By Ray McGovern, October 5, 2019

With Justice Dept. IG Horowitz & Prosecutor Durham breathing down their necks, die-hard Russia-gate aficionados have launched a coordinated, pre-emptive “debunk” of what they fear most. In the words of veteran pundit Frank Rich, the “crackpot conspiracy theory” that needs to be discredited first and foremost is he notion that Russia did not hack DNC, after all.

On no! First, no Trump-Putin collusion; now no Russian hack? Oh no! Something quite different afoot? So how did it all start? The miscreants may be senior, but the evidence is clear. With some Trump/Barr/Durham/Horowitz courage, we may get close to the truth. The miscreants did not take th trouble to hide their tracks, because, as Comey wrote in his book, Hillary Clinton was sure to win.

Vestigial Russia-gaters are allergic — understandably — to any mention of the cyber-fraud firm CrowdStrike, the weak sister in the claim of Russian hacking. CrowdStrike was supposed to do the forensics on the alleged “hack” of the DNC, but never gave the FBI a final report. For some reason that was okay with then-FBI Director Comey; he paid them anyway for services performed, or not. And he later admitted under oath that he did not follow “best practices.”

This past week, NBC won the laurels as worst offender. See: https://nbcnews.com/tech/internet/trump-seized-conspiracy-theory-called-insurance-policy-now-it-s-n1062096. For an incredibly well informed, comprehensive critique, see: http://g-2.space/nbc/.

The proverbial “fat lady” is rehearsing her song; she may be ready to sing soon.