Aaron Mate of The Real News interviews Michael Isikoff about the Russian hacking indictment in the video below.
Michael Isikoff's dismissive and almost bullying remarks aside, I think most people will continue to look at this carefully, and will keep an open mind.
Isikoff is not persuasive, except if one is intimidated by veiled references to secret evidence and the invoking of 'authority.'
And clearly Aaron Mate is not. This is what makes him a much better, or one may say
genuine, journalist.
I have trouble conceiving that this indictment will ever be tested in court, unless they decide to try the defendants
in absentia.
It would be as if a prosecutor in Moscow were to indict top officials in the US government for cyber crimes, such as bugging the personal phones of allied heads of state, or interfering in other countries' elections, and expect them to fly over for a trial.
I can only imagine what the reaction here would be to such an obvious ploy.
But I am sure that this indictment will be frequently misused as 'proof' of the case, and widely referenced without critical thought, to try and shame honest skepticism and alternative views on this metter.
Such as in this article in
The Intercept by James Risen, for example. Which was almost embarrassing in its heavy-handed snark. But Risen has shown in the past, most recently in
his debate with Glenn Greenwald, his qualities as a journalist.
An indictment is proof of nothing, other than an indictment has been granted to proceed with something known as a 'trial' of the pertinent facts to determine guilt or innocence. No matter how many functionaries may have signed off on it. How many times do we need to have this proven to us both pro and con, from WMD's to mass government surveillance?
And innocence is presumed, or at least it used to be, before the hysterics were engaged after Hillary's stunning loss.
Isikoff and his compadres in the mainstream media know this. But they do not seem to care.
And therefore one goes to other sources like
The Real News to get a more balanced picture.
