Mainstream Media’s Allegations that Trump Ordered a “Golden Shower” at the Ritz Could be Biggest Fake News of 2017
An unverified document, which U.S. intelligence appears to be taking seriously, claims that Russia is blackmailing Donald Trump. If true, this would clearly compromise the Donald Trump presidency. Trump would be impeached. But the allegations might simply be another case of fake news. The scandal could become known as “pissgate” or “golden shower gate.” Here’s why.
The document alleges that Trump has held longstanding ties with the Russian government. It suggests that the Russian government has files and materials that it could use to blackmail Trump. The heads of the U.S. intelligence agencies presented the document last week to both President Barack Obama and President-elect Donald Trump. Clearly, if pissgate isn’t fake news, it could have serious implications.
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Indeed, in the report’s details, there are abundant salacious details. The compromising material that the Kremlin would have used against Hillary Clinton includes the series of Wikileaks e-mails. As for Trump, the Russian spies supposedly exploited his “sexual perversion”.
There are some real nuggets in the report. The most noteworthy might be Trump’s night at the Moscow Ritz presidential suite, where Barack and Michelle Obama had stayed during a presidential trip. Right there, in spite, Trump is said to have ordered prostitutes to do perform a “golden shower.” (Source: “Twitter is drowning in a #goldenshower,” News.com.au, January 12, 2017.)
The fact that this report comes amid allegations that Russia meddled in the American presidential election campaign of 2016 makes it suspicious. Yet CNN, despite the substantial unreliability of the document, was pleased to bang on about it on the evening of January 10. The story—a prime candidate for fake news—has become a yuge political and media event. Yet it defies reality that Trump would be pissing on the Ritz.
BuzzFeed added its own contribution to the controversy. It published the documents in question, despite the lack of verification. (Source: “Republican Candidate Donald Trump’s Activities in Russia and Compromising Relationship with the Kremlin,” Company Intelligence Report, June 20, 2016.)
Many journalists were aware that the compromising report was already available last fall.
Anonymous intelligence sources and a former British secret agent (not 007), who was busy filming a movie that day with Meryl Streep, compiled the compromising information. (Source: “Intel chiefs presented Trump with claims of Russian efforts to compromise him”, CNN, January 11, 2017.)
A political consulting firm, says CNN, received the material. The firm ran with it, offering it first to Trump’s Republican primary opponents, and later to the Clinton campaign.
Donald Trump Responded as Trump Does: He Tweeted
In response to the accusations, Trump tweeted: “FAKE NEWS” AND “TOTAL POLITICAL WITCH-HUNT.” (Source: “Twitter post,” Donald J. Trump, January 10, 2017.)
Dmitry Peskov, spokesman for Russian president Vladimir Putin, denied the allegations that the Russian government possesses incriminating information about Trump.
Trump’s adviser and lawyer, Michael Cohen, quoted in the compromising documents as having met the Kremlin’s “blackmailing” officials in August 2016, denies having ever visited the Czech capital. Cohen tweeted a picture of his passport and presented it as an alibi. He was in Los Angeles with his son at the time that he was allegedly in Prague. (Source: “Twitter post,” Michael Cohen, January 10, 2017.)
Buzzfeed claims that Trump received offers to buy real estate in Russia, a story which has been rejected by Trump. Of course Buzzfeed insisted on harping about the now-de rigeur allegations that the Russian government has worked for years with Trump, supporting his election campaign. They allegedly did so by offering information on Hillary Clinton.
In response, Trump called Buzzfeed “a failing piece of garbage.” (Source: “‘If Putin likes Trump, guess what, folks, that’s an asset’: president-elect on whether Russia helped him win,” National Post, January 11, 2017.)
U.S. intelligence has propped up the unverified allegations, highlighting their importance. They also deemed them to be sufficiently credible to present them to outgoing president Obama as proof of Russia’s ability to collect compromising material on the 2016 presidential elections and to blackmail the winner.
Russia’s Reasons for Favoring Trump Are Clear and Even Desirable
Would the Kremlin gamble the validity and, in fact, desirability of their political goals with a golden shower? That’s what makes the “goldengate,” “pissgate,” or “golden shower” episode so difficult to believe. It could be the biggest piece of fake news ever. Or it could be one of the biggest scoops ever.
With Trump in the White House, the Kremlin hoped to strengthen ties to the West. There is too much at stake to rely on a golden shower. That’s why the force is high with the fake news in this case. But how should we distinguish whether we are faced with a case of fake news or actual news?
This is the information issue of the age. Until a few years ago it would have been unthinkable to question the veracity of the news that is presented by the mass media. But, today, hoaxes abound on the Internet. The problem lies in those who choose to trust or believe the latter.
The phenomena might be the inability to understand meaning or grasp nuance, but the causes are more complex. Buzzfeed itself, one of the protagonists of the “pissgate” story, discussed the “fake news” phenomenon last autumn. It suggested, among other things, that lies, or fake news, can boost advertising revenue. (Source: “This Analysis Shows How Fake Election News Stories Outperformed Real News On Facebook,” Buzzfeed, November 16, 2016.)
Many Internet users might feel detached. Whether true or fake, information has the feel of entertainment. Readers don’t feel the need to test what they read online in the real world. It’s as if the World Wide Web is a separate reality, where credibility relies on the number of “Facebook” likes.
The Internet, as President Obama said in his farewell speech, tends to create information bubbles. Web surfers choose not to challenge their perceptions and beliefs. That helps to spread the “fake news.” Unfortunately, even when exposed as fake, the rumors cannot be stifled. Nobody is encouraged to verify sources or question the news.
Then there’s the democratization of information. If everyone can have their say—and the Internet has become that kind of a platform if nothing else—everybody is an expert. Comments to articles are as important as the article itself, if not more.
Readers have also become lazier. They want tweets, nice headlines, short sentences. Rarely do readers actually tackle complex issues or stories in complicated journal or news articles. To avoid becoming a victim of the fake news syndrome, trusting in the rising value of “golden showers” instead of gold (symbol Au), there’s but one solution: read, think, and read again.
