Why is RNZ National treating James Clapper as a serious and credible source? (Jan. 6, 2017)

6 January 2017 at 9:16 am

James Clapper is arguably the most notorious liar in the world;
So why is RNZ National treating him as a serious and credible source?
Summer Report, RNZ National, Friday 6 January 2017, 8:25 a.m.

I’m sure I was not the only person to listen with interest when perky Summer Report host Anusha Bradley read out from her script that a “leading security analyst” is “more certain than ever” that Russian hackers were working for Donald Trump. It was not until at least thirty seconds into her spiel that Bradley revealed who this “leading security analyst” was: James Clapper, the utterly discredited Director of National Intelligence.

In case you’ve forgotten, James Clapper is the man who lied under oath to Congress, and denied that the NSA was illegally collecting data on American citizens. It was seeing Clapper lying to Congress that prompted Edward Snowden to blow the whistle on the whole of the massive, illegal, unconstitutional NSA spying regime. “Sort of the breaking point was seeing the Director of National Intelligence, James Clapper, directly lie under oath to Congress. … Seeing that really meant for me there was no going back.” [1]

None of this seemed to matter to Anusha Bradley, or to “our U.S. correspondent Kevin McAleese”, who chuntered on for a minute or so, recycling Clapper’s anti-Russian rhetoric as if he were a credible source. We are accustomed to RNZ National presenters being naïve (Jesse Mulligan, Bryan Crump), ill-informed (Jesse Mulligan), even nasty (Jim Mora, Noelle McCarthy). But this morning’s performance by Anusha Bradley and her “U.S. correspondent” was as bad, as foolish, and as flagrantly dishonest as anything I have ever heard on any radio station, anywhere.

[1] http://www.ndr.de/nachrichten/netzwelt/snowden277_page-2.html

• Adrian Thornton4.1

  6 January 2017 at 9:47 am

  @Morrissey +1
  • saveNZ4.1.1

    6 January 2017 at 10:27 am

    @Morrissey +2
• grumpystilskin4.2

  6 January 2017 at 12:48 pm

  Have a read of this, from people who actually understand the technology of hacking.

  http://arstechnica.com/security/2016/12/did-russia-tamper-with-the-2016-election-bitter-debate-likely-to-rage-on/
• bearded git4.3

  6 January 2017 at 3:49 pm

  Nice work Mr. M
• Scott Chris4.4

  6 January 2017 at 7:03 pm

  Not sure that I can ever remember chuntering but it seems fairly clear that the Russians did influence the outcome of the American election as did James Comey.

  Okay the cybertrail hasn’t been published yet but I suspect it will be soon.
  • Clump_AKA Sam4.4.1

    6 January 2017 at 7:08 pm

    Hillary is still a criminal
  • Morrissey4.4.2

    6 January 2017 at 8:04 pm

    Not sure that I can ever remember chuntering…

    Good spotting, Scott! I used the word carelessly and imprecisely. I should have just written: “Kevin McAleese said….” His lazy and shoddy journalism is what damns him: he doesn’t need any help from me.

    … but it seems fairly clear that the Russians did influence the outcome of the American election as did James Comey.

    There is no evidence of Russian influence.

    Okay the cybertrail hasn’t been published yet but I suspect it will be soon.

    Well, we at least have the word of the world’s most discredited liar to boost our confidence.