presidency has been a widely divisive issue among the American public, to say the least. Support or dissent aside, intense media speculation has given way to surreality, as vast amounts scandals and controversy have surrounded the chief state since he assumed fice in January 2017.
One the most-contended topics around Mr. Trump involves rumors his campaign’s alleged collusion with Russia — a matter currently under investigation by Special Counsel Robert Mueller.
Enter : iconic forefather contemporary electronic music, animal rights activist, and an outspoken dissenter the United States’ 45th president. He expressed disdain for the real estate mogul’s antics all through his campaign for fice, later implying that his victory would cause the country to “” before criticizing citizens’ aversion to facts for letting such an event occur.
As headlines collusion with Russia cast a shadow over the POTUS’ first months in charge, Moby’s statements grew increasingly grandiose — ironically, close to the level the very person he was speaking out against. Such declarations culminated in an on January 13, where he claimed that “active and former CIA agents” he liaises with requested that he “sound the alarm” on the conspiracy’s validity. The reason why, he continued, was due to his greater social media following and ability to use his platform to get the word out.
Such a risky and, quite frankly, outlandish confession begs the question, “Why would he confirm these rumors in such a manner, especially with no pro to back it?” Moby later clarified that his “CIA connections” were actually “friends in other intelligence agencies” and stened his tone, but he is still putting these supposed friends at risk by revealing their relationship and concerns to the public. Furthermore, he’s putting himself at risk for libel charges, or worse.
It’s hard to pinpoint exactly how this will all serve him either, other than his name briefly taking over discussion before being plunged back into the annuls dance music legends. Perhaps his account is true, and he is simply a patriot who’s willing to martyr himself in order for the truth to be known by all. Or, maybe he’s running a social experiment that simultaneously critiques persistent mob mentality in people by amassing his own malleable cult followers that behave as the antithesis to Trump’s crowd.
Whatever the answer may be to this question, has compiled a timeline Moby’s comments on the Russia/Trump development, looking into his supposed relationship with Washington “insiders” and others’ reactions to his claims.
June-December, 2016 — the Steele Dossier
A man claiming to be a former British intelligence ficer by the name Christopher Steele circulated an expansive document to various elected ficials and high-tier press ficials that earned the nickname, “.” He’d claimed to be covering the Trump path to the presidency, compiling information he’d tracked down from June-December 2016. In addition to outrageous claims, one which was the infamous “golden shower fetish,” the report also detailed multiple ways in which the Trump campaign and his family established ties to, and cooperated with Russia to win the election.
Journalists running the story made sure to point out the document’s inconsistencies and that the information was largely unconfirmed.
February 2017 — Moby spends weekend in DC, gains ‘insider information’ on Dossier
The producer took to Instagram in 2017 to state he’d spent the past weekend “with friends in DC,” and could “safely (well, ‘accurately…’) post the following things” about President Trump’s administration, and the Steele Dossier. He first advised that the dossier is in fact very much real, and that the president is being blackmailed by Russia on multiple “nefarious things.” Moby then went on to imply that the country was being steered in a direction war with Iran, and that even Republicans were now plotting to rid him the government.
January 10, 2018 — WFPK interview: “‘active and former CIA agents’ are ‘truly concerned'”
Naturally, the current president came up in an on his forthcoming album. “They were like, ‘This is the Manchurian Candidate, like Putin] has a Russian agent as the President the United States,’” he told his interviewers about the “former and active CIA agents” he’d come in contact with. “So they passed on some information to me and they said, like, ‘Look, you have more a social media following than any us do, can you please post some these things just in a way that… sort put it out there.’”
January 13, 2018 — Moby clarifies: “The CIA didn’t ask me to post about Russia. But…”
He backpedaled from his original story a few days later, explaining that he hadn’t been directed by the CIA to tell the public that the rumors were true about Russian collusion before once more alluding to his friends at “other intelligence agencies” that he’d spoken to as the ones who verified the claims he made in February 2017.
Late January: Fallout and critique
Despite clarifying his claims, the damage had already been done in the media’s eyes. Moby soon found himself under immense scrutiny, with various outlets and journalists emphasizing the potential falsehood his claims, and even questioning his mental stability. Those at the other side the spectrum called out Moby for his “fake news.”
The Washington Examiner also put in on the claims: “First f, while there are credible indications Russian influence over President Trump and the Trump Organization, much the details these indicators are not in the public domain. In turn, CIA ficers or analysts are highly unlikely to have released any that information to a celebrity singer. They wouldn’t be stupid enough to risk a prison term for the sole benefit flippant remarks on Moby’s social media feed.”
So, what do we really know about the President & his ties to Russia?
We can’t necessarily dismiss all Moby’s sensational assertions; the investigation into collusion is still ongoing, and some ties between the President’s camp and Russia have been unveiled to the point where the deems it somewhat verified in a broad sense. For as many accuracies, however, there lie apparent inaccuracies. Ultimately, only time will tell what the conclusion to the ongoing investigations will be.
Photo credit: Jason Kempin