title: MOCKINGBIRD REDUX? CNN’s Role in Peddling Fake ‘Nothing Burger’ Russia-Gate News Revealed
text: 21st Century Wire says CNN has reportedly refused to punish one of its senior producers John Bonifield, after a recent Project Veritas video sting operation exposed the network s role in peddling a fake Russia-gate narrative just for ratings. As if that wasn t enough of a network crisis, CNN s Van Jones was also caught in a new Veritas video sting release stating that the mainstream media s long-running  Russian collusion  story is a  big nothing burger. This latest twin expos comes after three prominent writers from CNN were  urged to resign  (fired) after the network was threatened with an estimated $100 million dollar lawsuit (something which 21WIRE predicted) earlier this week following a bogus story (since retracted) that falsely linked political figure and financier Anthony Scaramucci to a Russian investment fund currently under a congressional probe.NOTE: CNN and other big media outlets have been pushing a vast Russian conspiracy for nearly a year and now those at CNN are brushing off the narrative after being caught in an ongoing deception   MEDIA MOCKERY    Senior CNN producer John Bonifield was caught in a video sting admitting that the Trump-Russia narrative was untrue and Van Jones further confirmed the network s position. (Photo Illustration 21WIRE s Shawn Helton)The US media has been floating the  blame Russia  meme for almost a year, and even more conveniently over this past 2016 US presidential election cycle, before morphing into the dodgy dossier that included unverified Trump-Russia claims. Incredibly, the still as of yet unsubstantiated Russia-Trump collusion story briefly vanished, only to be newly reignited again, after two US military missile strikes in Syria and Afghanistan took place following the fabricated sarin chemical attack allegations in April which the White House claimed hit the Al Nusra-held town of Khan Sheikhoun in Syria.Just this week, the US government warned (a story peddled by CNN among others) of an upcoming, soon-to-be-released alleged  chemical attack  out of Syria, something which would potentially prompt another wag the dog theatrical bombing from the US-led Coalition. Is this false flag foreshadowing by Washington?Perhaps such plans may have been scarpered by a blistering report detailing false sarin claims concerning the Idlib province by award-winning investigative journalist Seymour Hersh only days ago. Hersh s report, appropriately titled  Trump s Red Line confirmed much of what we at 21WIRE managed to outline in the aftermath of the alleged chemical attack, while also condemning the lack of clear evidence and reactionary military response by the Trump administration even after Russia shared deconfliction intelligence with the US.The fallout from the sarin hoax and CNN Russia-gate spin has also been compounded by an embarrassing retraction from the NY Times over their Russian hack/influence claims said to be confirmed by 17 US intelligence agencies   a story which once again turned out to be a falsehood as recently discussed by well-known investigative reporter Robert Parry.  SARIN HOAX    It s official now, the alleged Syrian chemical attack story was a false narrative that Western media outlets gleefully lapped up. (Image Source: cnn)Propaganda 3.0Here is where the propaganda goes into overdrive.Suddenly, as if by coincidence (or right on cue) Reuters reports that Syria has  heeded  its warning, almost immediately after Hersh s stirring investigative effort laid bare many elements of April s sarin hoax in Syria. That s right: because it issued a warning based on secret intelligence that no one is allowed to see, Washington is somehow claiming credit for stopping a chemical weapons attack by the Assad regime.As both the Russian and Syria narratives continue to crumble, an awkwardness has set in for CNN and the Trump Administration (its Syria policy duly inherited from the Obama Administration)   both of whom have relied on these narratives to prop-up dysfunctional US foreign policy agendas.The recent CNN video sting revelations weakens the already questionable Russian collusion plot line, something which we ve covered extensively here at 21WIRE. In fact, following the highly dubious DDoS attacks in America in October of 2016, we made the following accurate assessment: Indeed, as you look back at NY Times articles since the summer [of 2016], the stage was being set to implant the idea of an alleged Russian cyber war being waged at the US, principally charging that they would  meddle  with the US presidential elections in 2016 by aiding Donald Trump. Here s the NY Times building the case for Washington, seemingly without the burden of proof: An unusual question is capturing the attention of cyberspecialists, Russia experts and Democratic Party leaders in Philadelphia: Is Vladimir V. Putin trying to meddle in the American presidential election?Until Friday, that charge, with its eerie suggestion of a Kremlin conspiracy to aid Donald J. Trump, has been only whispered. In August, the western media s claims against Russia hit overdrive, when the  New York Times s Moscow bureau was the target of an attempted cyberattack this month. But so far, there is no evidence that the hackers, believed to be Russian, were successful. Flash forward to September here and here, as well as early October in the lead up to President Obama s decree, the Clinton friendly outlet the NY Times had all but solidified the Russian cyber/hack claims   once again, without any definitive proof. Here s a newer Project Veritas video exposing CNN s Van Jones admitting there s no evidence to back-up the Russian conspiracy story Here s another look at the recent Project Veritas video exposing CNN producer John Bonfield admitting the network has pushed a false Russian collusion meme As the Project Veritas series continues, CNN Associate Producer Jimmy Carr disclosed the political bias pushed by the network QUESTION: Why has CNN been peddling Russian collusion allegations without any evidence?It s not just for ratings The new Project Veritas video stings provide more evidence of an overtly political agenda, something we saw throughout the 2016 US presidential election. In fact, the entire video expos  is reminiscent of Democratic consultant Robert Creamer of Democracy Partners being caught discussing how to commit large-scale voter fraud, while also apparently outlining how to incite violence at campaign rallies. Unbelievably in the year leading up to the 2016 US presidential election, Creamer met with White House officials some 342 times along with his wife, a 9-term Illinois Democratic congresswoman Jan Schakowsky.White House visitor records show that Schakowsky took 47  private meetings with Obama or his senior staff,  in the year leading up to the election.Furthermore, the Russia-gate plot line perpetuated by CNN immediately recalls the symbiotic relationship between the CIA and American media seen during the Cold War era. In the early 1950 s, the CIA ran a wide-scale program called Operation Mockingbird that was said to have infiltrated the American news media in particular, which propagandized the public through various front organizations, magazines and cultural groups. Is the recent CNN fallout more evidence confirming that a modern version of Operation Mockingbird is alive and well?In recent years, there has been a series of surreal and unreal news stories since the Smith-Mundt Act was effectively rendered obsolete by US lawmakers on July 2nd 2013, as confirmed by RT below: Until earlier this month, a longstanding federal law made it illegal for the US Department of State to share domestically the internally-authored news stories sent to American-operated outlets broadcasting around the globe. All of that changed effective July 2, when the Broadcasting Board of Governors (BBG) was given permission to let US households tune-in to hear the type of programming that has previously only been allowed in outside nations. The Smith-Mundt Act has ensured for decades that government-made media intended for foreign audiences doesn t end up on radio networks broadcast within the US. An amendment tagged onto the National Defense Authorization Act removed that prohibition this year. There has been an unprecedented increase in propaganda over the years from big media, despite claims that the NDAA provision offered more transparency to the American public.More from RT below THE FIX    John Bonifield admitted that CNN s Russia collusion narrative is not based on evidence. (Image Source rt)CNN stands behind its producer caught in sting video, says he won t be punishedRTCNN has backed one of its senior producers caught in a Project Veritas sting video, saying the company encourages diversity of personal opinions. John Bonifield was filmed admitting the network s craze over alleged Trump-Russia collusion is  bullsh*t. Diversity of personal opinion is what makes CNN strong, we welcome it and embrace it,  an email from a CNN spokesman to the Daily Beast reads.  CNN stands by our medical producer John Bonifield,  it said.CNN Health supervising producer Bonifield, who is not involved in the channel s political coverage, was videotaped saying the company does not have any evidence to support its Russia-Trump narrative, driven mostly by the desire for ratings. It s mostly bullsh*t right now. Like, we don t have any big giant proof,  the CNN producer can be heard saying in the video, adding that US President Donald Trump is  probably right  to accuse them of a conducting a witch-hunt.This story continues at RT READ MORE SYRIA NEWS AT: 21st Century Wire Syria FilesREAD MORE ON THE WHITE HELMETS AT: 21st Century Wire White Helmet FilesREAD MORE TRUMP NEWS AT: 21st Century Wire Trump FilesSUPPORT OUR WORK BY SUBSCRIBING & BECOMING A MEMBER @21WIRE.TV