One of the smartest political commentators and writers out there, the Wall Street Journal’s Kim Strassel, is coming to Minnesota in October. Hosted by the Center of the American Experiment—Minnesota’s very own conservative think tank—Strassel will be at the Ordway Center for the Performing Arts on October 7, at 7:00 PM.
Strassel is not only a prolific Wall Street Journal writer, she’s just written a highly researched and well-written book: “The Intimidation Game: How the Left Is Silencing Free Speech.” And Strassel also regularly appears on a variety of Sunday-morning political shows. This includes CBS’s “Face the Nation,” and “Fox News Sunday.”
Yet Strassel has particularly been a rockstar when it comes to the unjust Russia hysteria, launched by the media, the intelligence agencies, and Democrats in order to take out President Donald Trump.
The investigation long ago sputtered out, and Robert Mueller went from being an FBI super-sleuth to a doddering old man. But many will remember that, for a time, it seemed that the media frenzy would never go away.
Reporters used the word “bombshell” over and over, said the “walls were closing in” and speculated that each “new development” would mean the end of the Trump presidency. Democrats who religiously watch CNN and MSNBC were whipped into a frenzy, only to never reach catharsis. Many Republicans were downright depressed.
Strassel and others fought back, by doing real journalism:
For one, the Russians who met with Don Jr. in Trump Tower—the supposed evidence of collusion—were working closely with Fusion GPS, the Clinton-funded opposition research firm that was being paid to tie Trump to Russia.
Natalia Veselnitskaya, the Russian lawyer in that meeting, even met with Fusion’s Glenn Simpson before and after her meeting with Don Jr., and Simpson provided the documents for the Don Jr. meeting.
Veselnitskaya and Simpson were both working for a Russian oligarch to try to repeal the Magnitsky Act, which cracks down on dark Russian money. Again, Simpson was also working for Hillary Clinton’s campaign. Yikes.
Then, Glenn Simpson and Fusion GPS created a so-called “dossier” that said Trump had sordid ties to Russia. The dossier was actually sourced using anonymous Russians by a man with ties to Moscow, Ed Baumgartner, who was hired by former British spook Christopher Steele. Steele was the guy hired by Fusion GPS to bolster the dossier’s credibility, but he didn’t source the dossier.
Then, the FBI and the rest of the intelligence agencies took that made-up, Russian-sourced, and Hillary-funded dossier seriously enough to use it to spy on Americans, and probably the entire Trump campaign.
And that stuff only scratches the surface. Strassel reported on so much more during this troubled time, faithfully pointing to the facts in the midst of the media frenzy.
And where it might seem obvious in hindsight that the Russia collusion story was a massive fraud, which many American people knew instinctively, it took major guts to begin reporting on the story.
Back in late 2016 and early 2017, people like Kim Strassel, The Federalist’s Mollie Hemingway, and National Review’s Andy McCarthy were chastised by Republicans for beginning to do honest reporting on this subject.
The pushback even bordered on veiled threats. Some people writing about “Russia” (such as myself) didn’thave a reputation and position to worry about. Strassel and others did, and powered through nonetheless. Because they knew what was right. The truth was always more important than position and influence.
That rare quality in of itself makes Strassel well worth seeing come October.
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Willis Krumholz
Willis L. Krumholz is a fellow at Defense Priorities. He holds a JD and MBA degree from the University of St. Thomas, and works in the financial services industry. The views expressed are those of the author only. You can follow Willis on Twitter @WillKrumholz.
