered by email advanced access to the trove of DNC and Podesta emails published by WikiLeaks – meaning before those emails were made public. *** There was, alas, just one small problem with this massive, blockbuster story: it was totally and completely false. The email which Trump, Jr. received that directed him to the WikiLeaks archive was sent afterWikiLeaks published it online for the whole world to see, not before. Rather than some super secretive operative giving Trump, Jr. advanced access, as both CNN and MSNBC told the public for hours they had confirmed, it was instead just some totally pedestrian message from a random member of the public suggesting Trump, Jr. review documents the whole world was already talking about. All of the anonymous sources CNN and MSNBC cited somehow all got the date of the email wrong.

CNN is leading the way in bashing BuzzFeed but it's worth remembering CNN had a humiliation at least as big & bad: when they yelled that Trump Jr. had advanced access to the WL archive (!): all based on a wrong date. They removed all the segments from YouTube, but this remains: pic.twitter.com/0jiA50aIku — Glenn Greenwald (@ggreenwald) January 19, 2019

Rachel Maddow

Trump-Russia conspiracy theories have been a ratings bonanza for the MSNBC host, and she milks it for all it’s worth. Here is just a small sample of the type of lunacy she’s been peddling for the past couple of years:

So after dramatically revealing to her audience that North Korea has a border with Russia — gasp — Maddow tonight went on an extended dot-connecting monologue where she darkly intimates that maybe somehow the real beneficiary of the Trump/Kim summit was… PUTIN. Beyond parody pic.twitter.com/a9bEwWn6l1 — Michael Tracey (@mtracey) June 13, 2018

6) @maddow suggests that Putin is behind Tillerson being picked as Trump's Secretary of State. Months later when Tillerson is fired, @maddow suggests it's because he criticized Russia. https://t.co/wbvvYjuV0e https://t.co/YjzOIShDl8 — Aaron Maté (@aaronjmate) April 11, 2018

7) In Jan 2017, Maddow says the pee tape may force a US military withdrawal in Eastern Europe: https://t.co/Ho6wb6ondb — Aaron Maté (@aaronjmate) April 12, 2018

MSNBC's Rachel Maddow sees a "Russia Connection" lurking around every corner https://t.co/vSnNP1I3Zx by @aaronjmate pic.twitter.com/D9k59uB9I4 — The Intercept (@theintercept) April 12, 2017

It’s no wonder that when Mueller’s report came down with no further indictments and a conclusion of no Russian meddling, she was on the verge of tears.

MSNBC host Rachel Maddow kept it together on Friday night, but just barely https://t.co/pqpDZIUXYx — Daily Caller (@DailyCaller) March 24, 2019

Benjamin Wittes

Who is Benjamin Wittes? He’s a journalist who co-founded the Lawfare blog who focuses on issues of national security and law. He’s also a friend of James Comey and was the primary source for the New York Times’ Comey memo article by Michael Schmidt regarding Trump’s demand for Comey’s loyalty.

Wittes has been a huge promoter of the Russia hoax, “infamously tweeting cannon gifs every time a new sensational report came out that advanced the Russia collusion narrative,” as Breitbart noted.

Carl Bernstein

The veteran journalist of Watergate fame squandered much of his credibility during the Trump era, peddling Russia-collusion trutherism.

Carl Bernstein Trump/Russia/Comey "we have a President that is being closed in by the most effective special prosecutor Bob Mueller we have" pic.twitter.com/0uBQLSnBMm — This Is Not Normal (@NetworkJunkyz) June 8, 2017

‘Oh my god, there’s a cover-up going on’: Carl Bernstein accuses Trump of ‘impeding’ Russia probe https://t.co/L3gn7LQOPY #TrumpRussia pic.twitter.com/dbuNUuZqzT — Khary Penebaker *Text MIKE to 80510* (@kharyp) April 27, 2017

Carl Bernstein on Kushner/Trump/Russia – "Follow the lies and follow the money." pic.twitter.com/1HTneN8xUU — This Is Not Normal (@NetworkJunkyz) May 26, 2017

Carl Bernstein on the Trump/Russia cover up – "The FBI is trying to penetrate what it knows is a cover up." pic.twitter.com/0t6qtknRf6 — This Is Not Normal (@NetworkJunkyz) June 1, 2017

In 2017, the CNN contributor mused that if President Trump is found to have colluded with Russia to win the election, it is “worse than Watergate in many, many ways” because “we have a president of the United States who lies about almost anything.”

In January of this year, Bernstein said that he had been told that a draft of Mueller’s final report showed Trump helped Putin “destabilize” the U.S.

Here he is just a few days ago predicting more indictments coming down on Trump.

Veteran journalist @carlbernstein and former White House counsel John Dean say they think more indictments will likely drop around the time the Mueller report is released https://t.co/olq6ZZzNQr pic.twitter.com/fDlb7byuD0 — CNN (@CNN) March 22, 2019

On Sunday, he defended the media’s abysmal coverage of President Donald Trump and the Russia probe, saying that the press “has done one of the greatest reporting jobs” in the history of presidential coverage.

Absolving journalists. @CarlBernstein on @ReliableSources: “The press has done one of the great reporting jobs in the history, especially of covering a presidency by the most news organizations.” Disinformation and lying “hasn’t come from the press. It’s come from POTUS” pic.twitter.com/JxKEgU1hG0 — Brent Baker (@BrentHBaker) March 24, 2019

Joy Reid

The MSNBC talking head actually wondered aloud on the air if President Trump would allow himself to be arrested by U.S. authorities.

MSNBC's Joy Reid: What If Trump Refuses To Be Arrested By Federal Marshals? https://t.co/VioODzMreR — NEWS MAKER (@NEWS_MAKER) April 9, 2018

Now that Mueller’s investigation has concluded, Reid suggested that Mueller has engaged in a cover-up.

Here's @JoyAnnReid arguing that because Trump "essential controls" DOJ & Barr didn't recuse himself, "it feels like the seeds of a cover-up are here." It actually feels like those who've peddled a conspiracy theory for 2+ years are peddling a new one to cover up its failure: pic.twitter.com/zG8uNjmqpD — Aaron Maté (@aaronjmate) March 23, 2019

David Corn

Corn of Mother Jones, is one of the more insidious operators in the RussiaGate saga because he is left-wing propagandist masquerading as a journalist and was involved in the hoax early on.

He was the first reporter to seize on Christopher Steele’s unverified opposition research in an October 2016 piece: “A Veteran Spy Has Given the FBI Information Alleging a Russian Operation to Cultivate Donald Trump.”

The piece didn’t have pee, Prague, or Page in it, but it did say Russian intelligence had material that could “blackmail” Trump. It was technically kosher to print because Corn wasn’t publishing the allegations themselves, merely that the FBI had taken possession of them.

In their 2018 book Russian Roulette, Corn and co-author Michael Isikoff accused Trump and his campaign team of aiding and abetting the Russian plot to meddle in the 2016 election “by trying to collude with the Russians.”

Isikoff at least later admitted that most of the garbage in the Steele dossier was unproven. Corn, a committed left-wing propagandist, will never do so.

He was covering up a crime. I will explain in an article soon. https://t.co/0QwlAsPtNx — David Corn (@DavidCornDC) February 16, 2018

Today is a good day to remind people that @DonaldJTrumpJr eagerly accepted an invitation to join a secret Kremlin plot to help his father become president at the same time Russia was mounting an attack against the United States. And Kushner and Manafort were in on it, too. — David Corn (@DavidCornDC) July 13, 2018

Don't forget the key component of the Trump-Russia scandal: Trump aided and abetted the Kremlin's attack on the 2016 election. Here's how Cohen's testimony relates to that. https://t.co/NcOZsXCFR0 — David Corn (@DavidCornDC) February 27, 2019

Joe Scarborough and Mika Brzezinski

Since Trump’s inauguration, MSNBC’s Morning Joe, duo has attacked the president relentlessly on any number of topics, including the Russia hoax.

In January of this year, Mika declared that she was “100 percent” sure that Trump is a Russian asset.

https://youtu.be/PMBZSSAcoFs

During a March 26 segment, Scarborough doubled down on the media’s shabby, biased coverage of the Mueller investigation, slamming President Trump and conservative media for criticizing them.

“I’d pose this question to everyone watching,” he said. “What would you have had the media do over the past two years when Donald Trump lied throughout the 2016 campaign about his contacts with Russia? Why would Donald Trump lie about Russia?”

Ken Dilanian

Nicknamed “Fusion Ken” because of his alleged working relationship with left-wing opposition research firm Fusion GPS, NBC’s Dilanian has peddled many spurious stories regarding Trump-Russia based on anonymous sources.

During a January 2018 interview with MSNBC’s Chuck Todd, Dilanian defended Fusion GPS, the firm behind the discredited Steele dossier, saying “they have a good reputation, their facts speak for themselves and they are standing behind their work.”

Following the Senate Judiciary testimony of Fusion GPS’ Glenn Simpson in late August of 2017, Dilanian ran an explosive story implying that the Russians were giving money to the RNC.

Paul Manafort’s notes from a controversial Trump Tower meeting with Russians during the 2016 presidential campaign included a mention of political contributions near a reference to the Republican National Committee, two sources briefed on the evidence told NBC News.

The notes actually referenced “Cyprus,” “active sponsors of RNC,” and “Russian adoptions by American families.”

https://twitter.com/TrumpEra_2017/status/937495689160019969

https://twitter.com/TrumpEra_2017/status/939313221005082624

As news broke on March 22 that the Mueller investigation had concluded and there would be no new indictments, Dilanian suggested that just because there wasn’t a crime it does not mean there was not a scandal. He also threw a bone to the Resistance, saying Trump may still have committed “impeachable” offenses.

When the Senate Intelligence Committee concluded that it had found no evidence that Trump had colluded with Russia, Dilanian threw in an added caveat:

To be clear, the Senate intelligence committee has not found evidence exonerating Trump, either. https://t.co/IBkI2zdoq0 — Ken Dilanian (@KenDilanianNBC) February 12, 2019

Natasha Bertrand

Bertrand is a young reporter who covers national security and the intelligence community for The Atlantic. She also makes frequent appearances on MSNBC and is an NBC News contributor and, like her colleague Dilanian, she seems to have a close working relationship with Fusion GPS’s Glenn Simpson.

In a September 2018 profile on “media know-nothings,” American Greatness’ Julie Kelly noted that Bertrand tends to get “a bit over her skis” on the Trump-Russia story.

Nearly two years after the FBI formally began an investigation into Trump’s campaign and 14 months after the start of Mueller’s probe—both empty-handed so far on Russian collusion crimes—Bertrand wrote a piece titled, “The Case for a Trump-Russia Conspiracy Just Got a Little Stronger.” Unfortunately, her article relied on a widely-discredited CNN story that claimed Trump’s personal lawyer, Michael Cohen, would testify that Trump knew about the infamous June 2016 Trump Tower meeting. (Lanny Davis has since recanted his comments about Cohen’s knowledge.) The Atlantic, unlike other outlets, has not corrected her article. Bertrand often runs cover for Fusion GPS, the firm hired by the Democratic National Committee and Hillary Clinton campaign to dig up Russia-related dirt on Trump. She tweets about Fusion—a lot. She occasionally refers to Fusion’s co-owner Glenn Simpson as “Glenn” and insisted there was no reason for congressional investigators to be looking at him. She also wrongly claimed Natalia Veselnitskya, the Russian lawyer at the Trump Tower meeting, was not tied to Fusion.

I’m just going to leave this here. People like @NatashaBertrand should be run out of town. How can people like this ever work as a reporter ever again? pic.twitter.com/ywkXiwIPlU — JenniferW (@JenWoodruff79) March 24, 2019

Jonathan Chait

In a NY Mag piece in July of 2018, Chait wrote an irresponsible piece about the president’s upcoming summit with Vladimir Putin, titled: “Will Trump be Meeting With his Counterpart – or his Handler?” The article’s subhead: “a plausible theory of mind-boggling collusion.” In the story, Chait suggested that Trump has been a Russian asset since 1987.

Congressional Democrats

Rep. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.)

Obviously, the top Russia hoax peddler in Washington, D.C. is Rep. Adam Schiff, aka the Jussie Smollett of the Russian collusion hoax. Schiff has claimed repeatedly that he has seen evidence of Russia collusion among members of the Trump campaign.

Between January 2017 and February 2018, according to one analysis, Schiff appeared in 227 news interviews to peddle his phony story. Much like Smollett, Schiff was portrayed in glowing terms by a sympathetic media as an accidental hero. “Youthful, with a ruddy and cheerful visage, Schiff, 56, whose wife is actually named Eve, comes off like the guy who in high school talked to his prom date’s mother in the kitchen about the goings-on at the community garden,” gushed a New York Times reporter in March 2017.

The ranking member of the House Intelligence Committee demanded a congressional investigation into alleged collusion; suggested that communications between the Russian ambassador and then National Security Advisor Michael Flynn were illegal; and remains weirdly fixated on taking down Donald Trump, Jr. on the basis of a brief meeting the president’s son had with Russian lobbyists at Trump Tower a few months before the election.

Schiff once accused Fox News host Tucker Carlson of “carrying water for the Kremlin” after being asked questions about John Podesta’s hacked emails.

Just last month, Schiff said on CNN’s State of the Union: “You can see evidence in plain sight on the issue of collusion, pretty compelling evidence. Now, there’s a difference between seeing evidence of collusion and being able to prove a criminal conspiracy beyond a reasonable doubt.”

There’s also reportedly evidence in plain sight that Schiff “colluded” with Fusion GPS co-founder Glenn Simpson in Aspen last summer, but the MSM doesn’t seem to be interested in that.

Other notable miscreants in Congress who went above and beyond the call of duty to spread the Russia collusion manure:

Rep. Eric Swalwell (D-Calif.)

Swalwell has been one of the more aggressive peddlers of the fake Russia conspiracy theory, accusing the president of collusion in appearances all over the media.

Eric Swalwell: "I do believe there are indictments waiting for this president."https://t.co/fIUm3gRIua — Kyle Griffin (@kylegriffin1) March 19, 2019

After the Mueller report concluded with no charges of conspiracy, Swalwell doubled down on his previous overwrought statements regarding collusion, making the incredible assertion that the only person who had made false statements about Russia was the president.

“I have seen the Trump campaign for myself and others and to that, I would say the only person who has made false statements about Russia is Donald Trump,” he said. “I stand by what I said about seeing evidence of collusion. If he has a problem with that, he can sue me. And I promise you I would win in court,” Swalwell added.

Rep. Ted Lieu (D-Calif.)

"If there is evidence of collusion, the Democrats are not only fired up, but now there’s fuel on the fire." —Rep Ted Lieu on @MSNBC pic.twitter.com/EYnOcdO0pW — Kyle Griffin (@kylegriffin1) May 10, 2017

"It's very clear there was collusion," @tedlieu tells me/@cheddar. "Was Donald Trump involved? That's what the House Judiciary Committee will investigate and find out." pic.twitter.com/YsBVQStDkr — j.d. durkin (@jiveDurkey) January 25, 2019

"It's not surprising that Donald Trump is increasing his attacks (on the Russia probe). The walls are closing in on him. … When defendants can't rely on the facts or the law they resort to attacking law enforcement." – Rep. @tedlieu https://t.co/8oCjtRQ4w1 pic.twitter.com/aWAoQHfHdH — OutFrontCNN (@OutFrontCNN) July 30, 2018

Rep. Maxine Waters (D-Calif.)

No surprise the FBI questioned Trump's allegiance to US! He meets w/ Putin 5 times in secret w/ no readout; gave Russians classified info in WH; disregarded US intel on Russia; praised Putin's election; lies abt his deals in Russia. Is there any question Trump is a Russian agent? — Maxine Waters (@RepMaxineWaters) January 14, 2019

Back in 2017, I dubbed Trump & his allies w/ all their ties to Russia and Ukraine, the "Kremlin Klan". I believed Trump colluded with Russians & has been obstructing justice before our eyes. What more do we need to see? https://t.co/mCGNh0bheh via @YouTube — Maxine Waters (@RepMaxineWaters) January 14, 2019

Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.)

Joaquin Castro (D-Texas)

Rep. Joaquin Castro on the Russia investigation: I wouldn't be surprised if some Trump associates end up in jail https://t.co/x2xaY11EsM pic.twitter.com/4zw1YleKVL — CNN (@CNN) April 4, 2017

Senator Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.)

Sorry, Mr. President, your campaign’s collusion with Russia would be a crime – conspiracy to violate campaign finance laws, or defraud the US, just for starters. Courts of law will decide. https://t.co/siBaWWbmb7 — Richard Blumenthal (@SenBlumenthal) December 29, 2017

“There are indictments in this president’s future,” Sen. Richard Blumenthal predicted on MSNBC’s Morning Joe just last week. “They’re coming. Whether they’re after his presidency or during it.”

Former Obama Administration Officials

While most former Obama officials have had the good sense to stay clear of the “RussiaGate” conspiracy (especially those who were involved), there have been a few who have distinguished themselves as absolute “chatty Kathies” on the subject.

Hillary Clinton

Hillary Clinton’s campaign got the ball rolling in 2016 by bankrolling the anti-Trump dossier and then acting coy on Twitter:

Seriously, what is going on with Trump and Russia? https://t.co/N6ySNILYMx — Hillary Clinton (@HillaryClinton) August 6, 2016

Clinton memorably called Trump Putin’s “puppet” during a presidential debate.

She called him a “puppet” again in January of this year.

Hillary Clinton also reportedly argued that Russians “could not have known how to weaponize” political ads on social media unless they’d been “guided” by Americans. Asked if she meant Trump, she replied, “It’s pretty hard not to.”

James Clapper

Obama’s former Director of National Intelligence James Clapper is encouraged to drop enticing comments like: “I wonder if the Russians have something on Trump?” as part of his contributor gig on CNN.

Clapper seems to have flatly lied when he told Chuck Todd on March 5, 2017, that there had been no FISA application involving Trump or his campaign. “I can deny it,” he said.

It soon after came out this wasn’t true. The FBI had a FISA warrant on Carter Page. This was not a small misstatement by Clapper, because his appearance came a day after Trump claimed in a tweet he’d had his “wires tapped.”

In later appearances on MSNB, the former DNI chief was never challenged on this point.

Last month, Clapper said that he agreed with fired former acting FBI Director Andrew McCabe’s opinion that Trump “could be a Russian asset,” adding the caveat that this treachery could be “witting or unwitting.” He said it was “a really painful thing for him to say.”

Clapper has also stated that he thinks Russia swung the election for Trump, leaving it up to our imaginations as to why.

He said that Trump’s firing of Comey was considered by Russia to be “another victory on the scoreboard.”

James Clapper says Russia likely sees Pres. Trump's firing of FBI Dir. Comey as "another victory on the scoreboard" https://t.co/FjsyqAX2DG pic.twitter.com/YOfa6gDRYe — ABC News (@ABC) May 15, 2017

John Brennan

Obama’s CIA Director is in a class by himself when it comes to peddling Russia conspiracy theories. Brennan has gone on television and Twitter repeatedly to accuse President Trump of committing treason and being an agent of the Russian government. Last August the former spook said that President Trump “yanked his security clearance because his campaign colluded with the Russians to sway the 2016 election and is now desperate to end the special counsel’s investigation.”

“Trump clearly has become more desperate to protect himself and those close to him, which is why he made the politically motivated decision to revoke my security clearance in an attempt to scare into silence others who might dare to challenge him,” he wrote in an opinion piece in The New York Times.

Last August he said on MSNBC’s Morning Joe that he thought Russia may have some kind of “personally” compromising information on the president. “The Russians, I think, have had long experience with Mr. Trump, and may have things that they could expose,” he said.

He unleashed this torrent of hate against the president on Twitter after he fired former Deputy FBI Director Andrew McCabe.

When the full extent of your venality, moral turpitude, and political corruption becomes known, you will take your rightful place as a disgraced demagogue in the dustbin of history. You may scapegoat Andy McCabe, but you will not destroy America…America will triumph over you. https://t.co/uKppoDbduj — John O. Brennan (@JohnBrennan) March 17, 2018

Here is Brennan just two weeks ago talking about Mueller issuing more indictments regarding the Trump campaign’s “criminal conspiracy” with the Russians, musing that the special counsel was waiting to indict members of Trump’s immediate family in “his final act.”

John Brennan has a lot to answer for—going before the American public for months, cloaked with CIA authority and openly suggesting he’s got secret info, and repeatedly turning in performances like this. pic.twitter.com/EziCxy9FVQ — Terry Moran (@TerryMoran) March 25, 2019

Here he is on March 20 crowing that the president is in a “panic” because the special counsel would soon be making his life more “complicated.”

Hmmm…your bizarre tweets and recent temper tantrums reveal your panic over the likelihood the Special Counsel will soon further complicate your life, putting your political & financial future in jeopardy. Fortunately, Lady Justice does not do NDAs. https://t.co/ktFRevlOcd — John O. Brennan (@JohnBrennan) March 20, 2019

As Republicans reignite calls for a special counsel to investigate the Obama administration’s surveillance abuse, certain individuals may be starting to panic, but they’re not the president or his family.

Intel Insiders and “Experts” Who “Know” Stuff

John Schindler

John Schindler is a former National Security Agency intelligence analyst and counterintelligence officer who writes for the Observer and his own blog, The XXCommittee. He used to be a fairly reliable source for intelligence-related stories, but something about Donald Trump turned him into an incontinent conspiracy-monger.

A small sample of his tweets:

All Putin's ratfuckers are terrified now & lashing out, from POTUS on down. Enjoy this, they know what comes next. So do we. :) — John Schindler (@20committee) March 5, 2017

Flynn and his son have both been on the Kremlin's payroll. Verified by top-level NATO intel. They're traitors who deserve a traitor's fate. — John Schindler (@20committee) January 13, 2017

Now we go nuclear. IC war going to new levels. Just got an EM fm senior IC friend, it began: "He will die in jail."https://t.co/e6FxCclVqT — John Schindler (@20committee) February 15, 2017

“What if the real secret of the Trump campaign isn’t that it’s a Kremlin operation, rather an Israeli operation masquerading as a Russian one?” — John Schindler (@20committee) June 5, 2018

Ralph Peters

Another one who has gone off the deep end is, sadly, retired United States Army Lieutenant Colonel Ralph Peters — who was a conservative favorite for years when he appeared on Fox News to rant about Obama. Now he appears on MSNBC to deliver Russia-obsessed diatribes against Trump. Maybe Peters is just a contrarian who likes to fulminate against whoever is in power — in which case, he’d better hope that his left-wing audience doesn’t remember him calling their favorite president “a total pussy” on live television.

𝗢𝘃𝗮𝗹 𝗢𝗳𝗳𝗶𝗰𝗲 𝗧𝗿𝗲𝗮𝘀𝗼𝗻: Trump is a slobbering slave to Vladimir Putin. Obviously afraid. Yesterday's spectacle of groveling before Putin. Ari Melber » Col Ralph Peters » MSNBC NBC » @TheBeatWithAri pic.twitter.com/XE8HwMkoAt — Kyle Andrew Brown (@kylemillennial) July 18, 2018

Tom Nichols

He’s an “expert,” so pay attention.

Just now @MalcolmNance said the truth concisely and directly on @MSNBC : This is, without exception, the worst scandal in the history of the United States. — Tom Nichols (@RadioFreeTom) January 12, 2019

I have some thoughts on the Trump #Russia news. | All signs point the same way: Vladimir Putin has compromising information on Donald Trump https://t.co/CP4D5yfHCD via @usatoday — Tom Nichols (@RadioFreeTom) January 13, 2019

The president's tweet this morning is frightening, not because of anything it said, but because it was panicky and strange. It will be of great interest in Moscow to see the President of the United States blaming his own public for letting a Russian operation succeed. — Tom Nichols (@RadioFreeTom) February 18, 2018

Okay, since the post-FISA Russia gaslighting has begun, let's sum up why the Trumper arguments about "no collusion" and "no crime" and all that crap are not only wrong, but morally deficient. Yes, including the Fusion and Steele issue. /1 — Tom Nichols (@RadioFreeTom) July 31, 2018

Phil Mudd

Hoo-boy. There’s not enough room on this website for all the nutty things this former spook has said about the Russia investigation. Many of his appearances on CNN over the past several years went viral because his unhinged rants are highly entertaining.

Flashback 2017: Same lunatic on @CNN Phil Mudd said Trey Gowdy "ought to have his a** kicked" for asking former CIA Director Brennan if he had seen "evidence" of the Trump campaign colluding with Russia. https://t.co/AL1Ho6Teg3 https://t.co/YYCeAL3NlJ — Nick Short 🇺🇸 (@PoliticalShort) February 4, 2018

"Purposely Misleading" CIA expert phil mudd on trump "crooked scheme" distraction. NSA unmasking shows volume of trump contacts with Russia — Christopher C. Cuomo (@ChrisCuomo) April 4, 2017

#PhilMudd explains why the #Flynn memo should terrify #Trump: 'There's a size-16 shoe about to drop' The quantity of information together, the fact that there’s a specific reference to Russia, THREE ONGOING INVESTIGATIONS mentioned in that document#MOGhttps://t.co/Ctfrv1IMdT — Michael O'Grady (@mog7546) December 5, 2018

Phil Mudd on Trump not defending the U.S. diplomats being expelled from Russia: "Government's going to kill this guy." pic.twitter.com/25LWhEQVuf — JHD (@lizhasaplan) August 10, 2017

Whoa boy – Phil Mudd weighs in on Hannity's show last night: "You got that dirt bag telling me that one of the most storied FBI directors ever is a crime boss? … Facts are facts: Mueller's an American legend, the president is a dirt bag. Idk what to tell you, I'm pissed off" pic.twitter.com/gzqgifCZxU — Lis Power (@LisPower1) April 12, 2018

Malcolm Nance

MSNBC contributor Malcolm Nance is a media commentator on terrorism, intelligence, insurgency and torture who regularly calls the president a “Russian asset” and thinks that the Trump-Russia collusion scandal “could eclipse Benedict Arnold.”

Last October, the Russi-obsessed Trump critic said that the president wants the same kind of authority held by the Russian oligarchy.

“He has grown up knowing nothing, but what he has grown up is how to convince people to vote against their own interests. What he wants is, he wants a nation that is no longer America,” Nance said. “He wants to be like the Russian oligarchy.”

During March 24 appearance on A.M. Joy, Nance said: “I’ve said this 100 times today. Everyone repeat after me,” Nance said. “The single most serious scandal in the history of the United States: Was the president of the United States an agent of the enemy of the United States?”

He later added: “This could technically eclipse Benedict Arnold who at least did it for money, you know. But we’re talking a president here in control of the country under the sway of a foreign power.”

Mind you, he said this after the news broke that there would be no new indictments in the Mueller report.

Laurence Tribe

Tribe is a lawyer and the Carl M. Loeb University Professor at Harvard Law School who embraces wild RussiaGate conspiracy theories on a regular basis.

Watch: Legal expert Laurence Tribe explains how Trump’s ‘collusion’ with Russia has already been proven https://t.co/X047zyKAOA — Raw Story (@RawStory) August 17, 2018

This laser-like focus by @RepAdamSchiff on whether Trump is NOW COMPROMISED — even if there was no prior collusion with Russia and has been no post-election criminal obstruction — is all the more important in light of AG Barr’s summary of Mueller’s report. https://t.co/PpBJe6GlgH — Laurence Tribe (@tribelaw) March 24, 2019

https://twitter.com/PalmerReport/status/882472620284940290

Bradley P. Moss

Moss is a “national security” lawyer, contributor to the anti-Trump Lawfare blog, and frequent tweeter.

A sample of his RussiaGate coverage:

Trump’s Purge of the FBI Is Complete

With the odd firing of Peter Strzok, the president has cleansed the bureau of the men who started the Russia investigation. This is not normal.

By BRADLEY P. MOSShttps://t.co/N2JAFYRPhV pic.twitter.com/TdbE8Rx4IZ — ©harlesRay (@gogh2666) August 14, 2018

‘All signs point to Mueller concluding in his report that the president engaged in obstruction of justice’⁰Bradley Moss, partner at the Washington, D.C., law office of Mark S. Zaid, P.C. https://t.co/4BnoZ7GsDM — Linda Hill (@bulldoghill) January 27, 2018

Dictionary definition of collusion: "Improper secret agreement between 2 or more entities to indulge in forbidden or illegitimate activity." Trump defenders' definition: "It doesn't apply to conspiracy to receive purported RU info on opponent or collaboration with RU cut-outs." https://t.co/pHxQl72DXd — Bradley P. Moss (@BradMossEsq) May 25, 2018

Grifters and Weirdos on Twitter

Krassenstein brothers

These 30-something twin brothers gained prominence in “the Resistance” due to their never-ending barrage of obnoxiously stupid anti-Trump tweets. In recent years, the feds have accused the shysters of hawking illegal internet investment scams.

The “reckoning” for these two could get expensive — and awkward if they make good on their promise to marry each other if Mueller doesn’t indict Trump.

https://twitter.com/krassenstein/status/990035580045152256

https://twitter.com/krassenstein/status/1109880809492635648

Pucker Up Buttercup pic.twitter.com/EaYckvhZCk — Matt Couch 🎙 (@RealMattCouch) March 23, 2019

Louise Mensch

I’m still not completely convinced she wasn’t trolling the left with a parody account this whole time.

My sources say the death penalty, for espionage, being considered for @StevenKBannon. I am pro-life and take no pleasure in reporting this. — Louise Mensch (@LouiseMensch) July 19, 2017

being considered for others. Guiliani begged for a deal and was told to pound sand. He sang completely for "consideration" at sentencing — Louise Mensch (@LouiseMensch) July 19, 2017

Re all the nice pictures of Rudy Giuliani and the Russians yesterday.

Last I heard, he was singing like a bird to @FBI and @AGSchneiderman — Louise Mensch (@LouiseMensch) May 10, 2017

Prepare for Trump and Pence to have their election voided. Hear me on this . It is coming. https://t.co/2T5Gx3B0qD — Louise Mensch (@LouiseMensch) June 7, 2017

Donald Trump, you colluded with the Russian state to win a US election. Then you and your elder children literally, in terms, sold US foreign policy for money. There’s SIGINT on that – from more than one nation. You are a traitor, and you’re going to die in jail. https://t.co/99qR8a72o5 — Louise Mensch (@LouiseMensch) November 15, 2018

No ma'am. We may indeed be arguing definitions, TraitorIntheHouse @jasoninthehouse decided he "had to resign" for some treason how's that foot doing, slime boy? — Louise Mensch (@LouiseMensch) December 1, 2018

Eric Garland

Garland is one of the more clownish Russia conspiracy theorists using the platform, yet he has 181,000 Twitter followers. Therefore, his unhinged tweetstorms have had major influence.

He promotes himself as a “Strategic intelligence analyst” and expert on all things having to do with Trump-Russia.

Garland became a star with the Resistance with his nutty “game theory” thread after the 2016 election:

<THREAD> I’m now hearing this meme that says Obama, Clinton, et al. are doing nothing, just gave up. Guys. It’s time for some game theory. — Eric Garland (@ericgarland) December 11, 2016

Some other sample tweets:

Trump is ready to be indicted, according to sources. Which…should be obvious. https://t.co/qDY9zfYqQd — Eric Garland (@ericgarland) March 10, 2019

Trump is threatening us with Russian Mob biker gangs? He can't be president. Remove that Mobster scumbag fuck. The Republic survives. https://t.co/96tYrBqRUo — Eric Garland (@ericgarland) March 14, 2019

BREAKING!!! THE TRUMP CAMPAIGN HAD RUSSIAN SPY TIES! WE'RE SUPER CEREAL! https://t.co/h0FgedxUTR — Eric Garland (@ericgarland) December 29, 2018

Amy Siskind

Resistance warrior Amy Siskind’s intense tweets sometimes make news — and never in a good way.

Putin didn’t pick Trump because he thought Trump was a great man – just the opposite. Russia profiled Trump and realized he would sell out our country for his own self-interests. He was a pliable contact who could easily be bought and blackmailed. — Amy Siskind 🏳️‍🌈 (@Amy_Siskind) January 13, 2019

I’m pretty sure Trump’s attorney Rudy Giuliani just told CNN that the Trump campaign colluded with Russia. But that it’s okay. And in other news, it’s Wednesday. — Amy Siskind 🏳️‍🌈 (@Amy_Siskind) January 17, 2019

Just note we are talking about this and this, and NOT Trump, his family and regime's collusion with RUSSIA! pic.twitter.com/Myw3BE2aEw — Amy Siskind 🏳️‍🌈 (@Amy_Siskind) August 11, 2017

Like most of these grifters, she’s hawking a book to her 303,000 followers:

In fairness, I am the scribe of history in the era of Trump which as of now occupies 35 hour per week. Your question was for me to do more, which I do, but I don’t have time to lead a march. Follow my feed and buy my book and stay informed. — Amy Siskind 🏳️‍🌈 (@Amy_Siskind) May 27, 2018

Scott Dworkin

A longtime Democrat political operative and fundraiser, Scott Dworkin is yet another Resistance leader who uses Twitter to disseminate Russia collusion nonsense. He has 451,000 followers.

It’s almost a certainty Mueller has hard indisputable evidence proving Trump committed multiple felonies. Have a nice night @realDonaldTrump, you traitor. — Scott Dworkin (@funder) December 8, 2018

Whoa. More McConnell Russian ties. #WheresMitch? Maybe in Moscow? Anyone check the Kremlin? https://t.co/YSY7ndvRVS — Scott Dworkin (@funder) January 18, 2019

"A paper trail leads directly back to Mike Pence. Pence knew Michael Flynn was a paid foreign agent for Russia. Trump & Pence hired him anyways.” Scott Dworkin #AMJoy #Reiders https://t.co/mK7L0yJI2Y — Scott Dworkin (@funder) April 28, 2018

Trump must resign. He’s a traitor who conspired against the US with Russia, obstructed justice, made illegal payoffs, threatened witnesses, is under countless investigations and is now using the Barr summary to lie saying he’s cleared of all crimes ever. That’s MY report. Resign. — Scott Dworkin (@funder) March 25, 2019

I'm not saying Kanye West is involved at all in the #TrumpRussia scandal. But I AM saying he has Russian ties, and was there right after the 2016 election. https://t.co/CWl8LsBWml — Scott Dworkin (@funder) May 2, 2018

Jeffrey Guterman

Guterman, who, according to his website, is a licensed mental health counselor and the author of several counseling books, refers to the president as # tRump and was once visited by the Secret Service after tweeting that he wished the president would get pancreatic cancer and die. Last April, the Daily Mail featured some of his tweets celebrating the news that Trump Tower had caught on fire. He has 249,000 followers.

I have never heard a U.S. president asked if he worked for Russia. Another precedent, Mr. tRump. (Only anti-tRump folks are welcome to follow me.) pic.twitter.com/GQmrHmm4Yc — Jeffrey Guterman (@JeffreyGuterman) January 15, 2019

The Mueller report does NOT exonerate you of obstruction. The House will investigate you and you are being investigated by New York Attorney General. Enjoy years of presidential harassment! — Jeffrey Guterman (@JeffreyGuterman) March 24, 2019

Seth Abramson

Abramson is yet another prolific RussiaGate tweeter who hawks his book about Trump’s collusion with Russia on Twitter:

PROOF OF COLLUSION—a comprehensive, 450-page review of Trump-Russia collusion—has been called "spirited, thorough, and thunderously foreboding" by @KirkusReviews. It comes out Tuesday. You can preorder it now from the bookseller links at Simon & Schuster: https://t.co/TGDPIJSJ3l. pic.twitter.com/W0sW8lXoBZ — Seth Abramson (@SethAbramson) November 9, 2018

In his book, Abramson concludes that Trump and other members of his family should be charged with crimes.

He told Salon in January: “We should expect that impeachment proceedings will begin against Donald Trump at some point during 2019. We expect impeachment would pass once we have all the evidence that Robert Mueller has, which is much more than even what’s in ‘Proof of Collusion.’” Abramson continued, “The question would be whether 67 senators would vote to convict. If it’s looking like that’s going to happen, there’s a lot of speculation that Donald Trump would attempt to negotiate his resignation, in exchange for some sort of immunity from prosecution for him and his children. That would be an unprecedented maneuver by federal prosecutors, so I don’t even know if that’s possible.”

Peter Daou

Daou, a Democratic strategist who has advised Hillary Clinton and John Kerry, among others, boasts 239,000 followers and is another prolific #RussiaGate tweeter. Daou is the Hillary superfan who started the now-defunct pro-Hillary “Verrit” website after the 2016 election.

The Dem strategist’s #RussiaGate commentaries, not surprisingly, often include a jab at Republicans for aiding and abetting the treacherous president.

In a July 2017 piece in the Guardian, Daou declared that Republicans had decided to “follow Trump off a cliff of treachery.” He also once tweeted that “the Kremlin controls the GOP.”

TREASON POLL: The @nytimes reports that an FBI inquiry was opened into whether Trump was "secretly" working for Russia. Is it really a secret or has Trump openly done Putin's bidding (with the GOP's help)?#TrumpRussia #Mueller — Peter Daou (@peterdaou) January 12, 2019

The fact that Trump is Putin's lackey is as clear as day, and has been since 2016. The REAL question is how many GOP leaders are in on it.#TrumpRussia #Mueller #Treason — Peter Daou (@peterdaou) January 13, 2019

In March of 2017, Daou advocated that Trump be overthrown and replaced with Clinton.

“A hostile power helped elect our president,” Daou alleged. Daou said that if the investigation into alleged collusion between Russia and the Trump campaign yields evidence, then the scandal will become a “full-blown Constitutional crisis.” It’s Daou’s suggestion on what to do next that has people on social media mocking him. “At that point, the only fair and just resolution is to have popular vote winner Hillary Clinton take office. Or to hold a new election,” Daou tweeted.

Trump has racked up enough impeachable offenses to convict a dozen presidents, but the political establishment wants to censure …. #IlhanOmar?? What kind of gaslighting b.s. is this? — Peter Daou (@peterdaou) March 6, 2019

While you and your GOP cohorts are taking a victory lap, Vladimir Putin is laughing that the GOP is giving him a pass for interfering in our elections, the one thing we know for sure about this entire fiasco. https://t.co/Ca7Wehxeaz — Peter Daou (@peterdaou) March 26, 2019

Michael Avenatti

The former Resistance leader and potential 2020 presidential contender may now be fully discredited and indicted on multiple federal charges, but he had a tremendous run as a media golden boy throughout most of 2018. “Avenatti appeared on CNN and MSNBC over 100 times during a 10-week period last spring,” The Daily Caller reported.

During a protest in front of the White House last July, Avenatti called Trump “a Manchurian candidate.”

We had a tremendous crowd last night. Thank you @PhilippeReines @AdamParkhomenko @Alyssa_Milano and so many others for making it a reality. We must all demand answers as to why Mr. Trump continues to choose Putin and Russia over us! #Basta https://t.co/HXk0ZO0bVu via @YouTube — Michael Avenatti (@MichaelAvenatti) July 18, 2018

“Our troops didn't die in Yorktown, didn't take Normandy beach, didn't rebuild Europe and secure the postwar peace that you are now destroying, Mr. President, for you to live as a Manchurian candidate in our White House.” My speech in front of the White House moments ago. pic.twitter.com/eFYWuzzxaN — Michael Avenatti (@MichaelAvenatti) July 18, 2018

Donald Trump Jr. will be indicted before his birthday on 12-31-18. If you doubt my prediction, please check my record over the last 7 months. #Winning — Michael Avenatti (@MichaelAvenatti) October 11, 2018

HollyWeirdos

Kathy Griffin

Griffin, who is allegedly a comedienne, is a true believer in anything that can hurt Trump.

She cut to the chase with this tweet telling the president to “prepare for prison.”

Kathy Griffin TELLS Trump to ‘Shut The F*** Up,’ and ‘Prepare for Prison’… 😂😂https://t.co/ZrqUT5FYqG — Chuck Callesto (@ChuckCallesto) December 28, 2018

George Takei

Dedicated Resistance warrior George Takei (aka Mr. Sulu from Star Trek) hits President Trump constantly on any number of topics, including, of course, RussiaGate.

So, was lying about Russian connections a pre-requisite for a cabinet position, Donald? https://t.co/43gYsiDd5k — George Takei (@GeorgeTakei) November 5, 2017

Rob Reiner

Actor Rob Reiner aka “Meathead” frequently shows up on Twitter to accuse Trump of treason and other assorted crimes.

When Fox says that DT colluding with the enemy is not a crime, the fight to save Democracy is now an all out war. US-Stay strong. #Treason — Rob Reiner (@robreiner) June 25, 2017

Donald Trump is committing Treason against The United States of America. He is aiding and abetting the enemy in The War against Isis and The Cyberwar against Russia. He has turned the world’s oldest Democracy into a wholly owned subsidiary of Vladimir Putin. GOP, WAKE UP! — Rob Reiner (@robreiner) December 20, 2018

The biggest scandal in US history is coming into focus. On Friday Rachel Maddow made it clear. Donald Trump conspired with the enemy. Quid: Deliver the Presidency & build Trump Tower Moscow. Quo: Lift Economic Sanctions. The fat lady is warming up her vocal chords. — Rob Reiner (@robreiner) December 2, 2018

Joy Behar

The View host Joy Bahar despises President Trump and fully embraced the Trump-Russia conspiracy theories early on, repeatedly accusing him of engaging in “treasonous behavior.” For her, the Trump-Russia collusion narrative was likely always just a vehicle to hammer the president and advocate for his impeachment.

She let the cat out of the bag in January after the MSM botched the Covington story.

“Why do we keep making the same mistake?” Whoopie Goldberg asked.

“Because we’re desperate to get Trump out of office. That’s why,” Behar explained quite candidly.

Alyssa Milano

Actress Alyssa Milano is a committed anti-Trumper who has spoken of “holding the Trump administration accountable for collusion with Russia.”

Post Mueller, Milano tweeted that she won’t believe the special counsel report’s conclusions until she reads them herself.

Well, if there was nothing in the report why won’t they just release it? If the report fully exonerated him or his family, he’d have it all out in seconds. Wouldn’t he? — Alyssa Milano (@Alyssa_Milano) March 24, 2019

Bill Maher

Another celebrity who habitually throws out the words, “traitor” and “treason” to describe the president.

“I’ve been using the word ‘treason’ and ‘traitor’ for the whole time he’s been in office and every guest has been saying I was an alarmist and I was overstating the case,” Maher told MSNBC’s Chris Matthews in January. “I don’t hear that anymore. I hear those words used a lot more.”

I don’t need the Mueller report to know Trump is a traitor. I have a TV. w/@RepSwalwell #SubpoenaMueller pic.twitter.com/gmaljGGBvn — Bill Maher (@billmaher) March 23, 2019

See Breitbart News for a list of 50 celebrities who have accused the president of treason.

Never Trumpers

This despicable group of losers jumped on the Trump/Russia bandwagon as part of their ongoing efforts to damage Trump. Members of this erstwhile “conservative” group regularly appear on left-wing news broadcasts to lend their voices to the cacophony of negative news coverage of the president. Whether the reports are true or not, doesn’t seem to matter as long as it hurts Trump.

William Kristol

The godfather of the Never Trump movement seemed weirdly invested in Russia collusion delusion.

To the tune of Tradition, from Fiddler on the Roof Collusion, collusion!

Who, day and night, must scramble for a living,

Feed three wives and children, comb his daily hair?

And who has a right, as master of Trump Tower

To get some help from a foreign power?

Collusion, collusion! — Bill Kristol (@BillKristol) November 29, 2018

Bill Kristol predicted last August that “Mueller will find there was collusion between Trump associates and Putin operatives; that Trump knew about it; and that Trump sought to cover it up and obstruct its investigation.”

Lest we lose sight of the forest for the trees: It seems to me likely Mueller will find there was collusion between Trump associates and Putin operatives; that Trump knew about it; and that Trump sought to cover it up and obstruct its investigation.

What then?

Good question. — Bill Kristol (@BillKristol) August 9, 2018

https://twitter.com/StFerdinandIII/status/1110233660366704642

This, on the other hand, did not: https://t.co/2ZKj0LeZyv — Perpetuities (@perpetuities) March 24, 2019

Max Boot

This Never Trump phenom may have the impressive distinction of being wrong about every single major issue he’s ever written about. In January, he listed 18 reasons why Trump might be working with the Russians in a Washington Post piece.

Rick Wilson

Republican strategist Rick Wilson is another one who accused the president of being a traitor.

When asked in April 2018 if Donald Trump is a traitor, he answered: “I believe that Donald Trump has put the national interest of Russia above the national interest of the United States repeatedly. And by any definition I think that’s traitorous.”

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Steve Schmidt

During an interview in July of 2018 on MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow Show, Republican strategist Steve Schmidt called President Trump a “de facto” agent of Russia who is promoting the Kremlin’s strategic interests.

“He is an agent de facto of Russia’s foreign policy,” Schmidt said. “The foreign policies he’s advocating, the bipartisan consensus that existed pre-Trump between Republicans and Democrats would have recognized his foreign policy as clearly in the middle lane of the Kremlin’s strategic interests. To see it being advanced by an American president is as disturbing as it is shocking.”

During another appearance on the Rachel Maddow Show in December, Schmidt said Russia’s interference in the 2016 election and its potential collusion with the Trump campaign could be the “greatest crime in American history.”

Jen Rubin

Rubin is another Never Trumper who embraced the Russia collusion hoax early on.

The allegedly right-of-center Jennifer Rubin has argued that “Trump and Russia are locked at the hip.”

Shorter: Collusion — Jennifer Rubin (@JRubinBlogger) January 25, 2019

Like many liberals, Rubin took the news that Trump didn’t collude with the Russians pretty hard, arguing in an angry tweetstorm that Mueller “confirmed” that Russia helped Donald Trump in 2016 so his election still was not “legitimate.”

In what some are calling the “greatest political scandal in American history,” all of the individuals above — “wittingly or unwittingly” — participated in the effort to overthrow a sitting president from office based on spurious claims. None of them deserve to be taken seriously again.